Is your defective Chrysler Pacifica actually a LEMON?

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10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
0 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
48 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

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.

2021 Chrysler Pacifica engine problems

engine problem

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2021 Chrysler Pacifica Owner Comments

problem #20

Jul 092024

Pacifica

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

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

problem #19

May 222024

Pacifica

  • miles
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

problem #18

Mar 302024

Pacifica

  • miles
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

problem #17

Feb 262024

Pacifica

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

As I was leaving my son's school parking lot - moments away from an on-ramp to a major freeway - an error message flashed on the dash saying "Service Charging System" followed by a message about the vehicle's speed being limited and a red turtle icon. The van instantly was driving strangely. Since I was in a parking lot, I turned everything off and waited for the van to shut down completely. I restarted the van and the warning messages were gone, but the check engine light remained. The van showed more than 15 miles of battery mileage remaining. The week prior, we had taken it into the dealership for the open recalls to be repaired, so we took it back for this issue. The dealership just messaged me saying the van is ready to be picked up and that the charging system was just low. But it still had nearly 1/2 the battery left when this happened! The dealership went on to say, "So here is the deal, we could not verify the concern at this time. There are no codes in the system, nothing to really test for. I can have someone drive it and see if anything happens, but without being able to duplicate your concern, we cannot diagnose it." My sister-in-law had the exact same issue on her own Chrysler pacific Hybrid just a few months ago, while she was on the freeway and her speed was instantly throttled. They replaced the entire electrical hybrid transmission. This is a known issue with this vehicle and it is going to put my life and my kid's life at risk since the dealership cannot reproduce the error. I even sent a picture of the error message, and they say there's nothing they can do.

- Vancouver, WA, USA

problem #16

Sep 152023

Pacifica

  • miles
There have been several incidents that have to do with the electrical components site, such as the adaptive cruise control not working the lanes assist going off, stating that my hands are on the wheel. When my hands are on the wheel, there have been problems when I go to put it in drive. It'll switch back to park and throw on my parking brake. It has also the auto breaking lights have. Come on, my checken and light has come on. It taking in to the dealership and they found corrosion on some of the wires, replaced them. They also replaced the adaptive adaptive control module. It was supposed to magically fix all my electrical problems. Yet I'm still having electrical problems also my navigation on. A scream down by the cluster cluster. Stays on and doesn't go anywhere. I also have video and pictures and things like that of the situations that have gone on with my Van 4 months and nothing has been fixed. I've been told by the dealer and buy a representative from Chrysler. That's my Van is fine. There's nothing wrong with that. But clearly there isn't an electrical issue and. And I pretty God. Nothing happens to me or my family or someone else because of it. Also, the radio, when you shut your car off and open the doors to exit your vehicle, the radio is still left playing and should not also the auto break in just comes on. For no reason. It happened on the interstwhen we were merging in the traffic. And there's no reason it should be doing some of the things that it's doing.

- Crawfordsville, IA, USA

problem #15

Jul 092023

Pacifica

  • miles
Vehicle was traveling at approximately 50 miles per hour with no indication of an issue or prior warning. Vehicle suddenly lost power, rolled to a stop, engaged parking brake and displayed "Service Charging System" error. Vehicle was non-operable in the middle of traffic with small children inside the vehicle, presenting significant risk of accident and injury. Vehicle was towed to a dealership and remains inoperable, as confirmed by dealer. Dealer diagnosed need for replacement transmission. Vehicle previously had transmission-related recall, which was serviced. No open recalls are in effect, though public searches and owners' groups identify consistent, recurring fact patterns. Chrysler's Star parts department blocked the dealer's part order and neither Chrysler nor dealer have identified the reason. Vehicle remains inoperable at the dealer with no timeline for part availability or repair, and uncertainty as to whether issue will recur.

- Olivette, MO, USA

problem #14

Apr 052023

Pacifica

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

On Wed, April 5th, 2023 at approximately 10:15 pm I was returning home from a class in my 2021 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. I was on local roads and had just transitioned from EV mode to gas mode (having used up all of my battery after about 30 miles of driving) when the car flashed the attached warning sign and I had very little power provided by my accelerator. Note that something similar to this has happened 5x before. All of these incidents had been at highway speeds (70+ mph) with one at about 40 mph. All had complete shutdown of power in the accelerator. In the current case I was able to still have a bit of power left and pulled over to the side of the road. Fortunately, it was late and there weren't too many other cars out so I didn't have as many safety concerns as I had in the past when I stalled on the highway. After I pulled the car over I stopped the car, turned the car off via the ignition button, unbuckled my seat belt and opened my door. Then I restarted my car and the error message attached had disappeared and I was able to return home. Note that I had had the dealer apply Recall 03A a week earlier and this seemed to be what was supposed to happen under that Recall which is NOT identified as a complete fix. Still, it is very disconcerting to lose full power. In my case, I was thankful to not have gotten into an accident.

