2020 Chrysler Pacifica Reliability Report

Coolant leaks into the cylinders and causes misfires, rough running, and limp mode. The repair is a new head gasket or cylinder head. These failures cluster around 58,000 miles, and one engine had more trouble soon after the head gasket repair. Other reports describe the engine stalling with no warning, either at stops or at highway speed, and hybrid vans losing all power after a shut-off warning. A burning oil smell traces back to leaking seals on the oil filter housing and valve covers. On one van, the alternator mounting bolts sheared off, tearing the belt and knocking out power steering.

The second-row captain's chairs stop locking. A spring-loaded release cable inside a plastic housing breaks, so the seatback swings freely and the seat slides on its track. Often both chairs fail, sometimes on the same hot day. The failure can go unnoticed while a child seat holds the seatback in place. Owners report that replacement cables are back-ordered and cite a dealer quote of $3,600 per seat. One complaint describes fixed second-row headrests that do not match the owner's manual and keep forward-facing car seats from fitting properly.

The brakes do not slow the van as expected. Owners describe a delay, a pedal that sinks to the floor, or a brief lunge forward before braking returns. One owner suspects the handoff between regenerative and regular braking on the hybrid. Other reports describe a hissing brake booster, a pedal that pumps up and down, and false automatic braking alongside forward collision warning errors. Three of the seven complaints involve crashes, and two people were hurt. Dealers often cannot reproduce the problem.

The windshield fogs up in the rain. The defroster only helps on full heat and the highest fan setting, and drivers have had to pull over until the glass clears. The side windows can fog as well. The other reports involve the wipers. On one van, the wipers quit whenever the garage door opener stops working. On another, the driver-side wiper arm seized at about 13,500 miles and damaged the body. With only four complaints, fogging is the only repeated pattern.

These four complaints do not share a single pattern. One describes a lower control arm that starts squeaking and then fails, with the owner worried about losing steering. Another describes a van that sways at highway speed with stability and crash warning lights on, and the problem came back after a sensor replacement. The remaining complaints filed here describe engine and timing chain trouble and a sliding door that opens while driving and does not reverse when blocked. Those problems belong to other systems.

The hybrid battery overheats and starts a fire while the van is switched off and charging in a garage. The report says no warning came beforehand and that smoke forced the house to be evacuated. The other complaint involves a failed inverter coolant pump that sets code P0E7C. The replacement part is on national back order, and the substitute part the dealer installed keeps failing. Only two complaints are on file.

The airbags did not deploy in two crashes. In a rear-end collision that pushed the van into the car ahead, the driver hit the steering wheel and suffered fractures and a concussion, and the seatbelt reportedly did not fully engage. In the other crash, a rented van hit two deer at 70 mph, and neither front airbag deployed. Two reports are too few to show a pattern, but both involve hard impacts.