10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 2 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 3 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 96 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.
Hard shifting during de-deceleration and at lower speeds. Most likely between 25 to 45 miles per hour.
- Hutto, TX, USA
My wife was driving driving the vehicle on October 21st, 2024. She was shifting from Park to Drive just after our children got out of the vehicle in the school parking lot when the whole vehicle froze up and the dashboard lite up with all error lights including the engine light. It was flashing "Service Hybrid Battery System", "Service Transmission", "Turn off parking brake" and the Vehicle began to power cycle on and off, then on with gas motor, then on with electric motor. The vehicle could not be powered off and it could not be shifted out of gear and the parking brake could not be disengaged. The tow truck had to drag our Pacifica onto the flatbed while it continued to turn on and off and cycle through the engine and hybrid system. This vehicle has 36,000 miles and just had the transmission replaced under the "Recall for hybrid transmission systems" This is the second time this has happened, it originally occurred at 7000 miles and after the dealer had it for a week we were told there was no problem. The dealer had to pull a bunch of fuses and the 12v battery to get the vehicle to stop turning off and on, the same thing happened this time when it was dragged off the flatbed at the dealer.
- Vista, CA, USA
When driving on the interstate at speeds of 75 mph. We received a message telling us to "safely stop vehicle will shut off soon". at that point our vehicle began to slow dramatically as we attempted to shift lanes to get to the side of the road. We then had to sit on the side of the interstate, unable to move, with three children in the car for almost an hour before the vehicle allowed us to move it at a snails pace through the ditch and to a road travelling parallel to the interstate. Once, parked on the side of this less dangerous road we sat for another 3 hours for a tow truck, managed to have the vehicle towed to the dealer which is indicating that they do not know exactly what the problem is and are replacing the hybrid battery in an attempt to fix it. We've seen many group messages about this issue and the common thread is that Chrysler does not have a fix or know what to fix and that this issue will generally occur again. I have not received a repair invoice just yet as our van is still in the shop but will do what I can to update this report if possible.
- Centennial, CO, USA
This is a follow up to an earlier submission (NHTSA Tracking Number 11591550). After the initial incident, the dealership replaced the hybrid battery on the vehicle. A month later, yesterday, while driving the vehicle on the interstate, I again received the dreaded, "Stop Safely, Vehicle Will Shut Off Soon" warning indicator and the car lost all power about 30 seconds later. Thankfully, I was on an offramp and was able to stop safely. Had I been traveling at full speed in the carpool lane, it could have been very dangerous. The van is now at the dealership for repair, and I hope they fix it for real this time. This is an extremely dangerous situation, with vehicles dying while going full speed.
- Chapel Hill, NC, USA
On [XXX], I was driving the vehicle on a busy highway with a posted speed limit of 70mph. While operating the vehicle at ~70mph, the front display showed a message that the vehicle was going to stop and to pull off safely. Unknown at what point the vehicle will stop, in a panic, I pulled off on the highway and immediately called road assistance for a tow. After calling the dealership, they told me to start the vehicle again, which I did and it showed the check engine light illuminated on the dash. He advised that the vehicle should be able to be driven to the dealership rather than needing a tow, so I cancelled the roadside assistance. On May 12, 2023, the dealership informed me that they did not find anything wrong and said I could pick the vehicle back up since they couldn't replicate the issue. On my drive home, the exact same issue happened and in a panic I pulled off on the same highway with posted speeds of 70mph. The car was at the dealership from May 12 2023 - June 26 2023. The dealership replaced the valve body and transmission. On [XXX], while driving with two young children [XXX] and [XXX] ) on the same highway with posted speeds of 70mph, I received the same dash message. The highway was very busy that day and the concern was escalated with my young children in the vehicle. I was able to pull off. I turned off my vehicle, turned it back on, which put it in limp mode so I could putter to a safer spot than the middle of an off-ramp. I turned it off once more and restarted it, and it allowed me to drive with the check engine light. The next day (XXX), I took it to the dealership and they just confirmed today (7/23/24) it once again needs a new transmission. So I have been put in an extremely unsafe condition 3 times in just over a year with no new resolution beyond just trying to replace the transmission once again. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
- Lenexa, KS, USA
