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Chrysler Pacifica shutdown class action overview:
- Who: A group of Chrysler Pacifica minivan owners are suing automaker FCA.
- Why: The plaintiffs say FCA knowingly concealed a defect that causes the vehicles to suddenly shutdown while in motion.
- Where: The Chrysler Pacifica shutdown class action was filed in a Michigan federal court.
FCA played “Russian Roulette” with drivers’ lives by knowingly selling Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid plug-in electric minivans prone to an immediate and complete shutdown while in motion, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
A group of 36 plaintiffs filed the class action complaint against FCA US LLC on Feb. 1 in a Michigan federal court, alleging violation of state and federal consumer laws.
According to the lawsuit, model year 2017-2023 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans contain a defect in the propulsion system that can cause the vehicle to experience an immediate shutdown of motive power while the vehicle is being driven.
The issue was known to, and concealed by, FCA since as early as 2018, the plaintiffs allege. However, it wasn’t until Jan. 9, 2023 that the automaker decided to issue a recall.
In a recall report provided to federal safety regulators, FCA said it was aware of six customer assistance records, 242 warranty claims, and 59 field reports going back to February 2018 that could be related to the issue.
“Though FCA knew of the shutdown risk in the gasoline drive system prior to launching the vehicles, it did nothing to warn owners and lessees until very recently,” the plaintiffs say.
Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid issue put drivers at risk of injury or death, lawsuit states
The shutdown issue exposes drivers to the risk of accident, injury, death, or property damage if their vehicle spontaneously shuts down while driving, the plaintiffs say.
Despite this, FCA did not “trouble to open an investigation into the issue” until Aug. 2022, more than four years after it was put on notice of the defect, plaintiffs say.
FCA has still not offered to repair or replace the faulty transmission wire harnesses causing the issue, plaintiffs say. Instead, it has offered to install software updates that it says will “provide messaging to the customer and sufficient drive time to exit traffic.”
“What FCA should, but is refusing to do, is simply replace the faulty wiring harness with a non-faulty part so that owners of Shutdown Risk vehicles do not have to play Russian Roulette with the lives of their vehicle occupants… every time they enter traffic,” the plaintiffs say.
They seek to represent anyone in the U.S. who purchased or leased a model year 2017-2023 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid minivans plus a range of state subclasses.
They are suing for breach of warranty and violations of state consumer protection acts, as well as fraudulent concealment and unjust enrichment. They seek damages and a repair of their vehicles, fees, costs and a jury trial.
What do you think of the allegations in this Chrysler minivan lawsuit? Let us know in the comments!
The plaintiffs are represented by Steve W. Berman and Thomas E. Loeser of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP and E. Powell Miller, Sharon S. Almonrode, Dennis A. Lienhardt and Dana E. Fraser of The Miller Law Firm PC.
The FCA class action lawsuit is James Kappes et al., v. FCA US LLC, Case No. 23-cv-10259 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
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19 thoughts onChrysler Pacifica class action alleges vehicles contain dangerous shutdown risk
Chrysler Pacifica shut off on me while taking my children to school this morning. So frustrating.
I suffered the highway failure problem on December 30, 2022. The car was in the shop at the nearby dealer until March 24, 2022. After that it worked ok until August. I had hybrid battery related issues that first involved a newer recall, but then resulted in a total system failure on August 20, 2023, but while parked overnight rather than on the road. A repair was done, but on August 26 a series of hybrid battery-related warning lights came on, but I was able to get to a dealer. It is still with that dealer as of December 1, 2023. Unfortunately, all of the August failures occurred in Canada and the various parts of Chrysler are finger-pointing as to who should be responsible. Basically they are saying that because the car is stuck in Canada, the corporation cannot do anything to fix it. And, the dealer has gotten no help from the corporation and has recently diagnosed the problem to be moisture contamination of a cable in the high voltage battery and has ordered parts, but there is no word on when it might be fixed – or if it can be. So I have been without the vehicle for 6 months of this year, with no effort on Chrysler’s part to provide alternate transportation or anything else.
My Pacifica Hybrid stalled in traffic on 9/10/23. Had to be towed to the dealer. They said its horrible news started a “STAR” case with FCA. They haven’t returned my calls since, my wife and I have tried several times. I just need to know if I need to buy a reliable car that my family is safe in.
My 2022 hybrid plug in which barely has over 7K miles gave me this message while driving 75 MPH in the HOV lane with CHILDREN in the car and completely stopped on the highway. Was stuck with no AC with kids on a hot summer day in AZ. Still in the shop and furious that Chrysler will not fix this problem. Disappointing
We are on our 2nd Pacifica Hybrid 21 and 22 both have lost all motive power at one point. Dangerous. The recent “recall” fixes nothing. Supposedly giving you a few seconds notice before you are stranded. Value has plummeted since bogus recall. Chrysler should buy back and a it’s love to be part of the suit.
I purchased a 2022 Pacifica Plug in and is currently going thru this shut down issue too. The car shut down while driving at high speed. Car received “PIM software update”, but shut down again while driving on the 2nd day. Now the car is still at dealership with no info on whether it can be fixed. Add me to the class action.
We have a 2021 Chrysler Pacifica hybrid. It has shut down twice while traveling, just lost power. We can’t dated to the side, opened doors and sat for a bit. Then tried again and the engine light comes on but we kept driving as we were 6 hours from home both times. We made sn appointment with Chrysler and took it to the dealership. They “updated” a couple computer issues so we picked it up. We left the dealership and drove two exits away and it shut down again! The update they did added a message to the dash that said, “STOP SAFELY” Vehicle Will Shut Down Soon. It only gave us about a 30 second warning! We were in the right lane so we’re able to pull over but bothe the other times, we were in the fast lane going full speed and had to coast slowly over through traffic to get over! How is that a fix! Not an acceptable solution sirs!!