10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
2,582 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

The NHTSA is the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints can be spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem. See the Back button — blue bar at the very top of the page — to explore more.

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« Read the previous 20 complaints

problem #13

Dec 042022

Pacifica

  • miles
Driving on the road and vehicle lost all propulsion. Warning comes up on the dash saying Service Charging System and Shift to P. At that point, one has to coast to a stop on the side of the road. Vehicle would not restart. After waiting and completely shutting down the vehicle, it did restart. This is the second time this has happened over the past two months. The dealer updated software as a "fix" the first time, which has not fixed the issue. It also happened a third time when pulling into the dealer for service today. Dealer was able to see the issue. It is extremely dangerous, as there is no warning before losing all propulsion and it can happen at any speed and at any time. Please note that this appears to be the exact same issue addressed with NHTSA recall 22V-865, and both vehicles are manufactured by FCA and likely use the same hybrid electric powertrain. By addressing this loss of propulsion issue in the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid now, there is a chance to save lives (there was a death caused by the Jeep 4xE recall issue) by mandating this same recall for the Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid.

- Moraga, CA, USA

problem #12

Nov 072022

Pacifica

  • miles
All of a sudden while driving 40 miles per hour, -??service charging system-?? warning showed up on dash, asked to put car in park and unable to accelerate. Car stopped working in the middle of a busy road, unable to be restarted for 10 min.

- Moraga, CA, USA

problem #11

Jul 052022

Pacifica

  • miles
I was returning home from a road trip and with five miles left the accelerator stopped working and the check engine light came on with the service electrical system message. I was able to safely coast to the side of the road. It started working again but it stopped working 5 more times and barely made it to my driveway. It-??s been in the shop since 7/6 and now they say a new hybrid transmission will be in on 8/3. This is the worst situation that I have ever had with any vehicle!

- White Plains, MD, USA

problem #10

Sep 202022

Pacifica

  • miles
Vehicle completely lost all electrical and drivability components while driving. Car could not be restarted or shifted into gear to get out of lane. Gave multiple warning lights. Vehicle was towed to dealership and was assessed a few days later.

- Pike Road, AL, USA

problem #9

Jul 302022

Pacifica

  • miles
On July 30th 2022 the van suffered total loss of motive power while driving on a rural highway at 65mph. The incident put my family as risk as I was required to coast the car off of the side or the road to keep from becoming an obstruction to traffic. If the incident had occurred on a 3 lane highway or in heavier congestion I may have been unable to pull off the road before losing my momentum. The van showed no prior indication of malfunction until it shuttered as the engine stalled. Following the shutter and loss of all forward power the car dash produced a check engine light followed by a warning to Pull over and place car in Park. I pulled over to the side of the road and was able to place the car into park and shut it off. After that the car would not start or shift out of park and only displayed "Service Charging System" on the dashboard. The car was then towed to the nearest Chrysler dealer (Watson Benzie, LLC 1514 Benzie Hwy Benzonia, MI49616-9650) where it was determined that "Power Inverter Module" had failed and needed to be replaced. As of September 19th 2022 the car is still at the dealer awaiting a replacement part. The damaged part should be available for inspection.

- Livonia, MI, USA

problem #8

Aug 192022

Pacifica

  • miles
The vehicle, shortly after starting, says service charging system and loses power completely. Power steering goes out along with any brake assist and no gas pedal power. I-??ve almost hit several cars while trying to regain control of the vehicle. When I finally get it to stop, the work around I-??ve found is to power off the car for a few minutes, power it back on, then it-??ll work. But this happens about once a week. The dealer attempted a repair once but issue persists. We-??re taking it back in. But based on online forums, this is a dangerous and widespread problem with the Pacifica Hybrid. Please investigate! I have kids. Thanks!

- San Diego, CA, USA

problem #7

May 312022

Pacifica

  • miles
While driving at freeway speed a check engine light came on follows by -??service electrical system -?? then limp mode which limits the vehicle to 40mph. Very dangerous on the freeway. Luckily we made it off the freeway but the vehicle locked itself in park gear and began to make loud grinding noises with wipers going on randomly. This happened in a busy intersection. Car was inoperable had to be towed. Would not roll so flat bed tow was not possible. Dealer says the 12v battery was bad and it also needs a new transmission. If a 12v battery caused this to happen, this is a serious problem that could lead to a bad accident. Many more accounts of this online and YouTube.

- Vista, CA, USA

problem #6

Jun 222022

Pacifica

  • miles
My car has been going thru the refresh for gas and oil for the last few days. the motor has been running to empty out the "old" gas. so today, i took it thru a car wash on a conveyor belt system, with cars behind me. at the end of this i went to put it in gear so i hit the brake from the neutral position and put it in drive. i hit the gas and it went nowhere! there was a note on the dash that said i had to put the car in park, hit the brake and then put it in gear. i did this and it finally started to move. the car and five others behind could have been in serious trouble if i didnt get this figured out quickly, damn close to causing a wreck inside the car wash. now you tell me why a safety feature almost killed me"???"