I purchased my vehicle from AutoNation Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM Spring - 21027 I-45, Spring, TX 77388 on or about April 15, 2021. I began having trouble with the electric/gas drivetrain around January 30 of 2023. The vehicle lost all power, as well as throttle and proper braking response. I brought my vehicle back to Helfman Dodge Chrysler Jeep RAM FIAT at 7720 Katy Fwy A, Houston, TX 77024 for repairs on February 6, 2023. The repairs performed seemed to have worked until [XXX]. The most recent event on [XXX] my Pacifica Hybrid lost all power on the highway. While attempting to pull the vehicle off of the highway it abruptly entered its parking gear at 5mph, almost causing a rear end collision from the semi tractor trailer following behind us. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
- Houston, TX, USA
I am having a problem with my under-warranty (32,000 miles) 2021 Chrysler Pacifica which the service department at my dealership appears unable to help. I was driving on an interstate in stop-and-go traffic for a couple of hours. It was a very hot day, temperatures well above 90 degrees. Six times over 15 minutes the following occurred: While coasting/braking, so at low RPM the engine turned itself off I braked to stop the vehicle The vehicle put itself into Park A message on the dash said to place my foot on the brake pedal and press the button to start the engine I did so, and the engine cranked for an unusually long time, becoming longer each of the 6 times, before eventually starting By the last time we were doubtful it would start at all After the 6th time I cut my long-distance trip short, turned around, and came home in normal (not stop-and-go) highway traffic conditions, with no more engine failure. The check engine light did not turn on, and no service codes were generated which could have been related to these power failures My local dealer's service department (Pohanka in Salisbury, MD) tested the alternator, starter, and battery and found nothing wrong. They did charge the battery up a bit, saying it took only 20 minutes. They have been unable to re-create the problem, which is not surprising, due to the unique conditions under which it happened. They say there is nothing they can do about my problem under warranty because there is no code and they can't reproduce the problem, so they want to give me back a vehicle that we know behaved unsafely six times under dangerous conditions. Engines failing without warning on interstates are likely to result in being rear-ended. I see online that the hybrid model of the same model year has a recall for exactly this same issue, so it is not a new issue for Chrysler, although maybe new-ish for my non-hybrid model of the same vehicle.
- Fruitland, MD, USA
After having the car serviced to fix the recall, my car stopped running while on the freeway at 60mph. This is now the 3rd time in less than 10 days that this has happened. I had the transmission replaced previously to fix this issue but it has returned.
- Fort Worth, TX, USA
Driving the vehicle on the interstate, and the vehicle suddenly lost power and had a warning that said "Stop Safely, Vehicle will shut off soon". However, we were in a construction zone and unable to stop on the interstate causing many vehicles to nearly crash into us. I understand we had previously had a recall worked that simply added this warning, but did not fix the issue. This warning is not a safe solution. It is still very dangerous for your vehicle to suddenly drop to 15mph at highway speeds. We are in the process of having the dealer confirm the issue.
- Caddo Mills, TX, USA
While driving from Texas to Wisconsin our van powered down twice while at freeway speeds in traffic. We had 6 people in the van and were lucky to safely reach the should each time it happened. Transmission was replaced 2 years ago to correct this issue and it returned. Van was recently at dealership in Texas for inspection and work and found no reason to fix recall issues that are now being stated to have needed to be fixed.
- Fort Worth, TX, USA
Traveling down [XXX] in Escondido at approximately 73mph. In the fast lane and moving left into the car pool lane the vehicle lost all motive power and the error "Service Charging System" came up on the dash then flashing back to "SHIFT TO P TO START". We were able to make it to a very small emergency lane on the left side of the interstate. Had to power vehicle off and restart twice before be regained motive power. There was a very good chance that we would have been stranded in the middle of the interstate with wife and 2 kids in the care on an 85 degree day. We were able to make it off freeway with "Check engine light showing" but no other errors on the dash. We were able to drive home 7 miles and will tow the Pacifica to the dealer tomorrow. This is the second time this has happened and could have had a horrible outcome. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
- Vista, CA, USA
While driving at full speed on an interstate, I received the message, "Stop Safely, Vehicle Will Shut Off Soon." The van then lost power, and I was able to pull over safely (thankfully!). After about 15 minutes, the van restarted, and I made it about 10 miles until it happened again. After two more shut-downs, I was able to get the van to a dealership, where it has been sitting undiagnosed for over a week now.
