2018 CHRYSLER PACIFICA PLUG-IN HYBRID Complaints

This happened the Day after we purchased the 2018 hybrid Pacifica limited.While Driving the van started to stall out (wouldn’t go when pushing gas) and said shift to P(park) to start. Pulled over turned off the van and restarted it, that didn’t fix the problem. Restarted again and it went back to normal but the check engine light is on. Also the battery is dying extremely fast. Within 5 miles it’ll go from 40% to 0%.

This is the third and fourth time we have had this issue with our van. The previous two times were on May 25, 2019 and June 4, 2021. In this incident, my wife was driving our van with our two kids and I down Northwest Highway in Arlington Heights, IL. We were going about 35 miles per hour when several alarms and warnings appeared on the driver’s dashboard including 'SERVICE HYBRID SYSTEM', a red wrench with a red lightning bolt through it, the orange engine warning light, and red battery warning icon, and a message appeared saying 'SHIFT VEHICLE TO PARK'. (See attached photos.) When my wife pressed the accelerator pedal nothing happened. We were able to coast and turn down a side street. We put the vehicle in park, turned it off and we’re able to restart it. We immediately notified the dealership and drove it there. On the way to the dealership, we made a stop. When in a parking lot, my wife pressed the accelerator to drive and the same issue happened with the same warning lights and alarms. Once again, we shifted to park, turned the vehicle off and we’re able to restart it. We drove straight to the dealership, informed them of the repeated issue and left the van with them. The dealership indicated there were over twenty software updates. We were told the exact same thing on June 4th the last time this happened. They have not yet been able to tell us why this has happened or continues to happen. The problem has not been reproduced by the dealership but this is the third time this has happened. The vehicle has not been inspected by the manufacturer.

This is the second time we have had this issue with our van. The first time was May 25, 2019. On June 4, 2021, my wife was driving down the highway with our two kids and as she began to exit toward the off ramp, several alarms and warning appeared on the driver’s dashboard including 'SERVICE HYBRID SYSTEM', a red wrench with a lightning bolt through it, the orange engine warning light, and a message appeared saying 'SHIFT VEHICLE TO PARK'. The van stalled and when my wife pressed the accelerator, nothing happened. She was able to coast down the exit ramp and pull over to the shoulder. The van was out in park, shut off and we were able to restart it. The orange engine warning light remained on. We immediately drove to the dealership. They ran a diagnostic test and said no issues came up but there were twenty some software updates. The issue has not been reproduced by the dealer but we have had it happen two times. The vehicle has not been inspected by the manufacturer.

I have small grandchildren who play in the driveway area occasionally and I purchased a vehicle with parking collision warning features as an essential safety feature. The front center collision warning stopped working and when taken to the dealer twice they cannot confirm the defect because they test by walking in front of the car from the side. This activates sensors on the side but cannot identify a problem with the front sensor. They also drive the vehicle into a service bay which also activates the side sensors and does not detect the problem with the front sensor. We will try a third time with the dealer to have the problem addressed, but my concern is that current service guidelines for assessing function of the system are inadequate and should be addressed by appropriate training. I have no safe way of evaluating whether this problem effects the collision warning system.

