NHTSA Owner Complaint Log
This page lists owner-reported complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2021 Chrysler Pacifica. Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA and do not by themselves prove a defect or defect rate.
I was driving down the road and the car just turned off. It will not start anymore.
I was driving 70 miles an hour, in the left lane ,in heavy traffic on I -75 when I suddenly lost all power. A warning flashed on the screen saying to service charging system. I barely avoided a collision trying to get off the highway. I could has easily collided with another car since I had no power and I had to cross lanes of traffic in order to get off the road.
While driving on the highway our vehicle continues to lose power and stall without any warning. We have been forced to drift onto shoulders, with no ability to accelerate.
My wife and I were driving on HWY 101 at 11pm at night while camping, were headed to the ER as I had just cut my hand with a hachet. While driving, all of a sudden an error light on the dash appeared reading "Service Charging System," the accelerator no longer delivered power, and the car began quickly slowing down. Luckily, I was able to move to the shoulder and stop the van. The Pacifica remained on with all systems working (radio, lights, etc), but the car accelerator would not deliver power. The car would not fully turn off after pressing the ingintion button. Opening and closing the driver side door allowed for the van to be turned off and then back on, it started again and was driveable. We were able to drive the car to the ER and back to the campsite. The problem has not yet re-occurred. It has not been seen by the dealer center yet, but has an appointment scheduled. Driving at night in the mountains with a vehicle that loses all power while traveling at highway speeds is extremely dangerous and disturbing.
Driving on the interstate, the vehicle simply shut down and gave the following error message: "Service Charging System." I was able to pull to the shoulder and get the vehicle started again. There had been no prior warning messages or symptoms of the problem. I took the vehicle in for service, and the dealership ran a diagnostic check and found no issues. A couple weeks later, the same thing happened. I was again able to get to the shoulder without incident. Took the vehicle to a different dealership where they identified the issue as a bad Power Inverter Module. The vehicle is still at the dealership (it has been a full week). While I was able to navigate the situation without injury. This could have been a very dangerous situation in the instance where a shoulder was not available or traffic was significantly heavier. It appears this is a fairly common problem for some of the new Chrysler Pacifica Hybrids, which brings to question why there has not been a recall issues.
The vehicle is a PHEV. The system that malfunctioned is related to the vehicle charging system. The vehicle seems to think it is plugged into the wall when it is actually not plugged in. It is a safety issue because the vehicle will not move -- my family could have been stranded. Planning to tow the vehicle to a dealership to have diagnosed within one week or so. The vehicle has not been inspected by anyone yet. There were no warnings prior to the failure. Currently there is a check engine light on as well as an image of a plug/cable indicating that the vehicle thinks it is plugged into an electrical outlet (which it is not).
While driving in the freeway this morning the check engine light and service charging system came on. Shortly thereafter the car lost all power and I was able to coast to a stop on the shoulder of the freeway. Fortunately I was in the carpool lane and near the shoulder and would not have been able to get over otherwise putting myself and others in a very dangerous situation on the freeway. Once stopped, the steering wheel locked as well as the wheels and the car lost all function. Although there are no formal recalls, there are forums dedicated to this problem: https://www.pacificaforums.com/threads/service-charging-system-error.41145/ The dealer is currently advising but the threads in those forums suggests FCA does not have a fix in place. The car becomes dangerous to drive as this happens out of nowhere with limited to no warning.
