2021 Chrysler Pacifica Brakes Problems

Car rolls forward when in reverse and takes a dangerously long time to slip into gear. Car rolls back when foot is taken off brake, especially on hills.

NHTSA ID

11712248

Incident

Jan 20, 2026

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

NHTSA ID

11679835

Incident

Jul 24, 2025

Mileage

82,500 mi

The emergency brake came on while I was driving

NHTSA ID

11660312

Incident

May 11, 2025

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.

NHTSA ID

11645963

Incident

Mar 2, 2025

The forward collision alarm was triggered when there was no collision. Additionally the ABS system and cruise control went offline. This occurred numerous times during winter while at a full stop as well as when driving between 45-55mph. Once triggered the collision alarm remained on for hours to days at a time. During that time cruise control was not able to be used and ABS was offline. Additionally the assisted parking was not available. ABS and stability control is important for safe driving and braking in icy/slippery situations putting both my own, my passengers, and other drivers at risk. The vehicle was inspected 4 times by the Bath NY Chrysler dealership. A sensor was replaced the first time but this did not correct the issue. The 2nd time another component was replaced, but the technician stated the issue was still present and I would need to bring it back in for further testing. The 3rd and 4th time the dealership was not able to recreate the issue and did not perform any repairs. The issue has recurred, but the dealership was not able to get the car in at that time. This vehicle has not been inspected by manufacturer, police, insurance etc. There was no prior warning to the issue. When it occurs the warning lamps that come on are: BRAKE, Front Collision, Front Collision OFF, ABS, Seatbelt, and the Traction Control. I have a photo of the dash from one of these incidents.

NHTSA ID

11593627

Incident

Mar 4, 2024

The vehicle stalled on the freeway while traveling 75 mph in the HOV lane. After the engine shut off, I recalled an error message on the dash that stated, "Motive power will stop and pull over quickly.” I needed to take evasive action to bring the vehicle to the side of the 5 freeway. I could not restart the engine in Neutral while the car was in motion. The car showed a charging error on the first and second attempted restart on the side of the road with the transmission in Park. After letting the vehicle sit for a few minutes, I successfully restarted the engine, but the dash continued showing an illuminated malfunction indicator lamp (MIL). We were traveling at 75 mph in the HOV lane (lane #1) when the vehicle engine cut off without warning. Once the engine was off, I saw a warning on the instrument cluster that the vehicle would lose all motive power (it's a hybrid) and that I should immediately stop it. I needed to take emergency action, cross over 5 lanes of freeway traffic, and then stop on the side of the road. The vehicle did not allow an engine to restart while in Neutral, with the car moving. The vehicle was brought in for the recall of 03A/NHTSA 23V-010. From what I understand, this recall did not fix the problem (reported to be a faulty wiring harness in the transmission). I installed a software update to display the error message that instructed me that all motive power would be lost and that I should stop the vehicle.

NHTSA ID

11570099

Incident

Feb 3, 2024

The 2021 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid will lose all power while driving. I have had it back to the Dealer for this Problem. I got a Recall for this in April. I took it in to the Dealer to do. They told me that Chrysler does not have a fix for this yet. Within 400 miles after that it done it again while my wife was driving and caused a crash.

NHTSA ID

11531168

Incident

Jun 3, 2023

I was on the highway traveling at 60mph, with the adaptive cruise control on. The semi in front of me began to brake, I tapped off the cruise control and began braking. The semi came to a complete stop and I pushed my brake pedal to the floor to stop my vehicle. It did not stop. My Pinnacle has emergency braking and forward collision warning. My driver's instrument panel did not give a forward collision warning indication in a timely manner and my emergency braking did not stop my vehicle. At the time of the accident vehicle had less than 10,000 miles, dry weather conditions, and vehicle was used for leisure - in town driving. A month previously, I took my Pinnacle into the dealership because I didn't feel my brakes were working properly. They felt mushy, little resistance, and were making a noise. An inspection was performed by the dealership but were unable to detect a noise or visual issue. My safety was put at risk when a system I depended upon, that was advertised as, "Full speed forward collision warning with active braking assists you by providing both visual and audible warnings as well as applying emergency braking to help bring the vehicle to a full stop, if needed" (chrysler.com/pacifica/safey-security.html) failed. The brakes didn't engage properly to stop us before hitting the vehicle in front of us. The forward collision warning indication didn't happen in a timely manner, it was delayed causing us to lose precious seconds. If this had been a passenger vehicle in front of us we could have injured the occupants and we ourselves could have been gravely injured had we been traveling at a higher rate of speed. The problem has not been confirmed by a dealership, but was taken there prior to the incident less than a month before. I reported the problem to Chrysler the day of the accident. The vehicle is pending inspection by insurance and I have asked that the Electronic Data Recorder be removed and the information on it to be evaluated.

NHTSA ID

11484672

Incident

Sep 9, 2022

I was driving uphill at slow speed; then a garbage truck in front of me needed to do a 3 point turn so I switched to reverse to back up. At that point the vehicle started flashing an alarm, I think said "service hybrid system" or something like that and instantly began rolling down the hill for about a block, while I was completely unable to engage the break or gas, to switch to drive, to control the wheel, even the emergency brake failed. I was rolling backwards for about a block completely unable to control any component of the car when the emergency break finally engaged. I was able to turn on my hazards at that point, but the vehicle would not start, nor would it turn off. I could not make it reverse or drive or even turn off as I sat stuck in the middle of an intersection. After several minutes like that I was eventually able to restart the car and drive slowly home. This is MURDER by Chrysler waiting to happen. I was very lucky no child or vehicle was behind me as I rolled downhill into an intersection. I was very lucky to not be hit by oncoming traffic as I sat stuck after rolling a block downhill backwards-- THESE ARE MINIVANS FILLED WITH CHILDREN!! MY 4 children! Chrysler in Berkeley service said they haven't heard of this before and will see me only next week, and not sooner! However, There are numerous similar complaints registered. I am afraid to drive it at all at this point. This is a very new car with less than 10K miles on it. RECALL IMMEDIATELY PLEASE BEFORE SOMEONE GETS KILLED.

NHTSA ID

11474631

Incident

Jul 18, 2022

My PHEV Pacifica Hybrid experiences intermittent dangerous lurching during braking. Symptoms: - During modest braking where regenerative braking system is doing most of the braking, the regenerative braking system flutters on an off a couple seconds at a time - The Power gauge on the cluster (Far Left) Bounces wildly with each flutter - Sudden loss of braking causes lurching of vehicle - Problem is periodic. Will not have the problem for weeks and then suddenly have the issue constantly for several days I have experienced this at highways speeds but it is most dangerous when braking in traffic.

NHTSA ID

11448319

Incident

May 1, 2021

I was stopped at a traffic light for several minutes. I started to feel like we were moving and checked the brakes to make sure they were still fully engaged. When I realized that they were and that I was still rolling, I put the car into park. I did bump the semi in front of me. I’m not sure if the impact or putting the car in park that stopped me. I have had the car for 3 months and never had anything like that happen. We had the car towed to the dealer and called Chrysler to report the problem. An inspector spoke to me and then went to the dealer to inspect the car. A few days later , we received an email saying that there was no manufacturing defect found with few other details about the inspection . We have since called several times to ask questions about the inspection and are told a “supervisor” needs to call us back. Despite being given several dates/times when this would happen, they have failed to call us back to discuss.

NHTSA ID

11418844

Incident

May 15, 2021