Chrysler Pacifica brake failure problems

Filed Oct 30, 2026 · Brakes · OR · crash · 3 injuries

In XXX, I was coming down my driveway. It is a long, sloped driveway. As I came around the corner, the brakes went right to the floor; it wasn't just a loss of power; there were no brakes of any kind. The car almost went off the road on the other side. As soon as I turned the car off and back on, the brakes worked perfectly. A few months later, I was coming down another driveway off a dangerous, busy highway, and the brakes stopped working again. My [XXX] daughter was with me, and if we went out into the road, a fatal accident was a high possibility. I wrecked the car into the ditch and stopped on top of a log. My brother, son, and nephew had to come and rescue us. Again, as soon as I turned the car off and back on, the brakes worked perfectly. My Dad and brother are both mechanics. Nothing seemed fundamentally wrong with the brakes. The fact that they worked for months after that was also very concerning. We thought it was the start/stop system. I began turning the system off manually before each trip. The last incident, several weeks later, was also on my driveway, coming down the hill. The brakes went to the floor; my Mom and two daughters were in the car, everyone was screaming, and I had to run over my automatic gatepost and gate to stop it; the car almost rolled. As with the other times, I refuse to drive this car; it could kill someone. I live by a freeway with a mountain pass; I have gone down this pass several times. If I had an incident like this on this pass, it would without any doubt cause a fatal accident for myself or potentially others as well. I haven't had the car inspected because I cannot drive it anywhere. I drove the car almost every day between these incidents with no problem with the brakes whatsoever. There were no warnings or dash lights with any of these incidents. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Filed Aug 21, 2026 · Brakes, Transmission · 80,000 miles · TX · 1 injury

The contact owns a 2023 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that after parking the vehicle on a slight incline and exiting the vehicle, the vehicle started rolling backwards while the driver’s side door was still open. The contact attempted to activate the parking brake; however, the parking brake failed to function. The contact attempted to press the START/STOP button to turn off the vehicle but was knocked down by the door and was ran over by the front driver’s side wheel. The contact sustained several fractured ribs, punctured lungs, internal bleeding, bruises to the right shoulder, a wound to the right ankle, and carpal tunnel to both wrists, and cervical disk displacement. Medical attention was provided for the injuries. There was no warning light illuminated prior to the failure. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed, and the contact was informed that the Auto Park feature was inoperable and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 80,000.

Filed Jul 4, 2026 · Electrical, Fuel system · CA

I am reporting an ongoing, catastrophic safety defect and corporate suppression regarding Chrysler Recall 03A (the federal safety agency Campaign 23V010) on my 2022 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. The official recall remedy has repeatedly failed to prevent total electrical system depletion and unexpected motive power shutdown in the field, leaving my family in extreme danger. On March 3, 2023, at 6,000 miles, the vehicle suffered a complete, un-warned motive power shutdown while I was driving my two young children on a rural highway. The vehicle stalled dead on an incline in the middle of a lane. The brakes failed to engage automatically, so I couldn’t evacuate my children because I had to keep my foot on the brake. Cars had to swerve around our vehicle at 55 MPH, as it was on a blind corner. My children were deeply traumatized; my autistic child was completely inconsolable and now suffers from an ongoing, severe psychological fear surrounding this vehicle stopping unexpectedly. We were only saved from a crash because a passerby stopped to help after about 15 minutes. The dealership subsequently applied the Recall 03A software update and replaced the 12V battery. This recall remedy has utterly failed. The replacement 12V battery died again in May 2025 and died a third time in June 2026, proving a chronic electrical defect exists. The dealership refused to perform parasitic draw testing, refused diagnostics, and simply charged the battery, stating 'it's fine.' Chrysler corporate support subjected me to a cycle of unresponsive case managers. One manager promised a buyback review within 3 days, but instead, a subsequent manager closed my file. Corporate explicitly refused to escalate the vehicle to their STAR technical team and flatly refused to provide copies of my warranty and service records. I explained to both corporate and the dealership that I don’t feel safe driving this car without further diagnostics but corporate refused to authorize, stating they stood by the dealer.

Filed Mar 26, 2026 · Brakes · MI

I started to brake on Peck Road. I turned into my driveway and as I started to come to a complete stop, the brake pedal went to the floor and the brakes did not engage and I went over a landscape wall. I have a video of the event from my ring camera. I went on-line and noticed that other Pacifica owners have had an issue similar to this one.

Filed Feb 9, 2026 · Brakes · IN

I am experiencing a serious brake safety issue involving the brake booster on my Chrysler Pacifica. When braking, the pedal becomes extremely hard, pushes back against my foot, and requires excessive force to stop the vehicle. In some instances, when I am at a complete stop, the brake pedal pushes upward and the vehicle begins to move forward on its own. This issue causes a loss of braking assist and significantly increases stopping distance, creating an unsafe driving condition and risk of collision. The problem occurs intermittently but has worsened over time. Chrysler/Stellantis has acknowledged this brake booster defect by issuing a warranty extension; however, they have not issued a safety recall. I was denied repair coverage solely because my vehicle is now outside the extended warranty period, despite the fact that the defect is known and directly affects braking performance and vehicle control. This is not normal wear and tear. It is a failure of the brake assist system that compromises safe operation of the vehicle, whether driving at speed or stopped in traffic. The condition presents a clear safety risk to occupants and others on the road. I am submitting this complaint so the federal safety agency can investigate whether this defect warrants a formal safety recall.