WE HAVE A 2018 PACIFICA LIMITED HYBRID. WHILE DRIVING, IT BEEPED, THEN MESSAGE APPEARED TO SAY "SHIFT TO P". THE VAN THEN LOST MOTIVE POWER SHORTLY AFTER. ONCE STOPPED, SHUT DOWN ENGINE THEN RESTARTED, IT WOULD DRIVE AGAIN. THIS ALSO OCCURRED A FEW TIMES WHILE DRIVING ON A FREEWAY, I HAD TO QUICKLY GET TO EMERGENCY LANE/SHOULDER. VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION WITH CARS WHIPPING BY US WHILE WE STOPPED WITH VAN FULL OF KIDS. BUT IT ALWAYS RESTARTED BACK AND WE WERE ABLE TO KEEP GOING. ENGINE LIGHT WOULD STAY ON BUT THEN WOULD DISAPPEAR LATER. WE TOOK IT TO OUR DEALER (FRESNO CHRYSLER JEEP) AND THEY SAID "SOFTWARE ISSUE" AND THAT THEY WILL UPDATE IT. I DIDN'T GET TO TALK TO THE ADVISOR BUT LOOKING AT THE SERVICE BILL - UNCLEAR IF ANYTHING WAS DONE. THEY DROVE IT AROUND FOR 30 MIN AND ENGINE LIGHT DID NOT COME BACK ON. THE VEHICLE ALREADY HAS DONE ALL THE RECALLS PREVIOUSLY. WE TOOK IT HOME - SHORTLY AFTER THIS HAPPENED AGAIN. NOT SURE WHAT CONDITION TRIGGERS IT. MY WIFE WILL TAKE IT BACK TO THE DEALER TODAY AND WILL ASK THEM AT LEAST CHANGE THE 12V BATTERY (NOT SURE IF THAT IS THE REASON BUT PER FORUM DISCUSSION, THIS CAN BE A CULPRIT). THE PROBLEM IT SEEMS IS THAT DEALERS ARE IN THE DARK ABOUT THE PROBLEM AND MOST PROBABLY DONT HAVE CLUE HOW TO ADDRESS IT.

MANUFACTURER (CHRYSLER) MAILED ME A LEGAL NOTICE THAT MY VEHICLE COULD CATCH FIRE AND / OR EXPLODE AT ANYTIME WHETHER PARKED, IDLING OR DRIVING BECAUSE OF A DEFECT IN THE HYBRID BATTERY COMPONENTS (INVERTER). THEY TOLD ME NOT TO PARK NEXT TO ANYTHING OR ANYONE, NOT TO ALLOW MOISTURE OF ANY KIND INTO THE VEHICLE AND TO NOT PARK OR STORE IT IN ANY ENCLOSED STRUCTURE LIKE A GARAGE. THEY SAID TO WAIT FOR A FIX FOR THE PROBLEM AS THERE WAS NOT YET RESOLUTION. I RESPONDED TO THEM ASKING FOR A LOANER CAR OR RENTAL AND WAS TOLD NO. IT HAS BEEN ALMOST A YEAR AND STILL NO CHRYSLER DEALERSHIP CAN OFFER A FIX, HOWEVER THEY DID COME OUT WITH A 2020 MODEL THAT WAS BUILT WITHOUT THE PROBLEM. THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFETY RECALL THAT OUR GOVERNMENT SEEMS TO BE IGNORING. I AM LEFT WITH A LEMON I CANNOT SAFELY STORE PARK OR DRIVE. I PAID 55K FOR THIS HYBRID, WAS TOLD I WOULD GET 80 MPG WHEN I ONLY GET 17 MPG AND I HAVE TO WORRY THAT IF MOISTURE GETS INTO THESE HYBRID BATTERY COMPONENTS BY VEHICLE COULD KILL ME OR OTHERS. I LIVE IN WASHINGTON WHERE EVERYTHING IS WET AND WE HAVE TO TAKE FERRIES..: CHRYSLER DOESN'T RESPOND TO MY LETTERS.

WHEN I SHIFTED INTO REVERSE TO BACK OUT OF A PARKING SPOT WHERE I'D HAD THE CAR TURNED OFF, THE MAIN INFOTAINMENT SCREEN WENT COMPLETELY BLUE AFTER BRIEFLY SHOWING THE USUAL BACKUP CAMERA AND 360 VIEW. IT WAS ABOUT 23 DEGREES OUTSIDE.

