10.0
really awful- Crashes / Fires:
- 1 / 0
- Injuries / Deaths:
- 3 / 0
- Average Mileage:
- 0 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.
« Read the previous 20 complaints
Service Charging Error flashed on instrument panel Power cut and car had no power Unable to restart for 5-10 minutes Power comes back on with check engine light Power cut on the freeway. SUPER dangerous.
- San Diego, CA, USA
I was driving on the interstate in the middle of morning rush hour traffic at approx. 65 mph and approximately 1/4 mile before a tunnel my van completely shut off and I was not able to accelerate or maintain speed. I was in the far left lane when this happened and immediately crossed the 3 lanes of traffic to get to the shoulder on the right side. I then tried to turn off and restart the van 3 or 4 times after periods ranging from 5-20 minutes apart and the van would only allow me to go a foot and shut off again. After waiting for over an hour in the 30 degree weather with no heat, I was finally towed back to the dealership. Due to many fortunate circumstances (i.e. none of my 3 children [ages 4, 2, and 9 months] were in the van, I was not yet in the tunnel, no cars were immediately behind me, and I was able to get across all 3 lanes before I lost speed) nobody was injured. However if any of these variables were different, the situation could have been devastating. My van has now been in the shop for over 3 months waiting for a part (engine coolant heater pump) and I still do not have a working vehicle. The issue with the engine coolant heater pump is a known issue to Chrylser, resulting in vans shutting down in the middle of driving, yet Chrysler has not issued a recall or notified owners of these dangers. After waiting on the part for 2 months, I called Chrysler Customer Support and was assigned a case manager, however they have to this point, one month later, still not helped at all and within the last 10 days not returned any of my voicemails or emails. My car is available for inspection and this issue was inspected/documented at the service department of my dealership. The problem has been confirmed by the dealership as well as the tow truck driver. About 10 days prior to the incident, my check engine light went on. I immediately scheduled the next available service appointment at my dealership, but the problem occurred 2 days before my appointment.
- Sewickley, PA, USA
Driving on the freeway at speed (approximately 65 MPH), the vehicle suddenly lost power and displayed "Service Charging System" message on dashboard. Accelerator pedal was non-responsive. We had remaining battery charge and fuel in the vehicle (it is a PHEV). Pulled over to side of freeway as vehicle was decelerating and came to a stop in the safest place our momentum could carry us to. We were eventually able to get the vehicle restarted by putting the vehicle in Park and pressing the start button 3 times in a row without touching the brake. This issue has happened four (4) times in the last several months, and has occurred on the freeway each time, and each time with remaining battery charge and fuel in the vehicle. The vehicle has not yet been inspected by the manufacturer for this specific problem.
- Laguna Hills, CA, USA
The vehicle accelerator fails while driving, with a message on dashboard '''service charging system''. If your car have enough momentum, you can pull to safe spot or shoulder, but tbis is a dangerous issue. I had this issue multiple times and many other owners has reported similar issue.
- Eads, TN, USA
*Please note: this is the second incident of this kind with my van (see NHTSA #11468554). The dealer checked our car after the first incident, saying it needed a repair to the transmission. They said they checked with Chrysler engineers who said it was a known issue, but were confident the issue would not occur again for at least another 1,000 miles. They assured us we could drive it the 4 hours home with no problem. However, the same problem occurred about 3.5 hours (~240 miles) into the trip. I am including documentation from the dealer after the first incident.* Today, the van suddenly lost power on the highway going 65mph. The car gave a -??service charging system-?? error. We started to quickly decelerate amid high speed traffic. Pushing on the gas pedal did not make the car accelerate - we were coasting. Luckily, I was able to cross two lanes of traffic and coast up an exit to get to safety. We could have easily been unable to change lanes and stopped cold in a lane on the highway. This is highly dangerous.
- Saint Paul, MN, USA
While driving on the interstate at 65mph, the vehicle suddenly beeped, showed a -??service charging system-?? warning and simultaneously lost propulsion. Pressing the gas pedal did nothing, so I had to coast over to the shoulder. My attempts to restart the vehicle were unsuccessful for a few minutes, but then it did restart and I was able to get off the freeway. It was an extremely dangerous situation. We are having the vehicle towed to the dealer tomorrow.