While driving at 70mph on the interstate, the vehicle completely lost power. The check engine light turned on, the message "Service Charging System" came up, and the gear knob blinked. We had to pull over on the side of the interstate. When we pushed the "off/on/acc" button, it would appear that it turned off, but it would go back into on status, but still wouldn't allow you to shift into drive. (You could turn the knob, but it wouldn't do anything). Finally, we had to remove the keys from the car to turn it off. Once we were able to do that, it did turn back on and allowed us to go back into gear as normal. We were able to drive a few miles, and then it did it again. We had the vehicle towed. Chrysler had to put a whole new transmission due to a hybrid part within the transmission that failed. Concerned that this happened with the transmission that only had 17k miles on it. Chrysler still cannot answer if they have fixed the issue with the transmissions they are currently building. When you are driving in construction season on the interstate and your vehicle completely powers off, it could make for a deathly accident. This isn't something you should have to worry about with a car only a year old. I found a US Department of transportation investigation where 40 others have reported the same issue. ODI Investigation : PE 22-008
While driving on hybrid system (battery at 0%) and braking toward a stop sign , the car went into neutral and would not power the wheels. A message appeared to service hybrid charging system. all gauges wen to zero (start position) . The car was pulled over and it would not go back to to any gear. I was only 2 miles from my house and was able to get tools to disconnect the 12V battery in hopes for system recovery. After disconnecting the 12V battery the system recovered and I was able to get back home to setup a service appointment. The entertainment system did not recover correctly and required a software reboot with all settings reset. The previous week the battery charge indicator was behaving strangely as it would start with 36 miles of range and after 2 miles of very slow driving it wold drop to 26 miles. After a few more miles it would drop to 21 miles and stay at that for a long time.
car stalled at high speed in HOV fast track in rush hour traffic - terrifying! was running on electric mode. Heart stopping emergency tow. First Chrysler dealer where car was purchased said they could not trouble shoot for 2 months. Found another dealer, had it towed there. Waiting to learn what the problem is. Only 14,000 miles and under warranty.
While driving on highway at approx. 75 mph using adaptive cruise control, the red power cord shaped warning indication appeared on the instrument panel. At the time the warning appeared, the vehicle was in battery powered mode. At the same time the warning showed, the electric motor stopped providing power. The vehicle did not transition to hybrid mode (gas powered), and depressing the accelerator did nothing. The vehicle began to slow from highway speeds, while other cars were in the vicinity. While all this was happening, the "D" on the gear selector was flashing. There was also a message saying to put the vehicle in park to restart, however, i did not want to attempt that at highway speeds. Other systems seemed to operate as normal, brakes worked, the electrical system seemed to be functional other than the described fault. I pulled over to the shoulder and stopped the vehicle completely. I turned the vehicle off, then on again, and was able to put the vehicle in drive without any faults occuring. Normal operation resumed after that.
Driving around 40 MPH when car alert came on to Shift into P and lost all forward drive. Needed to pull onto a side street since car would not accelerate. Car said service charging system and would not recover. Could not turn car off but A/C system stopped working. The transmission light were flashing from P to R to D but would not engage. Had to be towed to dealer to await troubleshooting.
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.
I was driving uphill at slow speed; then a garbage truck in front of me needed to do a 3 point turn so I switched to reverse to back up. At that point the vehicle started flashing an alarm, I think said "service hybrid system" or something like that and instantly began rolling down the hill for about a block, while I was completely unable to engage the break or gas, to switch to drive, to control the wheel, even the emergency brake failed. I was rolling backwards for about a block completely unable to control any component of the car when the emergency break finally engaged. I was able to turn on my hazards at that point, but the vehicle would not start, nor would it turn off. I could not make it reverse or drive or even turn off as I sat stuck in the middle of an intersection. After several minutes like that I was eventually able to restart the car and drive slowly home. This is MURDER by Chrysler waiting to happen. I was very lucky no child or vehicle was behind me as I rolled downhill into an intersection. I was very lucky to not be hit by oncoming traffic as I sat stuck after rolling a block downhill backwards-- THESE ARE MINIVANS FILLED WITH CHILDREN!! MY 4 children! Chrysler in Berkeley service said they haven't heard of this before and will see me only next week, and not sooner! However, There are numerous similar complaints registered. I am afraid to drive it at all at this point. This is a very new car with less than 10K miles on it. RECALL IMMEDIATELY PLEASE BEFORE SOMEONE GETS KILLED.
Car stalled out while driving at 35 mph. Lost all propulsive power. Indicated “service hybrid system” and “shift to park” error on multi function display. Was able to safely coast to side shoulder and stop. Car would not move again after this reading the same errors even after shifting to part and attempting to restart car. If this had occurred on a multi lane highway it would have been extremely dangerous.