- Chapel Hill, NC, USA
Vehicle has suddenly went into low power mode while driving three times. Was towed to shop each time to find no issues besides codes. Codes were cleared and vehicle was returned. Now vehicle is in the shop at chrysler due to a service charging system code for the hybrid system, causing the vehicle to not start or shift out of park gear. Vehicle has 58,000 miles and is not covered under the battery warranty with only 2 thousand miles remaining on the factory power train warranty.
- Jber, AK, USA
I had purchased the vehicle three days beforehand. It was a lemon law buyback car. I had driven around 120 miles or so that day. The high that day was at least 90 degrees or so. It was past the halfway mark of driving that day, when I tested the Level 2 EVSE I had bought. It didn't work because the plug wasn't energized, but I did notice that the time to charge was reading 3 hours instead of the expected 2 hours. Once I got back to town, I plugged in to a Chargepoint charger, which was only charging at a Level 1 rate. I contacted the dealer to report the problem, and then went to my storage locker. On the way, the AC stopped working. When I tried to leave, the vehicle would not start. Suspecting an overheating problem, I left the hood open for a half hour or so, and after that, the vehicle started up. On my way home, the vehicle suffered a complete loss of motive power, displaying a message saying "Stop Safely Vehicle Will Shut Off Soon", leaving me stranded in a parking lot. This was followed by a message saying "Service Charging System". After another hour or so of sitting with the hood up, the vehicle worked again. This has happened multiple times since then. I have traced the problem to the battery pack reaching a temperature of 55 C, at which point the vehicle invariably shuts down. One time it did this, I was on stuck on the side of a road with no shoulder, after dark. The dealers I have taken it to could not reproduce the problem, as it takes hours of driving to trigger, and they are not willing to drive it enough to reproduce the problem. A case was raised with the manufacturer, but their protocols were insufficient to reproduce the problem. I have recently learned that the problem is apparently the same problem that the original owner had, and that the vehicle was bought back for originally. I have collected extensive CSV logs documenting the defect. The vehicle is obviously still unfixed, as they will not fix it until they duplicate the problem.
- Novi, MI, USA
Second incident of loss of motive power at 37352 miles on the odometer. Vehicle was traveling on freeway and suddenly displayed message, "Stop Safely Vehicle Will Shut Off Soon." Accelerator pedal had no effect and vehicle began coasting. It was dangerous to coast across multiple lanes of freeway to reach an off-ramp with shoulder wide enough to stop the vehicle. We also had to make it over an incline while coasting and it may not have been possible to reach the shoulder or off-ramp. Prior to this incidence, the vehicle had been brought to a Chrysler dealership due to a previous occurrence at 36997 miles on the odometer. It was inspected by the Chrysler dealership and deemed to be operating normally.
- Mckinney, TX, USA
When at a red light or while driving car throws its self into park and then powers off immediately and this isn-??t safe with my children in the car while drive it-??s also happened while driving during traffic car just throws its self into park and powers off
- Ocala, FL, USA
Driving at 65-70mph on the Interstate and vehicle gave message "Stop Safely - Vehicle Will Shut Off Soon". As indicated, shortly after, vehicle lost motive power and we had to coast to the shoulder. As we were going downhill, we managed to make the next exit and pull off. On flat ground, vehicle would only crawl at walking pace. Vehicle did restart after a full off/on cycle and subsequent dealer diagnosis is the hybrid transmission replacement.
- Morris Plains, NJ, USA
January 2023 the car was at the dealer for two months for the battery heater. The car was losing coolant as the battery heater was malfunctioning. The car was at the dealers for 2 months for the repairs to be completed. December of 2023 the car had -??Stop Safely -?" Vehicle Will Shut Off Soon-??. We pulled off the freeway in a confused state and the car shut off. We called Chrysler who said to have the vehicle towed or driven at our own risk to a dealer. But had no input if the vehicle was actually having a problem or just a sensor. The vehicle was towed and now has been at the dealer for 3 months with no remedy. They say a new transmission is on backorder but not approved by Chrysler.
- Elephant Butte, NM, USA
While traveling down the interstate on a family road trip, our Pacifica PHEV alerted us to stop safely because our vehicle would lose power. We almost didn't make it to the shoulder before we completely lost power on the van. The vehicle was not drivable while on the side of the road. The transmission had to be replaced.
- Damascus, OR, USA
- Atlanta, GA, USA