There Are A Few Specific Chrysler Pacifica Years To Avoid At All Costs

The Chrysler Pacifica may not be one of the most powerful minivans, but it is an incredibly popular one. Since the nameplate's relaunch for the 2017 model year as a minivan, the Pacifica regularly clears or comes close to clearing 100,000 units sold in the United States per year. 2023 was its best-selling calendar year, and last year was not all that far behind it as well. The only time sales took any significant dip in this time was during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

However, just because it has proved to be a popular choice for people needing a lot of seating for their families does not mean that the Chrysler Pacifica has been all smooth sailing to earn that popularity. In fact, the Pacifica has been the recipient of thousands of complaints from drivers and the subject of multiple class action lawsuits. This includes its current state as a minivan but also its original conception as a crossover SUV in the mid-2000s.

Due to its popularity, people may be wanting to get themselves a Pacifica on the used market for their daily use. Well, if that is the case, you need to be very specific in what model year you are looking at because you could be getting yourself an SUV or minivan that may not last you a very long time. Here, are the model years you should steer clear of based on the opinions and complaints of actual drivers, along with ones at the heart of legal battles.

Before it was the popular minivan of today, the Chrysler Pacifica first entered the world as a crossover SUV for the 2004 model year and lasted through 2008. Sales started off strong for the vehicle, but they tapered off quickly. That probably had something to do with the significant amount of issues that drivers were finding with it. For its first three years, the Pacifica would average nearly 955 complaints from drivers per year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The 2005 model year was the worst offender, accruing a total of 1,243 complaints. 2005 also has the most submitted issues from drivers of any model year on CarComplaints with 200, though 2006 is right behind that at 197.

Across all five model years, the most striking problem drivers have faced has to do with the engine cradle. There are so many instances of these things rusting and corroding to the point that some drivers have even had their engines fall out of their vehicles. Not only are you posed with some serious danger with this problem, but it will cost you thousands of dollars to fix. 

This was the reason why that over 300,000 were the center of a class-action lawsuit filed in 2015. Although the court ultimately determined that the company did not conceal this defect from the public, that doesn't change the fact that thousands of these vehicles had defective engine cradles. It may seem harsh to completely discount the entire SUV era of the Chrysler Pacifica, but with a problem this serious being entirely possible, best to avoid the risk.

That first iteration was not the only time the Chrysler Pacifica was at the heart of a class action lawsuit. That also happened for the first five model years of the minivan revamp of the nameplate that began in 2017. Rather than the engine cradle being the problem, it is the engine itself that is the cause of the issue. The Pacifica is equipped with a 3.6L Pentastar V6 engine with a nine-speed automatic transmission. 

What drivers found is both a timing error in the engine and the synchronization with the crankshaft being off. This would cause the engine to severely stall or simply fail. This was a lawsuit first filed back in 2017, during the first model year, and would encompass model years through 2021. In 2022, the lawsuit was settled, showing that Chrysler was at fault and would either need to repair or replace the affected cars from this time.

The 2017 and 2018, in particular, received a ton of complaints. The NHTSA has fielded 1,295 complaints from drivers for the 2017 model and 706 for 2018. These model years have also been subject to nine and 11 recalls, respectively. On CarComplaints, the 2017 model has the third most complaints of any Pacifica model year with 184. While it's best to avoid every model year part of this lawsuit, these first two model years are the ones that shouldn't even be factored into the conversation. If you really do want a Chrysler Pacifica, the earliest model year you should check out is 2022. Although, SlashGear even experienced the 2024 plug-in hybrid breaking down.