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.
Occurred at 1000,1500,and 16000 miles. Car would turn on but steering column is locked and it does not get in to gear. D and R just put car in neutral. Dealer is replacing hybrid battery. Car eventually got in to gear after several hard resets.
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.
While driving, the vehicle flashes a warning that a charging fault has occurred and instructs the driver to stop and put the vehicle into park. Once stopped and in park, the vehicle will not shift or drive. This has happened at least 6 times and the dealer has not been able to fix it.
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.
*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.
While driving on the freeway on the morning of June 18th, 2022 from Southern California to Las Vegas at 70-75mph, the car suddenly lost power. It displayed the error "Service Charging System" and "Shift P to to Start". This was incredibly dangerous as acceleration no longer worked and the car was slowly coasting to a stop. I was able to pull over to the side, turn off the car, and restart, but the check engine light persisted. After returning from Vegas, I brought the van to my local Chrysler dealership. They ran some flash updates and returned the car to me. The same issue then re-occurred on July 4th while traveling 65-70mph on the freeway. I brought it back to the dealer the next day, and it has been there since. After a lot of back and forth with Chrysler hybrid technicians, the dealership was authorized to replace the onboard charging module 1-2 weeks ago. They said the car was still throwing a charging error after that, and they are now looking into what else could be the issue, which they suspect might be the PIM (power inverter module). They are currently working with Chrysler hybrid techs again to diagnose as they are not able to order any parts for replacement without that approval. As of yesterday, the car has been at the dealership for 2 months now, well beyond lemon law timelines per California guidelines.
The vehicle loses power while driving. I have to pull over shut it off and turn it back on. Most of the time it happens when I'm driving 75 mph. The service charging indicator pops up while also telling me to shift the car to park. Dealership diagnosed it to being a transmission issue. Drive motor A is failing in the transmission and is causing it to over heat. Which causes it to shut down. A quick restart and the van is going again.
When driving on the highway after 1-2 hours, message pops up "Stop safely. Vehicle will shut off soon." Car engine immediately turns off and driver must navigate to shoulder with unresponsive vehicle. Once stopped, "Service charging system" message appears on screen. This has happened twice to my family, almost causing multiple crashes as we navigate across traffic with a rapidly decelerating car and children in the back seat, subsequently stranded on the side of a major highway. The only precursor to total shutdown is the air conditioning goes from cold to warm. Have had it at 2 dealerships 4 times and they say they cannot reproduce the issue because they do not have anyone who can drive it for 2 hours.
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.
Vehicle has completely lost power multiple times while driving on the freeway at 65 approximately MPH and displays "Service Charging System" message on dash. Accelerator pedal was completely non-responsive. Have had to quickly try to get to side of freeway and stop. Each time the van had remaining fuel. Each time we have been able to get the van started again by putting the vehicle in Park and pressing the start button 3 times in a row without pressing the brake pedal. It is very concerning and has happened to us several times this month with about 14.000 miles on the vehicle.
Driving on the freeway without any noticeable trigger, the engine stalls. A message comes up saying shift to P to start. Pressing the accelerator doesn't do anything. Only think I can do is coast to the shoulder. After turning off the car and turning the car back on, the car worked fine. This has happened to me 3 times in the last month all going highway speeds.
