As a kid, my brothers and I grew up in Minivans, and had lots of fun in them. Now that I have kids of my own, I wanted them to have the best minivan around. Also, with all the new safety features and technology available, I wanted to make sure what I got would be safe, ecological, and high tech.
After looking and shopping for over a year, I went with the 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid, the top end model. I was changing over from a 2014 Lexus GX which was great, but guzzled gas and wasn’t the most comfortable 7 seater.
The van had great reviews online, everyone was praising it. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case for me. I’ve had so many issues I’ve decided to start up this blog for a few reasons.
- I couldn’t find anything negative about this car but cant believe I’m the only one.
- If other people are having the same problems, we can come together and have a bigger voice to make Chrysler do something about it.
- Inform new car shoppers of what they are getting into and what to expect when something goes wrong with their car.
Read my blog for a chronological history of my issues, what the dealer did (or didn’t want to do), and what Chrylser’s response has been. I will keep it short and to the point. I will keep updating it until I either get all my issues resolved, get a new car, or get a refund. If you want to comment on a specific issue, click into the blog posts detail page where you can comment. I will also link to a youtube video whenever I happened to take a video of the issue. In the beginning I didn’t but started to after 200 miles.
Tally:
2018 Pacifica Hybrid Purchased Nov 9, 2017
Days in shop as of 1/31/2018: 50
Days I’ve been able to drive it: 29
75 Miles – Turtle Icon
About the 2nd day I had the car, only 75 miles, my first issue began. The dealer had given me 3 keys to the car. 2 normal keys, and 1 that said keysense. He said that I can program the keysense key to limit the speed and area for drivers (like teens). Day 2, I… READ MORE
90 Miles – Screen Stuck in Reverse
First time my wife drives the car and this is the first time the screen freezes up. When she put it in reverse, the reverse camera came up. She could press the buttons to change camera but could not close out of the camera. This lasted her entire drive and until the car was turned… READ MORE
200 Miles – Charging Issues
Around 200 miles I noticed an issue when charging my 2018 Pacifica Hybrid. So far I had only tried charging at a public charging station but now I had my home charger installed. I’d plug in the charger, and the car would confirm that it’s charging. After about 5-10 seconds, the car would make a… READ MORE
268 Miles – No uConnect Theater
The uConnect had tons of issues, usually different things. This is the only time that the uConnect theater was not accessible. I would click on it and it would open a black uConnect screen. Restarting car didn’t fix it but it finally went away after the car was off for over an hour. Part 2… READ MORE
275 Miles – Driver Sliding Door Wouldn’t Open or Close Electronically
I called the dealer about my issues so far and they had told me that I needed to bring the car in when it was having an issue. I tried to explain how the issues are always temporary and usually when I’m not able to go in. Well, one morning the driver sliding door on… READ MORE
302 Miles – Turtle Icon, Speed Limited, FCW and other errors
This is where I got some really bad stuff, and felt unsafe in the car. I really started to feel uneasy about having my wife drive it. After the first turtle icon appeared, I looked it up online and saw that the 2017 Pacifica Hybrid was recalled because that light would come on on the… READ MORE
308 Miles – uConnect Freezes
Before I can go to the dealer again, I had to swing by the office. Car off for 5 mins and when I go back, the screen freezes again. This time it worked for a little before it froze. I was expecting an issue so I started recording before I started the car. I though… READ MORE
318 Miles – First service visit for issues
So I got in the morning of my trip, they plugged in the car and said it showed “Interference” codes. Manager said that they think it’s the dongle my insurance installed in the car. Only thing is, I didn’t have anyone install a dongle. I tell him I did no modifications at all. He goes… READ MORE
310 Miles – Opened case with Chrysler
So I called Chrysler to complain about my 2018 Pacifica Hybrid issues. They decided to escalate the issues and opened a case for me. They logged all my issues and said that I would receive a call back after my service visit on Monday to see how things went and to see how they can… READ MORE
865 Miles – uConnect unresponsive
So, we went on our trip without a hitch. I was excited, car was awesome, adaptive cruise control with lane assist rocks. Kids happy watching movies in the back. Awesome. Since it worked great, I skipped my Monday appointment. Soon after… uConnect fails again. Unresponsive. A trend that continued either daily or every other day…. READ MORE
992 Miles – Black Screen, uConnect unresonsive
Another night, another frozen uConnect. Just black. I called uConnect support and they said the only way to fix it was taking it to a service dealer. I tried leaving the car off for 5 mins and it didn’t work. Finally started up again after we got back to the car after dinner. Video part… READ MORE
1137 Miles – Frozen Uconnect, Enter Anti Theft Code
A different uConnect issue. This time asking me for the anti theft code. I tried some codes, nothing. Without the code it would only let me use limited features. I called uConnect support again, and again they tell me only a service center can fix it. But of course, it starts working after the car… READ MORE
1280 Miles – Climate Screen Frozen
So now the climate screen if frozen. I can change the settings and they seem to work but nothing on screen works. The screen on the back also shows the changes happening. Part 2 of video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfAgw9goOqw&t=7s
1289 Miles – Black screen, uconnect unresponsive
Another day, another issue with uConnect. Black screen, unresponsive. Same deal, car off for a long time fixes it.
1300 Miles – Second Service
After some of the previous issues I called Chrysler to update my case. At one point they said that the case was closed. I complained a bit and had them create a new case, referencing the closed case. Friday rolls around and I take the car in. I’m expecting them to take the car and… READ MORE
1350 – Third Service
I take my 2018 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid to the new dealer. This dealer seems much better already, the manager quickly spoke to my account manager at Chrysler and they were very available on the phone. Also, Chrysler pre-approved my rental this time so I go, drop off the car, and leave in a rental. A… READ MORE
1351 Miles – Stress crack in windshield
To this point everything was electronic… I go to get the car on 12/13. Return the old and ugly rental van, get in my 2018 Pacifica Hybrid and start driving off. Right away I notice a big crack in the windshield where there was none before. So I stop and go see my service adviser…. READ MORE
1500 Miles, Waiting
While my car was in the shop it looks like they’ve put some miles on it testing, about 200 miles. In the meantime, I keep getting calls each time the glass is supposed to arrive, pushing back the date. So far, they’ve pushed back these dates several times: Original take given: December 31. Pushed back… READ MORE
No More Lemonade for Me (Final Post)
So, they had pushed the repair back and back about a couple of months, saying that the part was never in stock. The rep from Chrysler also kept promising me that as soon as they got them, I would be the first to get a windshield. While I waited I decided that enough was enough, and… READ MORE