- Saint Paul, MN, USA
Have a 2021 Pacifica Hybrid Pinnacle purchased 01/2021. Since getting the vehicle randomly the car will not start, the gear selector flashes and will not drive. Have to continually restart the vehicle to get it to move. Then randomly while driving the car would display a check engine light and message Service Charging System. This would occur 1-2x a month. When you plug the car in the indicator lights would flash, the fan would spin up very loud and not engage charging. This would last for a few days. Took it into service around 5 times to two different dealers and could not recreate either issue. Then in April 14 2022, while driving on the freeway roughly 75 the engine cut off, message came up Service Charging System, Shift To P To Start. Check Engine Light comes on, drive selector in bottom right flashes, gear selector light flashes. Have to restart it multiple times, get the vehicle to sleep by open door, and pressing start button multiple times with foot on brake and off brake. Eventually got it to start again and happened again 15 minutes later. Took into service again, they replaced some wires and it failed again twice driving on the freeway over 70 on April 22nd 2022. Took into service again and they replaced the wiring harness and a sensor in the transmission. Got it back and it failed again while pulling into my driveway on April 30th 2022. Vehicle is still in service and they are unable to find the root cause. In 4 of the 5 stalls, driving at a high rate of speed completely losing engine power with children in the car presents a severe safety hazard. Thankfully each time have been able to safely pull over. Has been in service 4 times in the last month over this specific issue. About 10 times total on service charging system message.
- Denton, TX, USA
the electric heater for the battery has been broken for 3 months now. Chrysler cannot seem to find a replacement part. what this does is cause the engine to come on and go off way more then expected. this also can cause weird transmission and acceleration issues when the car doesn't know which one to pick. this is also putting a lot more pressure on the transmission and causing issues with which device is sending the power. this has been going on all winter and Chrysler cannot find the part to replace.
- Reston, VA, USA
Nov 23, 2021. Check Engine Light Illuminated. Dealer service diagnosed the problem as the battery pack coolant heater -??A-?? control circuit performance. Dealer replaced part. Jan 12, 2022. Check engine light illuminated again. Dealer, again, diagnosed the same problem and replaced the same part.
- Rockville, MD, USA
We were driving on the interstate when the vehicle all of a sudden lost power. We were luckily able to get it to the side of the road, but if there was more traffic, we would not be able to do so. The car was then towed to the dealership and they said they will be replacing the the power inverter. The car has been in the dealership since the October and it is February now.
- Colorado Springs, CO, USA
We currently have 13170 miles on our 2021 Pacifica. We have seen this charge system error now for the third time. Here is the list of errors below. First time I was driving 45 mph and the vehicle lost power and had a charge system error. I was able to safely stop on the side of the road. I was able to restart the vehicle after about 2 minutes with a check engine light. I was able to take it to the dealership and had all of the current software updates and removed the check engine light. Second time I was at work and I attempted to start the vehicle from the run button. The radio turned on but I had a charge system error and the vehicle would not turn off. I worked for about 5 to 10 minutes to turn the vehicle off. Luckily I was not driving at the time and was parked. I again had a check engine light. The dealership diagnosed that I have a failing PIM. The vehicle sat at the dealership for a month, the part was continually on back order every two weeks. The check engine light was removed and I took the vehicle home still waiting on the replacement PIM. Third time I was in the garage, PIM still not replaced, on back order and the vehicle would not start from the run button. I was able to turn on the vehicle after waiting about 2 to 3 minutes. After driving for about 25 minutes the issue came up again. I was able to wait and the vehicle restarted. A check engine light illuminated on the dash. On the way home after a stop, I had loss of power and had the charge system error going 25mph. I was able to stop the vehicle in a empty parking lot. I waited about 5 minutes and was able to restart the vehicle. I drove the vehicle straight home and is now sitting in the garage at home. As of today I am still waiting for this back ordered PIM since October. The vehicle now will sit in the garage, unusable, until the replacement part can be installed. This may be a reliability and safety issue in the future.
- Plattsmouth, NE, USA
I purchased a pre-owned 2021 Pacifica Hybrid on November 4th 2021. After driving it off the lot, the vehicle stalled (essentially loses power and gas pedal does not work) while driving at a high rate of speed on the highway. Symptom: While driving at a high rate of speed (65MPH, 60MPH, 50MPH, 70MPH), van loses power and gas pedal will not work. Van is on <1% battery and running off gasoline power. After coasting to a stop on the side of the road, a message pops up that says "Service Charging System" and the check engine light comes on. Then it says "Shift to P to Start". Check engine light is on. Frequency: Occurrences happened immediately after taking ownership of vehicle and were 11/4/21, 11/6/21, 11/7/21, 11/9/21. After that we stopped driving the vehicle and took it back to the dealer because of safety concerns. Workaround: Shifting to P to start (starting like you would normally start the car) does not start the vehicle. We have been able to figure out a workaround to get it to start however. If you push the start button without your foot on the brake so it is in the "accessory" power mode, then put your foot on the brake, then push the start button again, it starts. The check engine light stays on for a period of time (less than 24hrs) after each event, but then goes off. I see this has been reported by several people with at least 4 NHTSA IDs filed with the exact same issue. This is a serious safety concern and is not only reported with these IDs, but also is prevalent on other online forums such as pacificaforums.com and Facebook group "Chrysler Pacifica Plug-In Hybrid 2017 and beyond." Symptoms match these NHTSA IDs. NHTSA ID Number: 11439920 NHTSA ID Number: 11432866 NHTSA ID Number: 11430933 NHTSA ID Number: 11418815
- Pittsboro, NC, USA
While driving on the interstate at ~60MPH the vehicle suddenly shut off and flashed a "Service Charging System" Error. The gas pedal was unresponsive and we were forced to swerve through traffic as the vehicle was rapidly decelerating to make our way to the side of the interstate. This is a minivan, and as a minivan, we were using it for it's intended purpose of transporting our 4 small children to school and daycare. Because this event happened on the interstate, not only did we risk a high speed crash, but we had to move the kids from one vehicle to another as cars whizzed by at 60-70mph. We tried multiple attempts at restarting the vehicle and it would not restart. The vehicle is currently at the dealership and is being looked at under warranty.
