107 of the
10,659 complaints filed about the Chrysler Pacifica
are about the seats —
1% of everything owners reported.
The worst model year for it is 2004.
The head rest of the second row broke and will not return to its upright position. It happened when we putting the seat in the stow position. Having the headrest sticking into your neck is very dangerous so we basically lost a seat in our vehicle. We can choose to remove the headrest, which is a danger for whiplash OR repair it. The repair is estimated over $300 which is ridiculous! This should be a covered repair under a recall as it seems to happen frequently.
NHTSA complaint #11757533 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The captains chairs in the second row of the vehicle both had their reclining mechanism fail. This causes the seats to move forward and back sliding when the car is in motion as they will not stay locked in place. They cannot be used for transportation due to it being unsafe for the passenger as the seat does not remain upright. The seat is available for inspection. The seats have not been inspected by the dealer/manufacturer as they are wanting to charge a large service fee and do not have appointments available in a timely fashion. There were no warnings, the seats each failed suddenly upon regular use.
NHTSA complaint #11755063 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Center row seat back unexpectedly fell back and seat would slide back and forth. It is dangerous because the seatbelt is attached to the seat. I have a 2018 Ford Expedition expedition and you have a recall on the chrome trim on the center console. I think the seat problem is a lot more serious than that. If you search the Internet, there are a lot of people that have the same problem. Don’t understand why Chrysler doesn’t have a recall on it.
NHTSA complaint #11754117 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The contact owns a 2021 Chrysler Pacifica. The contact stated that the second-row seat failed to remain in the upright position, causing the seat to collapse forward or backward while the vehicle was being driven. The vehicle was inspected by a dealer who confirmed the seat failure but stated that the vehicle was not covered under NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V181000 (Seats). The contact received an estimate for the part; however, the part was on backorder. An independent mechanic later inspected the vehicle and suggested that the vehicle should be covered under the recall; however, inquiries to other dealers and the manufacturer resulted in consistent confirmation that the VIN was not under recall. A temporary repair was performed on the vehicle by the initial dealer; however, a permanent repair was not performed. The failure mileage was approximately 74,000.
NHTSA complaint #11753981 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Seat back falls to complete recline position and base slides forward and back. I googled it and found this has been happening since 2017 it is a safety issue. My Granddaughter was riding in the seat and it collapsed backwards. I don’t think there are a lot of these seats out there because it only on limited cars.
NHTSA complaint #11743293 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Third row randomly closes on my kids who are buckled in them. I've reported this to the dealer shortly after getting my van in 2021. Brought it back to them twice where they found "no problem", then I made an additional report here last year after it closed on them an excessive amount of times and I felt helpless. I was forced to move the child who was sitting in the back to front seat after it closed on them multiple times in one ride. A head on collision occurred a few miles down the road with my child in front seat. He was injured more than he should have ever been, due to needing to be moved from the rear of the van. Furious Chrysler did not take my previous complaints more seriously.
NHTSA complaint #11733112 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
After deploying the second-row Stow 'n Go captain's chair seat from its stowed position in the floor, the integrated headrest fails to lock in the upright, passenger-safety position. The headrest remains folded forward or flops forward under normal conditions and cannot be secured in the upright position required for safe occupancy of the seat. The root cause, as identified by dealership technicians and documented by numerous owners across multiple model years (2017–2022), is failure of a small plastic component within the headrest actuator cable assembly. This cable mechanism is designed to automatically fold the headrest during stowing and return it to the locked upright position when the seat is deployed. When the plastic cable end or the locking mechanism fails, the headrest cannot return to or maintain the upright, locked position. The cable itself is not sold separately by Chrysler/Stellantis, with dealers quoting $500–$1,000+ for repair requiring full seat frame or headrest replacement. This constitutes a safety hazard because: (1) a headrest in the forward/folded position provides no rear-impact protection to an occupant, increasing the risk of whiplash or cervical spine injury in a collision; (2) the condition prevents safe installation of child booster seats in the affected seating position; and (3) the defect is a known, widespread, and persistent design flaw affecting multiple model years with no manufacturer recall or remediation issued. This issue has been reported by a large number of owners on owner forums and acknowledged by Chrysler customer care representatives, yet no recall, technical service bulletin fix, or goodwill repair program has been established. I am filing this complaint to support an investigation and potential recall.
