Owner-reported complaints naming the steering system, filed with NHTSA
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Reports naming the steering system — racks, columns, power-steering assist and steering linkage. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2020 Chrysler Pacifica submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 31 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
The 25 most recent of 31, in the owner's own words
The contact owns a 2020 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while driving at higher speeds and attempting to veer over to the left or right, the steering wheel failed to return to center. There were no warning lights illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000.
Driving down a road, Power Steering warning light came on, and the power steering went completely out. My wife was driving, and is not strong enough to steer manually. She was able to partially get off the road to stop. Needed other drivers to help get it off the road. We had it towed to a repair shop, and they said the electronic components replaced and only the dealerships do it. Made an appointment and will have to pay to have it towed to the dealership
Vehicle steering locked up while driving causing driver to end up in oncoming traffic. Also, vehicles remote start turns on, but after a few seconds car shuts off.
The contact owns a 2020 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while turning to the right, the steering wheel seized, and the vehicle became difficult to maneuver. The contact stated that force was needed to maneuver the steering wheel. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the failure persisted and became a worsening failure. The steering wheel seized while turning to the right or the left. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. Upon further investigation, the contact became aware that the failure was most common with similar vehicles between 60,000 and 90,000 miles. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000.
Many times over the past 6 months the power steering assist goes away while driving at highway speeds. The steering wheel sort of locks up and it becomes difficult to turn. After much effort the wheel will turn and the steering returns to normal. It has happened at speeds as low as 40 mph and as high as 50 mph. This has occurred in heavy traffic situations. I have never had a dealer look at the problem. No warnings or messages from vehicle.
WHILE DRIVING DOWN MAJOR HIGHWAY, THE POWER STEERING LIGHT WENT ON. IMMIDIATELY MY POWER STEERING SHUT OFF AND I COULD NOT TURN WHEEL AT ALL. HIGHWAY WAS 55 SPEED LIMIT AND I COULD NOT EVEN PULL OVER. HAD VAN TOWED TO DAYTON ANDREWS CHRYSLER DEALERSHIP FOR DIAGNOSIS AND THEY TOLD ME THAT THE POWER STEERING MECHANISM NEEDED TO BE REPLACED AND IT WAS GOING TO BE $4,500.00. THIS VAN HAS 14,400 MILES ON IT. AFTER LOOKING ON LINE IF OTHER PACIFICA OWNERS HAD THE SAME PROBLEM, IT SEEMED THIS IS A GLOBAL PROBLEM. I OBVIOUSLY CANNOT AFFORD TO FIX THIS ALMOST BRAND NEW VEHICLE AND THE SALESPERSON INDICATED THAT EVEN IF I DID WANT TO FIX THE PART IS ON BACKORDER AND THEY DON'T KNOW WHEN THEY COULD GET THEIR HANDS ON THE PART. THE FACT THAT THIS PART IS ON SUCH AN EXTREME BACKORDER TELLS ME THIS PART IS IN DEMAND BECAUSE MANY PEOPLE ARE HAVING THIS SAME ISSUE. PLEASE HELP ! i AM GOING TO CONTACT MY ATTORNEY TO SEE MY OPTIONS. THIS VEHICLE IS BASICALLY NEW AND FOR SAFETY REASONS, BEYOND ANY FAULT OF MY OWN, IS UNOPERABLE.
The vehicle is unsafe to operate and presents an immediate highway safety risk. Shortly after purchase, the vehicle experienced multiple safety-related failures. Headlights were inoperable from the time of delivery, requiring use of high beams at night to see the roadway. This created visibility and traffic safety issues from day one. Within the first month of ownership, the vehicle required towing. The vehicle is a hybrid and could not be shifted into neutral, yet it was dragged with the wheels locked during towing rather than transported on a flatbed. This caused damage to multiple systems. Following the tow, all four tires developed visible bulges consistent with being dragged while immobilized, creating a significant risk of tire blowout at highway speeds. Steering and alignment became unstable, with grinding noises and loss of predictable control. The hybrid underbody shielding was also damaged, leaving components exposed. These conditions have persisted despite repeated notice to the seller and service administrator. A repair facility has confirmed the vehicle is not safe for long-distance or highway travel. The vehicle must regularly be driven at interstate speeds, and continued operation poses a serious risk of crash or injury. The vehicle remains in service only due to lack of alternatives, despite known safety defects affecting steering, lighting, and tires.