On freeway , running on gas - the vehicle gave an error “service charging system” and vehicle shutdown and de accelerated rapidly - forward momentum only We are on freeway and no shoulder and narrow escaped an collision trying to get a safe stop at speed of 20-25 miles and slowing down from initial of 70 mph This is serious safety concern and how was this released for sale is certified by NTSB is a surprise and shock Multiple owners have complained of this
I was driving about 45mph and my Pacifica hit 0 miles on the electric miles on the hybrid system (I had over half a tank of gas). At that same time as I was pushing on the gas pedal to accelerate the van and nothing was happening, the acceleration wasn't working. I put the pedal all the way to the ground and nothing happened and I drifted to a stop. I was luckily not on a freeway, however was on the side of a very busy road in the dark with cars flying closely by with 1 of my kids in the car freaking out. It was so dangerous and scary. After the van sat idle for about 10 minutes and got a little hybrid charge I was able to accelerate a little to get my car around the corner and pulled to a safer spot off the road before it coasted to a stop again. Roadside assistance towed the van to my dealership. The dealership had my van for 11 days this time. When they turned it on the next morning it wasn't working still. They got it into a service bay and the next time they went to move it it started working on it's own. No service lights ever turned on and they couldn't figure out what caused the issue. They had Chrysler Engineers involved in the process and after 11 days gave me the vehicle back stating that all they did was 6 software updates and they couldn't find anything else to fix since it started working again on it's own. The van has never accelerated the same since. Now 2 months later I have a service light on for my Powerterrain and am so worried about losing acceleration again while driving my kids or something. It's so dangerous and they don't know what's causing the issue and I feel like the van is just a ticking timebomb for an accident with as many service issues as I've had with it. So many issues to name, but the loss of motive power was so dangerous. My van wasn't even a year old yet when that happened and it had 14,000 miles on it.
Accident where my entire forward drivers side was smashed. My head has a gash from hitting the side drivers window. NOT ONE air bag deployed. Have pictures of damage.
The vehical shutdown on the Interstate at highway speeds for the second time in 4 days. The deal has scheduled time to review the problem but shutting down is a safely issue.
The contact owns a 2021 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. The contact stated that whenever hybrid battery power was low, the vehicle was supposed to shift to using fuel; however, the vehicle would stall. The contact would pull over to the side of the road and start the vehicle after several attempts. The failure was intermittent and occurred at various speeds. The service charging system and check engine warning lights would be illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who was unable to identify the cause of the failure. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure reoccurred several weeks later. The contact returned the vehicle to the dealer and was informed that the manufacturer suggested that the transmission should be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 24,000.
Driving on the interstate at 70-75 mph and lost all forward drive. Car said service charging system and would not recover. Got towed to dealer and troubleshot and replaced the transmission
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.
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.
The contact owns a 2021 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated while driving approximately 75 MPH, the vehicle started to stall. The accelerator pedal was depressed but failed to respond. The contact stated that the brake pedal was shaking while depressed. The check engine warning light and the warning "Service Charging Systems" and "Shift to Park to Start" was illuminated. Additionally, the contact noticed that the drive(D) warning light was flashing on the gear shifter knob. The contact veered to the side of the road and turned off the vehicle. Upon restarting the vehicle, the check engine warning light illuminated. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 14,800.
I was driving in the fast lane of the freeway when the vehicle stalled, losing all engine power, and the following warnings lit up on my dash: - service charging system - shift to P to start - the shifter knob light was blinking Due to large amounts of fast-moving traffic and my rapidly decelerating speed, I was unable to safely cross 4 lanes of traffic to the right-hand side, so I was forced to pull over on the left shoulder of the freeway directly next to the fast lane and right after a blind curve. It was an incredibly dangerous place to be stalled. I could have been hit at any moment by cars going 65-80mph, which would have caused a massive multi-car accident due to the nature of the blind curve. I shifted the car into park and turned the vehicle completely off. Waited a couple minutes and turned it back on. The check engine light remained illuminated but my ability to accelerate resumed when I briefly tested it. I was able to pull back onto the freeway and continue my commute with no further issues. I initiated a STAR case with Chrysler and the van was brought to the dealership for troubleshooting. One incident prior to stall: engine began idling really rough when accelerating from a stop ~15mph, and the check engine light came on. I pulled over and shut off the van. I turned it back on and the engine sounded normal again. The check engine light went off after 24 hours and no other issues, so I didn’t bring it in. This happened 2-4 weeks prior to the freeway stall. P0A43-00 Drive Motor "A" Position Sensor Circuit Intermittent was the error code. The dealership could not replicate the stalling problem and tried to give the van back. I refused due to safety concerns and got my Chrysler case manager involved. They tested the transmission fluid and found it to be contaminated (metal fragments?). The transmission was ultimately replaced which took about 1 month. I don’t know if they kept the faulty part.
