NHTSA Complaint #10166672 — 2005 CHRYSLER PACIFICA

WE PURCHASED A USED CHRYSLER PACIFICA ON 1/24/06 IN SAVANNAH, GA W/APPROXIMATELY 20K MILES ON IT. APPROXIMATELY 1 MONTH LATER, IT STALLED WHILE MAKING A U-TURN. TOOK TO THE DEALERSHIP AND WAS TOLD THAT IT WAS PERHAPS A FLUKE BECAUSE NO MESSAGE LIGHT CAME ON TO HELP DETERMINE THE ISSUE. IT WOULD OCCASIONALLY FEEL LIKE IT WAS GOING TO STALL OR REV ITSELF BUT IT WENT A FEW MONTHS WITH SOME ABS WHEEL SENSOR ISSUES BUT NO STALLING. SINCE JULY 25TH 2006 IT HAS STALLED OR ATTEMPTED TO STALL ON NUMEROUS OCCASIONS. ON THURSDAY 8/10/06. IT STALLED 2 TIMES AND ATTEMPTED TO STALL MANY MORE. THE FUEL GAUGE THEN DROPPED FROM @ 1/2 A TANK TO "E" AND THE MESSAGE CENTER SAID THAT THE TANK ONLY HAD 32 MILES TO EMPTY. I CALLED THE DEALERSHIP AND WAS TOLD TO BRING IT IN ASAP. I FUELED UP AND IT ONLY TOOK 12 GALLONS TO FILL UP. IT WAS THEN DROPPED AT THE DEALERSHIP. THE DEALERSHIP KEPT THE CAR FOR 5 DAYS AND WAS UNABLE TO DUPLICATE THE FAILURE. A FEW DAYS LATER THE SAME THING HAPPENED AND THE CAR WENT BACK AGAIN. THE DEALERSHIP TOLD ME TO KEEP THE CAR FUELED ABOVE 1/2 TANK AND THEN BRING IT IN ON 8/21/06 WITH A 1/2 TANK OR LESS OF FUEL. I BROUGHT IT IN AT A 1/2 ON THE MARK. ONCE MORE, THE DEALERSHIP WAS UNABLE TO DUPLICATE THE ERROR. THEY BELIEVE THEY KNOW WHAT THE ISSUE IS BUT CAN'T FIX IT UNTIL THEY CAN GET A COMPUTER READ OR OR PERSONALLY DUPLICATE THE ERROR. I GOT THE CAR BACK ON WEDNESDAY 8/23/06 AND AGAIN ON THE EVENING OF FRI, 8/25/06 THE GAS GAUGE PLUMMETED TO "E" WITH PLENTY OF FUEL IN THE TANK AND ATTEMPTED TO STALL. TODAY, 8/27/06 THE CAR STALLED TWICE, ONCE IN THE MIDDLE OF A RIGHT HAND TURN AND ONCE WHILE MAKING A LEFT HAND TURN. IF I GAS UP, I DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM UNTIL THERE IS LESS THAN A SOLID 1/2 TANK OF FUEL IN THE CAR. I NEED THIS CAR AND I AM SCARED TO DEATH TO DRIVE IT ANYWHERE WITHOUT MORE THAN A 1/2 TANK. I ASKED TO DEALERSHIP TO DRAIN GAS IF NEED TO BE REPLICATE THE ISSUE BUT THEY ARE APPARENTLY UNABLE TO DO THIS. *JB