- Omaha, NE, USA

problem #5

Apr 092022

Pacifica

  • miles
Driving from PA to GA when after 775+ miles, and twenty five minutes from our destination we received an message indicating to pull over safety as the vehicle was coming to a stop. Three kids in car seats stuck on the highway waiting for a tow is not comforting. The car dealership plugged the vehicle into a charger and they indicated everything appeared fine. On the next leg of our journey driving to FL, we went about 350 miles before receiving the same message and braking down yet again. The engine eventually turned back on after 35 minutes and I was able to pulled into a charging station two miles away. We charged it 45% and make it to our destination some 175 miles later. We took it to another Chrysler dealership in FL and they indicated their was an issue with some temp sensors and performed updates to the hybrid control processor software. The three error codes we rec'd were: "Stop Safely, Vehicle Will Shut Off Soon, " "Service Charging System, " "Battery Conditioning Leave Ignition in Run." There may have been a fourth. This is an extremely dangerous issue. We were fortunate that it happened in daylight hours and were able to pull off to the side of the road. Pray that we make the 1,200 miles track back to PA safety.

- Havertown , PA, USA

problem #4

Sep 112021

Pacifica

  • miles
While driving on electric only power at highway speeds, the van stalled. The dash showed "put vehicle in park to restart" and I had to pull over with no ability to accelerate, come to a complete stop, and place the vehicle in park in order to start the van again. This happened several times, the dealership was unable to recreate the stalling issue, but found two codes stored from the check engine light coming on just prior to the stalling: P0A43 - Drive Motor A Position Sensor Circuit Intermittent P0A3F - Drive Motor A Position Sensor Circuit Both Chrysler and the dealership initially refused to attempt any repairs, and wanted me to take possession of a vehicle that is randomly stalling at highway speeds, which is extremely dangerous. When I refused and pushed them to actually address the codes, they decided to replace the transmission, which houses Drive Motor A. This same issue and process has been repeated with Pacifica Hybrid models ranging from 2017-2021, and is widely reported on the website Pacificaforums.com

- Decatur, GA, USA

problem #3

Jun 262021

Pacifica

  • miles
On my Pacifica Hybrid the vehicle drivetrain loses all power and requires the driver put the vehicle in PARK and TURN OFF the ignition and START the vehicle again. Typically this happens when BOTH of the following conditions are met: 1) battery for the hybrid drivetrain, not the 12v accessory battery, runs to 0% or less than 1% state of charge 2) hard braking or sudden braking or braking when going down a hill. The hard braking seems to overwhelm the recharging system when the battery is at 0% causing a powertrain shutdown and all kinds of error lights flashing. It eventually ends with a "SERVICE CHARGING SYSTEM" message. Once the vehicle is in this condition it is very easy to replicate as I was able to do in this video that I recorded: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6NF-kKPx5w This is quite dangerous and has left me barely able to get to the shoulder of major highways several times.

- Livingston, NJ, USA

problem #2

Apr 132021

Pacifica

  • 11,000 miles
The vehicle is an electric and gas hybrid vehicle. While driving the vehicle at highway speeds, the vehicle goes completely dead. There is no power to accelerate, no power steering, reduced braking. This happened in June of 2020 and the vehicle had to be towed to the dealership. The dealership had the vehicle for approx. 3 weeks to repair and a new electrical inverter was installed. A similar event happened on 04-13-2021, however this time once the vehicle went dead and the vehicle coasted to a stop, after trying to turn the vehicle back on it was again under power. The vehicle was able to be cautiously driven to the dealership and at the time of writing this it is being services for this issue. In both the June 2020 and current situation, there was an error code stating "service charging system". in both circumstances, this has occurred at highway speeds with significant urban traffic. My wife was driving the vehicle this last time with our child in the vehicle. When this happened she was on a one lane express lane where people travel at the highest highway speeds. She was so concerned about getting struck by another vehicle she considered having both of them depart the vehicle and cross multiple lanes of traffic to get to safety. It is extremely dangerous for the people in the vehicle and for cars around the stalled vehicle. Thankfully they did not get struck.

- Lewisville, TX, USA

problem #1

Jan 222021

Pacifica

  • 7,200 miles
Went for 1st ever oil change, technicians noticed coolant reservoir was empty (should never be) and there was leaked coolant all over the engine and bottom of cars protection pads (bad issue). Told me (get it to the dealer immediately), which I did, taking it to phillips Chrysler of ocala. In order for my engine not to blow up. I have been driving this for 7000 miles since I purchased it with zero miles. The dealership technicians said (they have never seen this condition) it came from the Chrysler oem plant this way, said that all the bolts to the coolant temperature housing that fits onto the engine block with bolts were completely loose and the only way for this to happen is that the operator at the manufacturing plant that attaches these units to the engine did not or forgot to bolt down completely the cooling unit to the engine. This is gross neglect on the part of T he oem and could have easily caused the engine to freeze or blow. Call phillips Chrysler in ocala fl at 352-732-7577 and ask to speak to abriel archer about Mr. Knauer's Chrysler Pacifica V6.

- Ocala, FL, USA