Filed Feb 4, 2026 · Brakes, Driver assistance · OH

In May 2025 shortly after purchasing this vehicle I had complete Brake failure while driving down the road. I was driving approximately 65 mph when the forward collision warning, ABS warning, Brake Warning, Auto Emergency Brake warning lights came on and when I pushed on the brake pedal it was hard as a rock and wouldn't stop the vehicle. It was returned to the purchasing dealership, and they replaced the Brake Booster. On November 27th of 2025 I was driving down the road and the exact same problem occurred with a complete loss of brake function. It went to the local Chrysler Dealership; they replaced the Master Cylinder. I picked it up 12/10 drove it 5 miles home and parked it. I got in the vehicle the next morning to go to work and on my way to work all the same dash lights came on and I had a complete loss of Brake function. It was towed back to the dealership again; this time they replaced the ABS module. I picked it up on 12/30 drove 5 miles home, parked it, tried to leave 3 hours later and couldn't push the brake pedal far enough to get the van started. When I did finally get it started all the same dash lights were on and the brakes were not functional. It was towed back to the dealership again and this time they replaced the wiring Harness. I picked it up 1/16. Drove it minimally over the weekend, on 1/19 the front-end collision warning lights came on and the check engine light came on while driving 70 mph. The brakes didn't lose function this time, however. The following day I was sitting in line at an elementary school waiting to pick up my daughter when all the same dash lights came on again and I had a complete loss of brakes, it was towed back to the dealership, where it still is. There was contact made with Chrysler engineering during the 2nd repair. The dealership has been able to recreate the problem more than once since they have had it. This put myself and my children a significant risk of injury, and other cars if there was an accident.

Filed Mar 3, 2025 · Brakes · MI

The contact's sister-in-law owns a 2021 Chrysler Pacifica. While the contact was stopped at a mailbox to retrieve mail, the contact opened the front, driver-side door. When the contact opened the door, the vehicle's parking brake engaged independently. As the contact attempted to drive forward, the vehicle's rear wheels had locked upon the depression of the accelerator pedal. Due to the failure, the vehicle was stopped in the middle of an intersection as the parking brake failed to disengage. The parking brake warning light appeared on the instrument panel. The contact made multiple attempts to restart the vehicle but to no avail. The contact then stated that a "Service Parking Brake" warning message appeared on the instrument. All occupants exited the vehicle and directed traffic to avoid hitting the vehicle. The vehicle was then towed to a dealer where they managed to restart the vehicle without incident. The manufacturer had yet to be notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was unknown.

Filed Jan 22, 2025 · Driver assistance · 14,000 miles · WV

The contact owns a 2023 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated while driving approximately 25 MPH while approaching a vehicle that had stopped suddenly for a traffic signal, the Forward Collision-Avoidance brake failed to engage. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the front collision system was working. The contact stated that the failure of the Forward Collision Avoidance braking system occurred again, and the vehicle was returned to the same dealer. The contact stated that the dealer had set up a soft barrier collision test and had driven the vehicle up to the barrier at 10 MPH and the Forward Collision Avoidance braking system failed to engage. The contact had taken the vehicle to two other dealers who stated that the front collision system was in operating condition. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 14,000.

Filed May 8, 2024 · Steering · NY

While my wife was driving the vehicle - the power steering catastrophically quit!!! The idiot light came on to get it serviced. Thankfully, it happened in a place that didn't cause an accident but this could have been deadly!!! The car is impossible to drive safely. I brought it to Maguire Chrysler in Watkins Glen, NY and they noticed that 2 of the bolts on the bell housing were not threaded in and things "didn't look right" (they provided a picture for me). The transmission had been replaced by Ferrario Chrysler in Elmira, NY at the end of January as a result of the recall on the loose transmission wires that could cause a loss of control. Apparently, they failed to do things right during that major operation. Maguire then refused to work on the vehicle since they didn't know what Ferrario did but that bolts actually sticking out from the bell housing were a bad sign! The car resides now with Ferrario and they don't know when they are going to get to it since there are other customers ahead of me. This failure of power steering can only be 3rd to loss of brakes or fire when it comes to safety. In all my years I never have experienced a less safe condition that this. I've included a picture of the bolts on bell housing that were never even threaded in all the way by Ferrario - Maguire felt that they probably pinched a wire or something that caused the power steering problem. All I know is that the car is unsafe.

Filed Jul 27, 2023 · Engine · NY

While driving I got "rear seat alert" followed by "Car Shutting down in 9 secs" message, it happened twice. The first time on Northern State Highway in NY. I was driving with my family, and the car unexpectedly shutdown happened. Nothing worked, I had no power, no steering, no brakes, all gone. Our luck was that I was already on the right lane and just had to let the car stop in the curbside. Because of the messages, we thought the rear door was opened or something. After a few minutes, after several tries, the engine started, and we exit the highway and parked on the local road to try to understand what happened. We decided to continue our trip on the service road. We end up on Ocenside, NY on a two lane, busy street and it happened again, but at this time I was not able to move the car to the curb, the car stop completely on the middle of the road, no steering, nothing. Because of the incoming traffic, our hazard lights alone were not enough to warn the coming traffic. We though that an accident was eminent, for which we called 911 for help. I could not get out of the car because of the speed of the incoming cars. After several attempts, the car turned on again, I parked on the curb and I called the AVIS Rental Roadside Assistance, because I was not going to put my family, including an 87 year old in jeopardy. After we got home from the long, stressful day. I searched internet and for my surprise, there were several posts (links) relating the same issue I had. Including recalls from Chrysler about a short circuit, which could even cause a fire. Chrysler issued a NO PARKING INSIDE note, which is hard to understand. I feel it is my obligation, as a family person, to report this incident, because this car should not be in the ROAD. Avis is currently RENTING this car. Furthermore, for my surprise, I saw a ad on NBC, 5pm yesterday, 07/26/2023. It is just a matter of searching on internet to see the DANGER that families are exposed.