WHILE DRIVING MY CHILDREN HOME FROM AN EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY, A COMBINATION OF LOSS OF CLAMP LOAD AND INADEQUATE JOINT ENGAGEMENT RESULTED IN A SEPARATION OF THE DRIVER'S SIDE FRONT LOWER CONTROL ARM FROM THE STEERING KNUCKLE OF MY VAN. AS A RESULT THE DRIVER'S SIDE FRONT WHEEL CAME OFF THE CAR AND I LOST FULL CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE. FORTUNATELY, I HAD JUST LEFT THE HIGHWAY AND TURNED ONTO A CITY STREET. HAD I BEEN ON THE HIGHWAY WHEN THIS OCCURRED IT WOULD HAVE RESULTED IN THE LOSS OF MY LIFE, THE LIVES OF MY CHILDREN, AND THE LIVES OF MANY OTHER MOTORISTS DRIVING NEAR ME. THERE HAS ALREADY BEEN A RECALL FOR THIS VEHICLE CONCERNING THE PASSENGER'S SIDE FRONT LOWER CONTROL ARM. NOW THE DRIVER'S SIDE SEEMS TO BE AFFECTED.

A SAFETY RECALL WAS ISSUED IN THE SPRING OF 2020. I'VE TRIED FOR SEVERAL MONTHS TO GET A DEALER TO INSPECT AND/OR REPAIR THE VEHICLE AND THEY HAVE NOT DONE SO. I HAVE BEEN TOLD NUMEROUS TIMES THAT PARTS ARE ON BACKORDER. NO ONE WILL EVEN INSPECT THE VEHICLE. IN THE MEANTIME, I'VE BEEN INSTRUCTED TO PARK MY VEHICLE OUTSIDE SO THAT IT DOESN'T BURN MY HOUSE DOWN. IT SHOULD NOT TAKE A YEAR TO INSPECT AND REPAIR A KNOWN SAFETY ISSUE

MY CAR PURCHASED IN 2018 FROM REED JEEP CHRYLSER IN OVERLAND PARK KANSAS. IN SEPTEMBER OF 2020, THE VEHICLE WAS IN HYBRID/ELECTRIC MODE AND STOPPED RUNNING AS WE WERE DRIVING DOWN THE STREET. WE WERE DRIVING SLOWLY AND ABLE TO COAST TO THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE ROAD AND WERE ABLE TO SAFELY LEAVE IT ON A RESIDENTIAL STREET. THE CAR WOULD NOT START AND IT WAS NOT AN ISSUE RELATED TO THE STARTER OR BATTERY. WE HAD THE CAR TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP. THE PROBLEM WAS REVIEWED BY THE ENGINEERING TEAM WITH CHRYSLER AND IT WAS FOUND TO BE A COMPUTER ELECTRICAL HYBRID COMPONENT. ORIGINALLY, CHRYSLER ADVISED THEY HAD NO REPLACEMENT PART ANYWHERE IN THE COUNTRY. AFTER TWO WEEKS, THEY ADVISED THEY WOULD BE ABLE TO GET A COMPONENT FROM THE COMPONENT MANUFACTURER BUT THAT IT WOULD TAKE TIME. THE CAR REMAINED IN THE SERVICE CENTER FOR AT LEAST TWO ADDITIONAL WEEKS. THEY REPLACED THE REGULAR BATTERY AND PERFORMED RECALL ON OTHER COMPONENTS DURING THIS TIME AS WELL. A LITTLE OVER A MONTH LATER, THE SAME FAILURE/PROBLEM OCCURRED. FORTUNATELY, WE WERE AGAIN ON A RESIDENTIAL STREET AND LEAVE IT. A COUPLE OF HOURS LATER, WE WERE ABLE TO START IT AND GET IT BACK TO OUR RESIDENCE. WE TRIED TO CHARGE IT USING THE 240V CHARGER WE HAD BUT THE CAR WOULD NOT TAKE ANY ADDITIONAL CHARGE EVEN THOUGH NOT FULLY CHARGED. THREE DAYS LATER, WE RETURNED THE CAR TO THE DEALERSHIP WITH THE SAME COMPLAINT AND WERE TOLD THAT THEY COULD NOT FIND ANY PROBLEM WITH THE CAR. OUR OVERARCHING CONCERN IS SAFETY, AS THERE IS NO WARNING AS TO WHEN THE CAR WILL SHUT DOWN.