2008 Chrysler Pacifica
This year drew an ordinary 102 complaints for a Chrysler Pacifica — the model's median is 296. What they were about is the unusual part: 13.7% of them mention cradle, against 1.2% across the model's other years.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 102 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 296 |
| Involving a crash | 2 |
| Involving a fire | 4 |
| Recalls | 0 |
| EPA combined | 17 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- cradle — 13.7% of this year's complaints, against 1.2% across the model's other years (11.3×). Owners wrote it as: cradle, engine cradle, rusted, rot.
- found — 18.6% of this year's complaints, against 7.4% across the model's other years (2.5×).
- mechanic — 17.6% of this year's complaints, against 6.6% across the model's other years (2.7×).
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
What owners wrote
NOISE COMING FROM 2008 MODEL YEAR PACIFICA TRANSMISSION IS NOT BEING COVERED UNDER THE LIFETIME POWERTRAIN WARRANTY BECAUSE CHRYSLER SAYS RUSTED ENGINE CRADLE IS TOO FRAGILE FOR THEM TO ACCESS THE TRANSMISSION. AS RUSTED OUT ENGINE CRADLES ARE AN ONGOING DOCUM…
TOOK CAR IN FOR REGULAR MAINTENANCE AND SERVICE MANAGER SHOWED ME THAT THE SUBFRAME/ENGINE CRADLE WAS SEVERELY RUSTED ESPECIALLY IN THE CENTER AND PASSENGER SIDE. THE CAR ONLY HAS 76,500 MILES AND IS REGULARLY SERVICED, WASHED AND MAINTAINED. NOW IT'S DANGEROU…
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Chrysler Pacifica was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2008 Chrysler Pacifica? What happened to yours?
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