NHTSA complaint #11732777 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The back seat stow and go on passenger side closes randomly on while child is sitting in the seat. We are using a booster seat, so when it hits the booster seat it can't close any farther on the child. I had it looked at by a mechanic which said it would cost $1500 to repair. We have had to pull over and luckily have been able to get it to reverse. The seat also will try to stow when I open the side door on the passenger side. This is a huge safety concern to me as death can and has occurred in the past months.
NHTSA complaint #11730766 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The rear headrest will not stay in its proper upright position. After putting it into its Stow N Go position in the floor, the headrest is broken and down and no one can sit in the seat safely. This is a safety issue and Chrysler needs to repair it for free. It is a design flaw. A very thin piece of plastic breaks and results in an unusable rear seat! So many complaints from people who have had this happen. It is not a fluke. It is a regular problem with this otherwise great car! And if someone has an accident with someone trying to sit in that broken seat and gets hurt because there is no headrest………..
NHTSA complaint #11725106 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Description of Incident: On February 15, 2026, my 2017 Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid experienced three distinct and severe safety system failures involving the electrical system, power seats, and the power sliding door. Power Sliding Door Sensor Failure: While my minor son was entering the vehicle, the power sliding door closed on his leg. The pinch sensor failed to detect the obstruction and did not reverse. This resulted in physical bruising and marks on the limb (photographic evidence maintained). Unintended Passenger Seat Motion: While the vehicle was stationary, the front passenger power seat moved forward to its maximum limit without user input. I was seated in the chair at the time and was pinned against the dashboard before I could intervene. Electrical Shock: My minor daughter received a perceptible electric shock upon touching the exterior door-handle button to open the sliding door. Components Involved: Electrical System Seats (Power) Sliding Door (Power) Injuries: Yes (Soft tissue bruising/marks to minor’s leg). Risk to Safety: Had the driver's seat moved forward without input while the vehicle was in motion, this absolutely could result in loss of control of the vehicle and an accident. Had the sliding side door continued to close on my son's leg, it could have caused severe injury. Had the electrical shock been worse, it could have resulted in burn or injury. The vehicle is available for inspection. It has not yet been inspected by the manufacturer, police, or insurance. The issues have not repeated at this point, although the vehicle was not used the last 12 days. I do not have confidence in its electrical components. There were no warning lamps, messages, or other indications of any problem with the vehicle.
NHTSA complaint #11720695 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The headrest failed. The headrest pivots on the steel supports, and there's a ratchet inside, that is actuated by a plastic piece, which is then connected to cabling. The plastic piece internally broke it's actually unbelievably small for the application, the engineers should be ashamed of themselves. I'm going to guess 1/8" diameter, maximum, snapped right at the ratchet mechanism. If the weak plastic does happen to let loose in an accident, that headrest is going to flop forward and will not provide the head support that it's supposedly designed to provide. The way the headrest angles forward I worry about decapitation or severe neck injury causing quadriplegia in the event of an accident. This piece should work and be dependable not a tiny piece of plastic that often breaks with minimal use. We should know we have dependable headrest function in the event of an automobile crash.
NHTSA complaint #11720619 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The mid-row driver's side seat release cable suddenly permenantly lost all tension, preventing the seat from latching into place both during operation and while stationary, leading to it sliding forwards/backwards with the vehicle in motion. The seat that experienced the failure is at present still avaliable for inspection - and the issue occurs frequently enough that a DIY fix can be found online. However, given that the faliure occured without any human interaction with the failed component, it seems prudent to report it here. No warning lights or prior symptoms appeared prior to the issue surfacing. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11719195 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The head rest of the second row broke and will not return to its upright position after we used the stow feature. Very dangerous now and basically lost a seat in our vehicle
NHTSA complaint #11711039 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The 2nd row seat headrest remains in the forward facing position (parallel to the ground) and not upright. The headrest won’t lock into the upright position anymore which is causing a major safety concern. The head rest will move up and down, but not lock into position. The passenger has to hold the headrest into the upright position or not use the seat at all based on safety concerns of head/neck protection in the event of an accident. No accident or incident has happened. The other headrest on the other side works fine for now, but one is broken. I am requesting this headrest to be replaced free of charge by the manufacturer based on safety concerns and safety protection necessary. In addition, this mode of seat and headrest does not work properly with car seats. We have had to uninstall the headrest in order for a car seat to sit flush with the middle seat so the car seat doesn’t rock back and forth.
