What component or system failed or malfunctioned, and is it available for inspection upon request? The vehicle speed control and braking systems malfunctioned. The vehicle experienced sudden unintended acceleration while the driver was actively applying the brakes. The vehicle has been parked, remains unrepaired, and is fully available for physical inspection and Event Data Recorder (EDR) extraction upon request. How was your safety or the safety of others put at risk? The vehicle accelerated uncontrollably despite the driver applying the brakes, resulting in a collision with a parked vehicle. This total loss of speed control and braking effectiveness put the driver and surrounding pedestrians at risk of severe injury or death. Has the problem been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or independent service center? No. The vehicle has been intentionally withheld from dealership diagnostics and collision repair to prevent technicians from inadvertently clearing the vehicle's computer history, thereby preserving the digital evidence of the malfunction. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives or others? The insurance carrier has processed an initial digital claim for the collision damage, but no physical diagnostic inspections or teardowns have been performed by the manufacturer, collision shops, or insurance representatives at this time. Were there any warning lamps, messages or other symptoms of the problem prior to the failure, and when did they first appear? UNKNOWN. The sudden acceleration occurred without warning while the driver was braking. We have dash camera video footage that captured the incident live and corroborates the sudden acceleration event.
Chrysler Pacifica sudden acceleration problems
66 of the 7,082 owner complaints about the Chrysler Pacifica describe sudden unintended acceleration, most of them for the 2017 model year.
- owner complaints
- 66
- worst model year
- 2017
- typical mileage
- 50,000
By model year
Often reported together
Stalling 13Jerking 6Adaptive cruise 6Loss of power 4Hesitation 4Check engine light 4Harsh shifting 3Power steering loss 2
Trouble codes mentioned
P0740 1P0700 1
What owners say
While driving a 2025 Chrysler Pacifica rental vehicle at highway speeds on the interstate, the vehicle experienced a catastrophic electronic throttle/cruise control failure resulting in sudden, violent, and sustained unintended acceleration. The cruise control system completely locked up and would not disengage. When the accelerator stuck, I heavily depressed the service brakes, but the braking system was completely unable to overcome the wide-open throttle of the engine. The vehicle refused to decelerate. To prevent a catastrophic high-speed collision, I was forced to shift the transmission into Neutral while traveling at highway speeds to disconnect the engine from the drivetrain. The incident lasted continuously for over 30 minutes on the interstate as I managed the runaway vehicle. Post-Incident Behavior and Diagnostics: Upon bringing the vehicle to a stop on the shoulder of the highway, the transmission locked and the engine continued to race wildly, pinned at a constant 3,200 RPMs while in stationary Neutral. Tapping or shifting the transmission was impossible. The vehicle refused to shut down normally, forcing me to repeatedly cycle the electronic ignition button under extreme duress before the engine completely turned off. Upon restarting the vehicle, the electronic glitch reset itself and did not immediately replicate. There were 3 passengers inside the vehicle and 2 trailing eyewitnesses in a separate vehicle who observed the illuminated brake lights during the uncontrolled acceleration. This vehicle is a severe public safety hazard and represents a failure of the brake-override safety logic. I have preserved hard video evidence of the dashboard diagnostics and the 3,200 RPM engine racing while stopped.
Vehicle unexpectedly disengage, adaptive, cruise control, and accelerated without driver input to the accelerator pedal. After applying break, vehicle continued to accelerate without driver input to the gas pedal. Vehicle accelerated from approximately 65 mph to over 80 mph.Brake had to be applied to bring vehicle to a full stop, even though engine continued to rev. After releasing break pedal, vehical lunged forward and accelerated to 18 mph unexpectedly. After stopping the vehicle again the only way to control the vehicle was to turn off the automatic start button. After restarting the vehicle, the problem seems to have gone away on its own.