At low speeds while turning the wheel there is a severe shudder originating from the steering system resulting in a feeling of loss of control. Possible it’s happening at higher speeds and not as easily detectable. Countless users in online forums report the same exact problem with the solution from the dealer being that the rack and pinion system must be replaced. The volume of complaints seems like this is a defective part. This began when the car had under 30k miles but dealer would not fix under warranty as they “could not reproduce the problem”.
Power steering light came on immediately lost the ability to steer vehicle had to be towed in was told it was a battery issue and that was replaced picked the vehicle up the next day. It left me stranded yet again, took it back to the shop and now being told that the five year-old vehicle Needs an entire power steering rack not safe to drive.
The steering wheel sticks in a slight right turn around the 1 o'clock position. I have not felt it on left turns. There is no noise, scraping, or grinding. There is one slight right bend in the road on my way home and it consistently does the stick thing as I straighten out the wheel. I've searched and found many references to the same problem. I know NHTSA has started an investigation on this for Pacificas made in other yrs.
The contact owns a 2020 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds and attempting to make a left or right turn, the steering wheel was sticking and failed to return to center. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed, and the contact was informed that the failure was not duplicated, and there was no fault found with the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 50,000.
During gradual turns, steering will experience a sticking sensation requiring extra effort when trying to return to straight line center while exiting the turn.
Steering wheel gets stuck in place when making wide turns and especially curves on winding roads. You have to jerk steering wheel out of what feels like a locked/stuck position. Power steering light (lamp) comes on with noise but immediately turns off. Power steering light has been coming on and off inconsistently starting in 2023. I have many videos/pictures of light on. It has never stayed on for long enough time to get it to dealer still lit and I do not have money for the diagnostic testing that dealer says they require just to have said dealer look at it and tell me they can't replicate the problem therefore there is no problem. I've been terrified of it overcorrecting itself when coming out of the stuck position while at high speeds or on narrow high elevation roads resulting in a serious accident injuring or killing myself and my family or someone else on the roadways. Back seat (3rd row) driver side half folds itself down at random times without indication. It has trapped my kids several times, which makes me worry for their safety/suffication when we have to use that seat. It tends to happen more when the temperature is cold outside. This began before 65k miles. I took it to dealer for inspection and they called it a user error. This is not a user error and has happened more than 50 times in 4 years. Nothing is stored under the seat and no buttons were within access to children any of the times the seat malfunctioned and closed on my children. My 2020 Chrysler Pacifica is a true safety hazard. It is available for inspection at anytime.
1) A/C in the dash has loud non-stop clicking noise. Was replaced and has started up again. 2) Auto start/stop sensor in the cam went out. 3) Power steering rack went out when driving. Bought the car used from a Ford/Chrysler dealership with 65,000 miles. We have had the car for 3 months and they have had it in the shop for about 2 months
The start/stop warning light came on randomly. Then shortly after when driving the van the power steering randomly goes out and then comes back on.
The auto engine start-stop stopped working approx 2 years ago. Last week (early March 2025) my wife called and was panicking that “the engine stopped and the steering locked” while driving and a warning light and message appeared in the dash display - something like “service power steering”. I said it sounds like an electrical issue and she needs to add power steering fluid so I purchased a jug and went to meet her. While driving toward her location she called and said she looked online and found that her Pacifica has electric power steering, not hydraulic type. When I arrived the vehicle was working as normal and the message and warning light had disappeared. The same problem has repeated nearly ever day since then except the vehicle engine has not stopped. She claimed that she could not physically turn the wheel during these episodes and I tried to tell he that it is only because her forward speed is low and when going faster I said that it would steer easier - so I though from having no power steering in a few pickups back in the 1970s. Then I was driving this vehicle with her on 3/7/2025 in the mountains and the power steering failed and we nearly crashed at 35 mph as I could barely navigate the oncoming sharp corner. The power steering remained in a failed state for another few miles then came back on for a few miles, then failed again. The force required to steer the vehicle when the power steering fails is extremely high and I hate to think how many deaths and injuries this issue may have already caused. I came to your website and was stunned to see an existing recall for this exact issue, but stunned it doesn’t include our vehicle and therefore we have not been contacted - THIS ISSUE IS BEYOND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND WILL LEAD TO DEATH AND INJURY FOR DRIVERS WHO LACK AVERAGE STRENGTH!!! Please immediately expand the reach of the existing recall to contact all cars that have these electric power steering systems - you currently do not have all of us!!!