- Omaha, NE, USA
I wanted to write to you and let you know about our recent and scary experience with our new 2021 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid Limited. We purchased our van on Labor Day, September 6, 2021. Since then, we have had 2 out of town family funerals and a family vacation so we have right at 5k miles on the vehicle. On 11/5/2021, at approximately 1:15pm, I was driving our van on a 6-lane major thoroughfare with my two small children with me. We had 43% of our EV battery remaining and so we were driving on EV power (and had a half tank of fuel also). Suddenly, the engine power stopped, I had no acceleration, and a -??Service Charging System-?? message popped up on the instrument info panel along with a check engine light, a red battery light near the compass, and a red plug symbol just below the fuel gauge. I was not able to get the van to do anything but roll with whatever forward momentum we had toward the side of the highway. In nothing short of a miracle, we avoided multiple collisions and safely made it to the shoulder. We had electric power to run the radio and climate fan only but the car engine was completely inoperable and could not start or shift into gear after multiple attempts to restart it. I contacted roadside assistance and waited for a tow while trying to keep my small children calm and safe sitting in a dangerous location on the side of a highway. After about 30 minutes, the car engine fan shut off and so I attempted to restart the car and it finally worked. I immediately headed toward the closest dealership by taking the side roads and hoping that we wouldn-??t have another incident and be a sitting duck on the highway again. This vehicle malfunction could have, and realistically still could, cause a traumatic and horrific fatal motor vehicle collision. This is not just a routine and minor malfunction like a door sensor issue, or check engine light, etc. This issue can lead to a severe safety issue that will, and did, render the vehicle a target with no escape.
- The Colony, TX, USA
While driving our 2021 Chrysler Pacifica PHEV in EV on the highway, at speed of 65 mph, the vehicle lost power and the accelerator pedal became unresponsive. This has occurred on three occassions, each on different days. The dashboard signaled these issues: Shift to P to Start, Service Charging System, and the check engine light indicator. This is a very serious safety issue. The Engine and Power failed while driving at highway speed, this has occurred 3 times in the past few weeks. After losing power, the vehicle can only coast using it's own momentum. The steering and braking functions remained operable, so the driver was able to steer the car to change lanes (while losing speed) to get to the shoulder. This UNSAFE for my family because vehicle is at risk of being rear ended while on the highway. This is unsafe for anyone in the vehicle directly behind my vehicle. After the 2nd incident of losing power while on highway, I made an appointment with local Chrysler Dealer's service department. They inspected the vehicle and, as I understand it, they found a message or fault indicator that was somewhat concerning in relation to the electrical system. The service provided a solution by adjusting or tuning something. They did not replace any parts. Three days after the service was done, the problem occurred again; again, my vehicle lost power while going ~65mph on the highway. I called local chrysler service and left message with them today, requesting another service appointment. When they call me back I will request Chrysler to report this as a safety issue.
- Afton, MN, USA
I was driving at just over 70MPH in hybrid mode (battery fully depleted for full electric operation) and suddenly the van lost all power and a warning came up on the screen that said "Service Charging System". The van was totally stalled and had no power, but still had electrical functions. I had to pull over on the side of the road in busy traffic, put the van in Park and then restart. After this event, my engine light has remained on and I am attempting to schedule an appointment with the Chrysler dealer. This high speed stall in busy traffic was extremely dangerous and I hope that we can resolve this matter effectively. The dash photo I uploaded is not my actual dash, but that is the exact same error screen and engine light that I saw. Exactly the same.
- Marietta, GA, USA
While in EV mode, driving 75 mph on the freeway for at least five minutes, the vehicle suddenly loses power and the accelerator pedal becomes completely unresponsive. My vehicle was slowing down in the carpool lane and I had to carefully find my way to the shoulder to be able to turn the vehicle EV motor back on. There are no warning signs. It is very sudden. This has happened 8 times so far. Dealership service center has inspected and tested the vehicle twice for a few weeks and has not been able to reproduce. My vehicle is available for more inspection but I just initiated a buy back process with Chrysler Customer Care.
- Irvine, CA, USA
- Harrington, DE, USA