- New Berlin, WI, USA

problem #13

Mar 172023

Pacifica

  • miles
We were coming down a mountain from Flagstaff to Phoenix at night in heavy, fast traffic when my engine just died. No power, no power steering, no power assisted brakes. Total emergency. I have never been so scared in a vehicle. Nearly rear ended by semi at full speed. Had to try to find a shoulder on a mountain and pull over fast to avoid collision. Then once pulled over the Pacifica does not just start right up again Have to go through a process. THEN it happened AGAIN 20 minutes later. ALMOST another REAR end collision. That night I found out there's a recall for this exact problem WITHOUT A REMEDY!!!!!! I took it right in to the dealer for a software update that... GET THIS...doesn't fix the defect but is supposed to give me more warning that my engine is ABOUT TO SHUT OFF!!! PLEASE DO NOT allow them to get by with this bandaid. This is truly a life threatening defect. They MUST fix this or buy back my vehicle. PLEASE HELP!!! Chrysler is risking our lives.

- Clive, IA, USA

problem #12

Mar 182023

Pacifica

  • miles
I was driving on the highway ~57mph and the dash flashed warnings "Service Charging Station", and then I lost control of the accelerator pedal. It seems like the engine stalled, and I could no longer use the gas pedal. I coasted off the highway, then restarted the engine by turning it off/on. Once it was back on, I continued to drive, and I experienced the same exact thing. This is the 3rd time I've had an issue with the dash warning "Service Charging Station". This car has been in-and-out of service for ~2 months, since purchasing the new car around June 2021.

- Ellicott City, MD, USA

problem #11

Jan 192023

Pacifica

  • miles
The vehicle constantly stalls out when we driving on the freeway. The vehicle loss of the power on the freeway put me and my family's life in very dangerous situation when we drove the vehicle. Brough my vehicle to the dealership, and it verified the problem with engine light error code P0A43-00. The dealer stated that they are not able to fix it due to the issue was related to a active recall 03A. However, the remedy was not available.

- La Verne, CA, USA

problem #10

Feb 042023

Pacifica

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The car lost all motive power on 3 separate occasions on Saturday, Feb 4, 2023. The car is currently at the dealership and we've been told the transmission needs to be replaced. Our family's safety was put at risk as well as the drivers around us. We easily could have be rear ended when when we were on the freeway and lost the ability to accelerate. When we lost power each time we had to navigate to the side of the freeway or exit to avoid being hit by another driver. The dealer has not reproduced it (that I know of) but has said we need a new transmission. My fear is that we are going to get a new transmission that will do the same thing. There were no warnings before the failure. Once the failure happened, the engine and battery lights came on as well as another warning about the electrical system.

- Glendale, AZ, USA

problem #9

Jan 152023

Pacifica

  • miles
Multiple occurrences have happened where I am driving the car on the freeway when the SERVICE CHARGING SYSTEM code comes on and the vehicle stalls. I am unable to accelerate and have to pull off onto the shoulder. This is very dangerous as the vehicles on the freeway are going at high speeds. This failure could easily cause an accident or worse. The car then flashes SHIFT TO P TO START and the check engine light comes on. The vehicle is currently at the Chrysler dealership to be diagnosed.

- Houston, TX, USA

problem #8

Dec 242022

Pacifica 6-cyl

  • miles
My 2021 Pacifica Hybrid with 19.2K miles threw a "Service Charging System" and Check Engine Light error while I was driving at 65mph on the highway on Christmas Eve in 8 degree weather. The minivan stopped accelerating and the transmission began flashing between P and D. We were forced to stop the vehicle on the highway shoulder, leaving us (2 parents, 2 kids 7 & 11) stranded on the highway. The vehicle then shut off and we were unable to turn on heating or accessories other than headlights and hazards. We were rescued by state troopers given that no tow trucks were available on Christmas Eve. The local dealer claims that the issue was related to the battery, but that doesn't make sense given the car was driving at highway speeds at the time and the alternator should keep the battery charged. I have seen a lot of owners with Service Charging System errors on this forum and believe Chrysler should have some knowledge as to a permanent solution. Without better understanding the root cause of the issue, it's hard for us to feel safe with a battery replacement, since that seems to be address symptom given that a car running highway speeds would keep the batteries charged through the belt and alternator system. My wife is fairly terrified of driving this car at highway speeds without some assurances it won't shut down and I get the sense that the dealer wants to wash its hands of this situation. I have a Chrysler warranty number for this repair, but have not received assistance yet. Would really appreciate some help!