Vehicle Year/Make/Model: 2023 Chrysler Pacifica Plug-In HybridVIN Number: [XXX] Current Mileage: 51,607 miles Incident Summary: While attempting to bring the vehicle to a complete stop in front of a Subway restaurant in Old Town, the vehicle failed to decelerate upon braking. Instead, it lunged forward unexpectedly without driver input and collided with the building structure. The check engine light did not illuminate until after the collision occurred. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Auto stall at stop is not working safely on my vehicle there are two issues that can cause safety problems .A) when system restarts engine the vehicle has jumped forward several feet quickly causing very nearly hitting the car in front of me as a traffic light turned green . B) when I slow not quite to a stop making a left turn I have experience very low or no power and could be hit if a car is coming towards me . Both these issues do stop if I remember to turn off the auto stall system but I do not always remember ! I did make a compliant at a Chrysler Dealer they found no issues and did not reproduce the problem no warning lights come up when the problem happens . I have not had damage to the vehicle but have had two close calls one nearly rearending a vehicle at a intersection as my Pacicifca lurched forward and the other as an oncoming car needed to brake when I made a left turn in an intersection and had a loss of power .
The contact owned a 2018 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while in reverse(R) and reversing into a parking spot, it was difficult to accelerate over a patch of ice. The contact depressed the accelerator pedal, and the vehicle accelerated quickly and failed to stop while depressing the brake pedal and the vehicle drove through a fence and crashed into a brick building and stopped. The contact stated that prior to the failure, the U-Connect phone feature disconnected independently. The failure had never occurred before. The contact stated that the U-Connect failure might have been linked to the unintended acceleration failure. No injuries were sustained. A Police report was not filed. The fence and a side of the brick building were damaged during the crash. The vehicle was initially towed to the residence before being towed to a Collision Center, where the vehicle was deemed a total loss by the Insurance Provider. The vehicle was destroyed. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 159,000.
The contact owns a 2022 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle independently accelerated. The contact stated that several unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact was able to stop the vehicle by depressing the brake pedal; however, when the brake pedal was released, the vehicle independently accelerated without the accelerator pedal being depressed. The contact stated that the accelerator pedal failed to respond while being depressed. The contact stated that the failure had occurred three times and occurred while driving at various speeds. The contact stated the failure also occurred while driving at 70 MPH. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who was unable to retrieve any fault codes but informed the contact that the 12-Volt battery was not at full charge. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed, and determined that the accelerator pedal assembly and the main computer had produced fault codes, but the dealer later stated that there were no codes. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and a case was opened but was later closed. The failure mileage was 41,607.
The contact owned a 2021 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that occasionally, while driving at various speeds, upon depressing the brake pedal, the vehicle would surge forward 3 to 4 feet before proceeding to slow down or come to a complete stop. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed, and the contact was advised that the failure was not duplicatable and nothing was found to be wrong with the vehicle. The local dealer proceeded to replace the spark plugs, the brake fluid, field spark plug weld, and gasket cylinder head cover, however the contact stated that after the repair the failure increasingly persisted leading them to be involved in a crash where the contact stated that while driving on a highway at 55 MPH, there were two vehicles stopped ahead, the contact depressed the brake pedal and the vehicle proceeded to surge forward and crash into the vehicle Infront of them with the entire front end of their vehicle. The impact caused the vehicle in front of the contact to crash into the rear end of the vehicle in front. That vehicle sustained damage to the entire rear and front end of the vehicle as the impact caused that vehicle to crash into the rear end of the vehicle in front of it. No property damage was reported. The vehicles came to a stop upon rebound after the impact. The air bags were deployed. The vehicle was towed to an auto body center, and no warning lights were illuminated. A police report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed. The contact was injured while seated in the driver's seat; the passenger in their vehicle was not injured. An individual in the vehicle in front of the contact was injured. The contact sustained injuries to their ribs and sternum. Medical treatment was needed for the injuries, and the other individual also required medical treatment for unknown injuries. The individual at the front of the line in this collision was not injured. The local dealer was contacted however, the vehicle was not diagnosed as it was decla
The contact rented a 2025 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 MPH with the adaptive cruise control mode activated, the message "Adaptive Cruise Control Off" was displayed, and the vehicle suddenly experienced unintended acceleration. The contact stated that the vehicle exceeded 100 MPH and failed to decelerate upon depressing the brake pedal. The contact stated that the vehicle speed continued to increase, nearly causing the vehicle to crash into a semi-truck. The contact was able to drive onto the shoulder of the road, where the contact shifted to neutral(N), and the vehicle stopped. The vehicle was later towed to the rental car facility. The manufacturer and the local dealer were not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was 23,000.
