2018 Chrysler Pacifica problems
NHTSA has received 1,405 complaints about the 2018 Chrysler Pacifica, and 27% of them involve engine. Next are electrical system (21%) and steering (13%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 1,405 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 27% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 54 and 23
- Injuries and deaths
- 21 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 13,000 miles 559 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 | 347 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 94 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 54 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 21 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 17 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 8 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 13 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 3 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 1 |
What the data shows
Of the 559 complaints that include odometer readings, half describe a problem before roughly 13,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 12,000 miles (131 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 54 complaints mention a crash; 23 complaints mention a fire; 21 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2018 ranks 2nd most-complained-about out of 14 model years of the Chrysler Pacifica with enough data (863 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 12 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.
I was in a motor vehicle accident when my passenger side vehicle got t-boned on 3/22/26. My 2018 chrysler pacifica limited airbags failed to deploy and the driver and passenger sustained whiplash injuries.
6/20 the engine light came on. The dealership claimed that they performed the DTC inspection and a system update (to prevent vehicle from stalling). The vehicle was returned on 6/23 and it broke down on 6/24. The car went from 10MPH to 43 MPH when pressing on the gas and then instantly stopped at around 10MPH. The vehicle turned off and was unable to start and had to be towed back to the dealership.
Problem occurs at slow speeds or when stopped. The car completely shuts off. Then we have to quickly switch into park, restart, then switch into drive. This has happened at least 8 times while driving. It is extremely dangerous. Chrysler said to turn of front collision warning collision until they have a solution. Since that temp fix, the car fail 2 more times on 3/6/19. Once while making a left turn it died before the turn was completed, and once more coming out of a parking lot turning onto a main road.
The back up camera only works intermittently. Sometimes the screens flickers as if it is shortening out. Other times the screen freezes, displaying the initial scene behind the vehicle for the duration of the vehicle being in reverse. Sometimes the screen is blank with only the guiding lines visible and other times it is completely blank with a statement at the top stating the back up camera is unavailable. This is a major concern for us due to having small children, going to the school, playground, etc.