This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
When I first purchased my 2021 Pacifica Hybrid Pinnacle in January 2021, randomly when pressing the lift gate button in the top left of the trunk it would beep multiple times and the lift gate would not move. The key fob, front button, and rear button would not engage the lift gate motor. You had to manually shut the lift gate and it would latch. Then in November 2021 I had the Y50 2021 RU Power Lift gate recall done on my vehicle and since then three times while driving the lift gate has popped up on its own. When you pull over all buttons are unresponsive and when you manually close the lift gate the locking mechanism does not engage. It just pulls right back open by hand or while driving. To resolve you must try over and over shutting the door, pressing the buttons, turning the vehicle on and off multiple times, letting it sleep and turn it back on and eventually the locking mechanism will engage. Have brought it multiple times to the dealer and every time they cannot recreate. Poses a dangerous safety issue while driving for the lift gate to open as you don't realize its not latched.
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 I think it's dangerous. I had this issue multiple times and many of other owners has reported similar issue. I made a video on the issue which you can checkout here https://youtu.be/xFFSJG6j3qM Date I entered below is the last time I had the issue on freeway.
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.
Malfunction light indicator (MIL) light turned on which caused vehicle EV only mode to be disabled and now the vehicle only runs under engine power poorly with the battery is always fully charged (MPG is cut in half since battery is never used). Manufacture service center found error code P0E15 on 3/3/2022, which indicated the EV battery coolant heater failed and needs to be replaced. Part is on backorder and no ETA is available, they indicated they have a few in their service center alone that have the same issue.
The contact owns a 2021 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. The contact stated while her husband was inside the vehicle, he noticed the instrument panel was not functioning properly. The contact stated that the HVAC, radio, backup camera, and Bluetooth failed to function as needed. The contact also stated the backup camera would function intermittently. The contact stated that the airbag warning light was illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the radio control unit to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired due to the parts being on backorder. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was 7,519.
- Greenfield, WI, USA
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While driving, the vehicle shut off. Steering and brakes were still working, it's already happened 2 times and I was able to coast off the highway. After turning off and on the with the starter button the car starts normally with only the engine light on. There are several other posts on forums of others owners having the same problem.
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.
While driving, the vehicle shut off. Steering and brakes were still working, so I was able to coast off the highway. The check engine light, a battery fault indicator, and a service charging system warning all displayed on the dash. This is the second time this has happened, and a Chrysler dealer service center installed software updates they claimed fixed the issue. It is now back at the dealer. The first time this occurred, it was on a busy road with no shoulder near a dangerous turn. I was stopped in the road for several minutes before I got it to restart and was able to limp to a safe parking spot. There are several other posts on web forums and YouTube of other owners having the same problem.
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.
Check engine light illuminated and there was a warning message on the dash screen that I was not able to capture. This model of van is a plug-in hybrid. With this failure the engine systems are NOT utilizing the hybrid traction battery portion of the system. I have driven many small trips up to about 65 miles, but no drive has yet used the battery capacity. So the vehicle is running 100% on the gas engine, and is not able to function in hybrid or electrical only drive mode. The dealership is unable to tell me if driving the vehicle in this state will cause further damage to the van, therefore I am stuck unable to drive the vehicle for fear of causing even more damage. Error code pulled from personal obd2 reader: P0E15 - Hybrid/EV Battery Pack Coolant Heater A Control Performance On 1/4/2022 the dealer service advisor called and confirmed that the issue is the expected part failure/replacement, and that there are no parts available in the US for this repair. The last instance that my dealer repaired took 4 weeks to secure the needed parts for repair. Still no confirmation the van would be safe to drive in the interim. Therefore I am without my new 2021 vehicle purchased 5/10/2021, while it only has 1608miles... for what seems like will be at least another month. The dealer SA also mentioned to me that Chrysler currently had another ~450 instances of this same failure happening right now, all which going to be significantly impacted by the lack of parts availability. This is unacceptable.
The van displayed various error messages in the dash screen, and issued a warning beeped, then told me to shift the vehicle to park. The van then locked itself in park and could not be moved. Rotary gear selector non-responsive, transmission selector gear lights went out. We had to have the vehicle towed out of the restaurant drive through lane and delivered to the dealership. Van would still start, but wouldn-??t move. "Errors in dash: ""Service Hybrid Electric System"" ""Service Shifter"" ""Service Shifter Stop Safely Shut Off Vehicle to Engage Park"""
Driving twice we have gotten a message "Pullover vehicle will shutoff" on the display, and the motor and engine shut off shortly after. After restart, the console says "Service Hybrid System" the van then has a top speed of 40-45 MPH, not safe to drive on interstate even to get to the next exit. The first time the dealer had the van for 10 days said the problem was in the hybrid system related to the charging cord (provided with the vehicle) The second time we were 2 miles from home and able to get the vehicle home safely with the hazard light on. The dealer is trying to tow it for the second time, the vehicle does not have enough power to drive up the ramps onto the roll-back tow truck.
While driving vehicle went into full lock down. Vehicle remained running with all systems on except completely unable to engage drive, shut vehicle down or even power it off. Towed to dealer. Dealer stating codes stating hybrid error and transmission errors. Vehicle has 7021 miles and was purchased March 2021. My wife and 2 children were stranded on the road in a vehicle that would not move. Terrifying for me.
The car stopped 2 times on it's own, told me to shift to park immediately but was in essence shutting itself off. Once approaching a stop light going ~10 mph and the second time I was going 50 mph down the road. The first time 3 warnings flashed across my screen, Service Charging System Service Required, Front Parksense Unavailable Service Required, Active Parksense Unavailable Service Required, I shut the car completely off waited a couple minutes and turned it back on. The check engine light stayed on. During the 2nd event it was only Service Charging System, after i shut the car off and restarted the Uconnect started updating and I couldn't drive and the check engine light came on.
We have now had two incidences where the vehicle is being driven both on the highway and in the city. The vehicle malfunctions without any indication or warning. While driving the vehicle beeps and the check engine light comes on, you lose all control or ability to accelerate. You still have steering. The screen on the dash in front of the driver flashes and continues to flash and says there is an issue, while saying to move the drive to park. The drive options (park, drive, reverse, etc) flashes on and off but will not move anyways. You are essentially forced to cruise to a stop hopefully in a safe place or emergently braking. The only way to get the vehicle to reset is once completely stopped. To push the ignition off button. Which does not fully turn it off. You then have to open the driver door hopefully safely. And allow the vehicle to completely shut off. Then get back in and it will usually start at this point with the check engine light still on. We have video and pictures of this happening to us both times and am have seen others experience this extremely dangerous situation. I am going to report to the dealer and the customer service for Chrysler as well. Then the news.
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
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.
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.
I was in the garage near the car when it started spontaneously. I had the key fob in my pants pocket. It turned off when I sat inside and pushed the ignition off button. Did not notice any warnings/lights at the time. There were no safety consequences. My Concerns: What else could happen spontaneously" Could it shift into gear? Carbon monoxide in the closed garage" Has not recurred. The only recent auto malfunction was the Information display (UConnect) had locked up a couple of weeks prior after a routine software download to the car. No problem with vehicle operation with that episode. Checked by the dealer and felt to be OK. No recurrence. I attempted to notify MOPAR. Their web page email didn-??t work for a several tries. I was unable to get past their customer service robot who got stuck on -??other-?? when I couldn-??t pick one of their menu options. I wanted NHTSA to be aware in case of other similar reports.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Denton, TX, USA