2020 Pacifica keeps stalling. From a stop light or stop sign the vehicle will lurch forward without warning. Recently, from a strip mall I stopped before pulling out into traffic and the vehicle lunged forward peeling rubber and shot onto the main road and I had to slam on the brakes to get the vehicle under control. At the next stop light, it stalled and I couldn't get it started. I'm handicapped and I had to exit the vehicle with my canes and advised the driver behind me of the problem. I've made 5 trips to the dealer with this problem. The dealer replaced a crankshaft postion on one trip and the fuel pump on another visit. If you leave the vehicle set for about an hour everything goes back to normal until the next time it stall, which is the next time I use the vehicle. More recently I picked up my vehicle from the dealer on February 14th, put 24 miles on it. I didn't use the vehicle on [XXX]. I then drove six miles on [XXX] for a total of 30 miles and it stalled again. The dealer South Hills Chrysler Jeep keeps telling me they can't duplicate what I'm telling them are the problems with the vehicle. I don't know if it is a transmission or what. I called Chrysler customer service and spoke with a man named Sahil. I explained the issues with the vehicle and he contacted the dealer and parroted what the dealer said to me, they can't duplicate what I am saying is wrong with the vehicle. This was on February 28th. My van has been setting at the dealer since February 18th and I haven't boo from the dealer since. Sahil is to call me tomorrow the 5th of March , but I don't expect any information from him that will resolve the issue. I am [XXX] and [XXX], I need this van for hauling [XXX} for doctor's appointments and other issues that surface. This problem of stalling started back on the middle of November, 2024, again the middle of December, 2024 and again the middle of January, 2025. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Related recalls
Vehicle speed control: cruise control
- What is wrong
- Chrysler (FCA US LLC) is recalling certain 2014-2018 Dodge Journey, Charger and Durango, RAM 2500, 3500, 3500 Cab Chassis (more than 10,000lb), 4500 Cab Chassis and 5500 Cab Chassis, Jeep Cherokee and Grand Cherokee and Chrysler 300, 2014-2019 RAM 1500, 2015-2018 Dodge Challenger, 2015-2017 Chrysler 200, 2016-2018 RAM 3500 Cab Chassis (less than 10,000 lb), 2017-2018 Chrysler Pacifica and 2018 Jeep Wrangler vehicles. These vehicles are being recalled to address a defect that could prevent the cruise control system from disengaging. If, when using cruise control, there is a short circuit within the vehicle's wiring, the driver may not be able to shut off the cruise control either by depressing the brake pedal or manually turning the system off once it has been engaged, resulting in either the vehicle maintaining its current speed or possibly accelerating.
- Risk
- If the vehicle maintains its speed or accelerates despite attempts to deactivate the cruise control, there would be an increased risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Chrysler will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the software, and perform a software flash on the engine or powertrain control module, free of charge. The recall began June 4, 2018. Owners may contact Chrysler customer service at 1‑800‑853‑1403. Note: Owners are advised to stop using cruise control until the software update has been performed. In the event that cruise control cannot be disengaged while driving, owners should firmly and steadily apply the brakes and shift the transmission to neutral, placing the vehicle in park once it has stopped.
Recall number 18V332000 · Recall details
Questions about the Chrysler Pacifica sudden acceleration
Which Chrysler Pacifica years have sudden unintended acceleration problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2017 (22 complaints), 2004 (9 complaints) and 2005 (9 complaints).
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