Problems · by component
2018 Chrysler Pacifica electronic stability control (esc) problems
37 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2018 Chrysler Pacifica cite electronic stability control (esc), 4% of all 895 complaints for this model year.
Complaints
37
4% of all complaints
Crashes
1
Reported by owners
Fires
0
Reported by owners
Injuries
0
Reported by owners
What owners say about the electronic stability control (esc)
Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“DRIVING ON MAJOR HIGHWAY AT 70 MPH, CAR SUDDENLY LOST POWER WITH NO WARNING OTHER THAN A MESSAGE ON DASH 'PARKING BRAKE MAY TEMPORARILY BE UNAVAILABLE', CAR DID NOT SHUT OFF BUT GAS PEDAL UNRESPONSIVE. PULLED OVER, TURNED OFF CAR, RESTARTED, PUT IN DRIVE, CAR DID NOT MOVE. NEW MESSAGE: SERVICE TRANS, PRESS BRAKE WHEN STOPPED, KEY OFF ENGINE TO ENGAGE PARK. PREVIOUS TWO DAYS, HAD TROUBLE ,TOOK 4 TRY'S TO START CAR FROM KEY FOB. CAR HAS 30391 MILES, I HAVE OWNED IT 2 MONTHS. HAD TO BE TOWED TO DEALERSHIP.”
“ON FOUR OCCASIONS, I STARTED THE VAN AND IT IMMEDIATELY BECAME LOCKED IN PARK MODE WITH A NOTICE ABOUT ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL ISSUES. YOU CAN'T TURN OFF THE VEHICLE OR TAKE IT OUT OF PARK. CHRYSLER IS BUYING BACK THE VEHICLE BECAUSE THEY CAN'T FIX IT.”
“MY VAN ON MULTIPLE OCCASSION HAS STALLED IN THE MIDDLE OF CITY INTERSECTIONS. WHILE DRIVING MY CAR WILL HAVE AN ELECTRICAL MELTDOWN. ALL DIFFERENT WARNING MESSAGES WILL APPEAR ON DASH, WARNING DINGS WILL GO OFF, MY WIPERS WILL GO ON WITHOUT ME TURNING THEM ON, WHEN I PUSH THE GAS IT WILL NOT DRIVE. ON ONE OCCASION THE CAR ACCELERATED WITHOUT PRESSING THE GAS OR IF THE GAS WAS PRESSED IT WOULD ACCELERATE MORE THAN THE PEDAL WAS BEING PRESSED. ALL MY BUTTONS ON MY DASH INCLUDING A/C, AUTO START, BACK UP CAMERA/SENSORS WILL NOT RESPOND. ITS AS THOUGH MY CAR JUST DIES. THIS OCCURRENCE HAS NO COMMON SCENARIO THAT BRINGS ON THE MALFUNCTION. I 'VE HAD TIMES WHEN IT MALFUNCTIONED WEEKS APART AND THIS LAST OCCURRENCE IT WAS A YEAR IN BETWEEN OCCURRENCES. I WAS TOLD ON A CHRYSLER FORUM TO CHECK MY PCM. MY BATTERIES HAVE BEEN TESTED AND PASSED. I CURRENTLY DO NOT HAVE MY AUX BATTERY INSTALLED AS I DO NOT WANT/LIKE MY AUTOSTART FEATURE. THIS ACCIDENT OCCURRED ALL 5 TIMES WITH MY AUX BATTERY INSTALLED. MY DEALERSHIP SAID "TOO MANY ELECTRICAL PARTS TO CHECK" AND "WE CANT DUPLICATE THE PROBLEM/GET ERROR CODE TO DIAGNOSE SO TAKE THE VAN BACK TILL IT HAPPENS AGAIN AND CALL US…”
“CAR WILL STALL OUT WHILE IT'S IN DRIVE, BUT BRAKING. YESTERDAY IT DID IT AS I WAS TURNING LEFT IN THE MIDDLE OF AN INTERSECTION. IT STALLED AND TURNED OFF THE ENGINE FLASHING 'FCW/ LANESENSE UNAVAILABLE RESTART REQUIRED.' I THEN WILL HAVE TO SHIFT TO PARK AND RESTART THE CAR. THIS HAS HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES AND CHRYSLER HAS NOT FIXED THE ISSUE.”
“I RETURNED HOME FROM DRIVING A HALF AN HOUR IN MY VEHICLE AND WHEN I PUSHED THE START/STOP BUTTON TO TURN THE VEHICLE OFF IT WOULD NOT GO COMPLETELY OFF. THE ENGINE TURNED OFF BUT THE SENSORS AND RADIO WOULD NOT TURN OFF. NORMALLY IT SHUTS OFF WHEN YOU OPEN THE DOOR AND IT STILL WOULD NOT WORK. SO THEN I MESSED WITH THINGS A BIT AND MADE SURE ALL DOORS WERE SHUT. WHEN DOING SO THE BACK LEFT DOOR WOULD NOT LATCH ALL OF THE WAY. IT WOULD GO TO SHUT AND THE OPEN AGAIN BEFORE LATCHING.”
“SEVERAL TIMES, WHILE DRIVING 20-30MPH AS WELL AS WHEN STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT OR A STOP SIGN, THE CAR HAS LOST POWER STEERING (STEERING WHEEL LOCKS, BRAKE SEEMS TO LOCK IN PLACE), UNABLE TO ACCELERATE OR DECELERATE, DASHBOARD FLASHES SOME MESSAGE ALONG THE LINES OF "STOP/START REQUIRED" OR "SHIFT TO P THEN DESIRED GEAR", BUT EVEN WHEN ATTEMPTING TO SHUT OFF THE CAR AND RESTART, SOMETIMES THIS DOES NOT EVEN WORK. AT TIMES IT HAS TAKEN 2-3 MINUTES TO EVEN GET THE CAR TO SHUT OFF COMPLETELY IN ORDER TO TRY TO TURN IT BACK ON (AS IF THE CAR IS COMPLETELY FROZEN). THIS HAS HAPPENED ON SIDE STREETS, AS WELL AS AT A STOP SIGN AND A RED LIGHT ON A BUSY ROAD, WHICH LEFT ME BLOCKING TRAFFIC FOR SEVERAL MINUTES, UNABLE TO OPERATE MY VEHICLE. THIS HAS HAPPENED AT LEAST 5-6 TIMES IN THE LAST YEAR, MOST RECENTLY TWICE IN THE LAST WEEK.”
Showing 6 of 37 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.
Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Nov 9, 2026NHTSA vehicle page
Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.