Power steering failure with a code. This will disabled the car.
My problem started about a year ago with the auto start/stop light coming on- said it needed serviced. They replaced my auxiliary battery. Mind you, my van was only about 2.5 years old at this point (bought it brand new). So then about a month ago, same warnings. Stop/start isn’t working. I get it inspected at the dealership, they say everything is fine. Well yesterday, my van stopped emergently in the middle of an intersection. The brake engaged, couldn’t use any pedals, steering or switch gears. I had to shut my vehicle off and restart. In the middle of a busy intersection at 4pm. The auto start/stop light keeps coming on. Take it to the dealership today and they said it’s a sensor issue with my hood switch. My hood thinks it’s open so my van freaks out and stops driving. It’s a $540 fix. This is a huge safety concern. From what I read, this van has had numerous start/stop issues and sensor problems. It’s a 2020 with 62k miles. I’m glad I wasn’t on the interstate or somewhere more dangerous.
While driving, received "service power steering" warning, followed by intermittent outage of the power steering. The power steering cuts in and out at uncertain times, so I will be taking a corner using a lot of force on the steering wheel because the power steering isn't working, when it will suddenly start working again, and cause me to oversteer. So far this hasn't caused an accident, but it most definitely could.
The contact owns a 2020 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that while making a sharp left turn at slow speeds, the vehicle shuddered. There was no warning light illuminated. In addition, the contact stated that while at a complete stop, the vehicle jerked forward upon releasing the brake pedal. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The contact called JT’s Chrysler Dodge Jeep RAM of Lexington (4838 Sunset Blvd, Lexington, SC 29072) and JT’s Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram of Columbia (190 Greystone Blvd, Columbia, SC 29210) and was informed that there were no recalls on the VIN for the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 40,000.
The contact owns a 2020 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that on several occasions while driving at various speeds, the vehicle lost power steering functionality intermittently. The power steering warning light and the power steering malfunction message was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 47,690.
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.
while driving at 55mph to lunch on the highway, my steering dash alarm reflected RED saying " SERVICE: POWER STEERING IMMEDIATELY, then almost without any warning the car died, power steering didn't work and I could not steer my car to a safe stop . IT DIED IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD!!! I took a picture of the dash with my phone and would love to send it to you. I turned the car off, and after 30 seconds back on, no SERVICE WARNING initially, but then two minutes later the SERVICE POWER STEERING light came back on, but the car kept running and didn't die. Drove home, service warning went away, then as pulling into our driveway SERVICE WARNING came on again. Turned the car off, went and GOOGLED this issue and found out there was a RECALL NOTICE for all Pacifica Touring L models 2017 to 2019, for this EXACT ISSUE, but my car is a Chrysler Pacifica Touring L 2020!!!!!!!!!! This issue could have gotten me and my wife KILLED due to the dangerous nature of this defect in the steering for the STOP / START battery system that controls the steering. THIS PACIFICA 2020 MODEL NEEDS TO BE ADDED RIGHT THIS MINUTE TO THE EXISTING 2017-2019 RECALL THAT NTSHA PUT OUT.
Possible control arm failure, been reading online that this has been a known issue with these and nothing has been done about it. My wife was driving with our 3 small children when the vehicle went left on its own with no steering causing her to lose control jumping the west bound lanes of traffic. Luckily no traffic was coming or this would have ended badly. My wife has minor injury’s and my children were unharmed
Our car was fixed for a recall 5 months ago for engine failure on the highway because of an electrical issue. On Saturday morning driving on the highway, the car's dashboard gave a warning when we driving on the highway, 70 mph, and then immediately started breaking. This caused us to be slowing in the middle lane to 45 mph and cars swerving around us. We were very lucky to be able to maneuver around traffic and safely make it to the shoulder to catch our breath. This could of been a really bad accident involving 3-8 cars. We had the car towed to a dealership and after a diagnosis, the car needed a whole new transmission. The recall was an electrical update to control wiring in the transmission but then the transmission only after 32k miles completely shut down and needs to be replaced. We are hoping this gets looked into. After reading on forums, this issue has happened multiple times. We did have the recall fixed but it seems like the recall is 100% effective. Since this is a major issue and can cause fatality or serious body injury, FCA should have a more effective update to fix this issue with the transmisson.
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
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