NHTSA complaint #11704968 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
We had the seat fail on one of our middle row seats. It lines up with a dealer service, and we believe the dealer probably broke it while performing other work, but we don't have before/after videos or anything like that to prove it. The issue is that there is a plastic piece that breaks, which means that the seatback no longer locks. This is apparently a common problem in these cars: https://www.pacificaforums.com/threads/broken-passenger-2nd-row-captains-chair-thoughts.54633/ https://www.pacificaforums.com/threads/fix-for-stuck-easy-tilt-2nd-row.47300/ https://www.reddit.com/r/pacificahybrid/comments/1kmsiuj/both_of_my_middle_row_seats_are_defective_they/ The dealer wanted something like $900 to fix it. This is a major safety issue; if the seatback failed during a crash it would mean the other safety systems in the car couldn't do their jobs. We have the broken seat in the garage - we've been driving around without it. I think the pictures in the Pacifica threads above are pretty useful, but if seeing in person would help, happy to meet up or something like that.
NHTSA complaint #11696110 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
On 10-23-25 my son pushed the button at the bottom rear of the drivers seat that moves the seat forward when using the stow-n-go feature. I was in the seat at the time and had just seconds to react. I pushed the Driver 1 setting on the door and it reversed the action. If I hadn't, would I have been crushed into the steering wheel or would the air bag have gone off? What if I hadn't set up that feature? What if I had panicked? I took it to the dealership today. After inspecting it, they said there was no protocol for this problem. The only thing they could do was to disable the button, which they did upon my request. "5447 B Piller on left side has button for rear passengers to press to move seat forward. There is no setting to disengage function, only way to disengage would be to unplug button. Per customer request unplugged switch to disengage button from working." There were no warnings and just seconds to react. There is a button at the roof front center that disengages the side doors from opening. Perhaps this button should also include disengaging that feature, or eliminate it altogether. My 2015 Dodge Caravan also had stow-n-go. It was simple to move the seat forward to utilize this feature. Now, with the Driver presets, it is very convenient to move it back. This is an unnecessary and unsafe "convenience." Only someone in the driver seat should be able to move the seat forward.
NHTSA complaint #11695879 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
2nd Row Seat fails to latch and lock in position. The seat reclines back and forth without being able to be latched in place. My [XXX] and [XXX] 's safety is greatly impacted by this, as the seat is unable to be properly secured in the event of a crash. I have had the other 2nd row seat repaired nearly 2 months ago at a Chrysler dealership, but am dealing with the same problem on the other 2nd row seat. When I took the vehicle to the dealership 2 months ago, the 2nd row seat that has now failed to latch was not experiencing those problems. There were no warning lamps or symptoms of this failure to occur other than knowing that the other 2nd row seat had experienced the same failure 2 months prior to this. A poor design in the seat reclining mechanism in the 2nd row seats of the Chrysler Pacifica by Chrysler appears to be the problem. Numerous other posts about this same issue exist on the [XXX] webpage, as well as by doing a google search on the failure INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
NHTSA complaint #11692293 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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.
NHTSA complaint #11685987 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The second-row seat back will not stay in a fixed position. How would that do in a car crash with no fixed back position? Just flop backwards all the way from a rear crash? This part was broken. Spring busted open the cheap, plastic housing to the EZ slide latch. Latch Release Cable - Mopar (68324912AC), 2017-2025 Chrysler - 68324912ac
NHTSA complaint #11685574 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Cable system inside 2nd row seat broke so that it can no longer anchor in place. The back of the seat folds back/forth and unable to secure in place, the seat slides forward/backward freely on the track. Seems to be a known issue (multiple forums online).
NHTSA complaint #11674886 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.