While driving above referenced vehicle, I was driving southbound on Hwy 515 when i noticed a vehicle driving northbound began to lose control, so i slowed down and then began to watch the vehicle cross the median and headed straight for me. I pushed the pedal to the floor to accelerate to get out of his way but the vehicle did not respond, i pushed the pedal again on several occasions and the vehicle just bucked and did not accelerate. Unfortunately the vehicle hit me right in the door at a high rate of speed. Unbeknownst to me this vehicle had been in the shop on several occasions for this exact problem: This can all be verified due to the fact i had a Chrysler service manager on the phone as this horrific experience unfolded
Vehicle stalled on the interstate multiple times, dashboard shows service charging system. Had to coast to the side of the road each time. Sometimes the vehicle would restart immediately, other times it would need to sit before restarting. I was able to recreate the stalling issue by idling the van in my driveway by opening the hood to force the ice to run. The engine would stop and the same fault would show up on the dashboard after about 25 minutes of idling with the air conditioner running. Vehicle has now been at a dealership for 3 months and they haven't been able to fix it.
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.
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.
What component: Passenger window. The passenger window seemed to spontaneously break. There wasn't any other car in front of the van. My wife was driving and my sister-in-law was riding in the passenger seat. The tempered glass broke without warning. They were traveling on a paved highway.
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.
wife was driving on the freeway when all of a sudden an error light on the dash appeared reading "Service Charging System," the accelerator no longer delivered power, and the car began quickly slowing down. Luckily, my wife was able to coast to the side of the freeway. The Pacifica remained on with all systems working (radio, lights, etc), but the car accelerator would not deliver power and the car could not be turned off. After several minutes the car was able to be turned off and after sitting for approximately 15 minutes on the side of the road it started again and was driveable. This process occurred twice.
On February 10, 2022 at about 4:30 in the afternoon, my wife and I had just merged onto the 101 at Scottsdale Road in Scottsdale, Arizona. We had not gone far when we heard a loud explosion. It sounded like a ballon popping but at least 10 time louder. It sounded like it came from inside the car and there was no indication (wobble, hard steering, etc.) that it may have been a tire. My wife was driving so I began to see if I could spot any sign that would tell us what it was - nothing. Soon we felt air rushing into the cabin. I thought the sunroof may have popped open for some reason. It is a power operated sunroof so I pressed the control switch to pull back the ceiling cover and open the sunroof. When I did that shattered glass came pouring down on us. After getting it closed I called 911 and was put in contact with the Scottsdale police. They told me to call the State Police but because no one was injured it may take a long time for someone to contact us. We continued on to our house in Mesa. The next morning I contacted the Chrysler dealership in Mesa that I bought the car from. I was told to bring it in and it would be covered under warranty. I've had the car about 10 months and it has about 7,700 miles on it. Turns out Chrysler won't cover it under warranty. I have had it repaired at a cost of $842.45. I'm not sure at this time how much of the cost I will have to pay. An article by Consumer Reports identifies this as a widespread safety issue that the car manufactures want to ignore and that our government is doing little about. I can't imaging what our reaction would have been if the ceiling cover had been pulled back. Basically the explosion and the glass scattering all over us would have happened at the same time. I can easily relate to someone losing control of the car while traveling in heavy traffic at 65 MPH. Let's hope no one dies before this is resolved. And the cost of repairs must be paid by the car manufactures not the car owners.
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.
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.
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.
While driving, the car would loose power then check engine light comes on and "service charging system" would pop up. The gas peddle is rendered useless as it doesn't do anything and would have to coast to safety. Dealer would just reset the computer and vehicle is realease. unfortunately, it had happen many times. Safety is a concern, more so on the highway.
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.
Data synced from NHTSA on May 4, 2026