- Millburn, NJ, USA

problem #7

Dec 282022

Pacifica

  • miles
The engine of our 2021 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid suddenly lost power while driving on the freeway. The display indicated "Put car in park" or something similar--but we were driving 65 miles/hour in heavy traffic! I had to pull over, turn the car off completely for one minute, and restart. After restarting the "check engine" light was on. Later in the drive after we stopped again, the "Check engine" light turned off, so all evidence of the error is gone from the car. However, we received en email from Chrysler's automatic system saying the car had reported an error for "powertrain" and we should schedule our service. It was dangerous to lose power while driving at freeway speeds. I am also confused about why the car's error codes went away. The car is available for inspection. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? My family of four was driving in heavy holiday traffic at 65 miles per hour when we lost power. It is dangerous to lose power at such speeds in the middle lanes of the interstate. I turned on the hazard lights and crossed three lanes to an exit. Thankfully we were going downhill and the heavy trucks in the slow lanes let us through. My life and the lives of my family were clearly endangered by this incident. This is the second time the car lost power on the freeway and the fourth time we have had the check engine light turn on. The car has about 26,500 miles. I have taken the car to dealer shops for the last three times the car indicated errors. Last time the car lost power the dealer said they could not replicate the issue. The car has been inspected by the dealer service department 4 times. I will take the car back to the dealer to get inspected again. There were no indications prior to the failure. The car lost power with no warning when we were driving at freeway speeds and we were about 300 miles into a 500 mile drive.

- La Mesa, CA, USA

problem #6

Dec 232022

Pacifica

  • miles
I was driving in stop and go traffic about 4 hours into a road trip on I95. At around 60mph, an error popped up on the dash saying -??Service Charging System-?? then it quickly went away and said -??Shift to P to Start-?? at which point I lost all propulsion. I was in the left lane and had to make my way to the side of the road with my family of 6 in the car. This was extremely stressful and dangerous as I had no way to accelerate and was stuck to coast. I flipped on my hazard lights and was able to navigate to a safe place under an overpass. At this point, I completely cut off the car and restarted it. It worked fine again upon restart, but the check engine light remained there after. The incident happened again on a side road at around 40mph on the same day. I coasted to a stoplight and had to power cycle the car 3 times to get driving again. The following day, I went to a local Chrysler dealership and they are still in the progress of diagnosing, however they won-??t have a response until after Christmas. So, I-??m being directed to rent a vehicle until the van is deemed safe to drive again.

- Chesapeake, VA, USA

problem #5

Dec 202022

Pacifica

  • miles
On Tue, 12/20/2022, I was driving on I-94 westbound between Moorland Road and WI Hwy 164 at about 60-70 mph. The car suddenly stalled and I lost all ability to accelerate the vehicle. The brakes and steering wheel still worked fine. The dash was displaying a message: "Service charging system. Shift to P to start." This has happened to my vehicle multiple times before. I was in the right lane and the shoulder was clear. I was able to pull onto the shoulder and come to a controlled stop. I put the vehicle in PARK and shut off the vehicle. After waiting a bit I restarted the car successfully. This happened 1 more time on the same trip (but on Hwy 16 as I was headed out to Waukesha County Technical College.) This is definitely safety issue as there was no way to restart the car in motion. Plus, pulling over to the shoulder on a busy highway, particularly with many trucks going by around 50 - 60 mph made me feel quite scared. I do NOT trust driving the vehicle at speeds above 60 mph anymore. This has happened to me last month. I took it to a dealer after that incident but they could not find anything wrong with the vehicle. This is now the 6th time this has happened to me.

- New Berlin, WI, USA

problem #4

Sep 102022

Pacifica

  • miles
I was on the highway, and my car suddenly lost power. I was unable to accelerate, and I had to pull over on the shoulder. I received an alert that said -??service charging system error.-?? It was extremely dangerous for myself and my family.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

problem #3

Jul 082022

Pacifica

  • miles
Driving on highway and experienced total loss of power. Coasted to side of road. Unable to "restart". Error displayed "Service Charging System" Dealership ran software updates to remedy issue. One week later same issue. Driving on highway and total loss of power., same error message. Towed to another dealership. Diagnosed as dead 12v battery, but I doubt this diagnosis. Battery was not dead at time of breakdown, it died after 4.5 hours waiting for a tow with hazards on.

- Downers Grove, IL, USA

problem #2

Apr 222022

Pacifica

  • miles
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

problem #1

Apr 202021

Pacifica

  • 950 miles
When the car was stopped at a stop sign getting ready to make a right turn, the engine turned off. Though the car was on drive, I was unable to accelerate or move the car. I had to shift to park, restart the car and was then able to drive. This happened eleven days later again, in even scarier circumstances. The engine turned off when I was slowing down in preparation to merge into a highway. The car turned off and stopped and I could not accelerate or drive, holding up the cars behind me. Again I had to shift the car to park and restart the car before I could shift back to drive and start driving. I had my four kids in the car with me and this was extremely dangerous and terrifying for everyone. A car that suddenly turns off in the middle of driving without warning is not safe to be on the road.

- Harrington Park, NJ, USA

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