2018 Chrysler Pacifica Plug-IN Hybrid problems
Owners have filed 376 complaints with NHTSA about the 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Plug-IN Hybrid. Electrical system is the most reported problem area, at 22% of complaints. After that come hybrid & electric propulsion (20%) and engine (17%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 376 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Electrical system 22% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 7 and 19
- Injuries and deaths
- 4 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 5,000 miles 183 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 140 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 21 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 12 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 4 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 1 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 4 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 0 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 0 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 0 |
What the data shows
Among the 183 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 5,000 miles. For electrical system specifically, the median reported mileage is about 7,000 miles (43 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 7 complaints mention a crash; 19 complaints mention a fire; 4 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2018 ranks 1st most-complained-about out of 8 model years of the Chrysler Pacifica Plug-IN Hybrid with enough data (338 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 6 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
Two weeks into ownership and with only 750 miles driven, the engine started smoking and caught fire while I was driving my family to lunch. I was heading eastbound on highway 18 in washington state, toward I-90. *dsy updated 10/31/18
Tl* the contact owns a 2018 chrysler pacifica hybrid. While the contact's wife was driving 70 MPH, an abnormal noise was heard and the engine stalled. The contact noticed smoke coming from under the hood. When the vehicle was stopped and the hood was lifted, the contact noticed flames coming from the rear of the engine in front of the firewall. The fire marshall extinguished the fire and the police filed report number: 2018-2716. The cause of the fire was unknown. There were no injuries.
The chrysler pacifica hybrid has 2 pwm signals going from the brake pedal to the ABS module used for braking. Each of these carries a pwm signal. The reason there are 2 is most likely for redundancy. However I noticed that if one signal goes bad, the brake's assist faults and you almost lose brakes completely. It means there is no redundancy on the brake signal as was originally intended. Over time, when the brake pedal's pwm signal generator goes bad, you suddenly lose braking capability.
The contact owns a 2018 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, several unknown warning lights illuminated. Additionally, the gear shift indicator light turned off, and the vehicle lost motive power. The contact was able to pull into a parking lot. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle however, the failure persisted, and the gear shifter became inoperable. The contact turned off the vehicle.
Other model years of the Pacifica Plug-IN Hybrid
Best and worst years for the Chrysler Pacifica Plug-IN Hybrid