[Brookeeye]

Uconnect System Completely Dysfunctional in Brand New 2018 Pacifica

I purchased a brand new 2018 Chrysler Pacifica last month. The day after we brought it home, the Uconnect system (which controls all entertainment, climate, navigation, etc. in the car) started malfunctioning. The situation has worsened to the present point where occasionally ONLY the am/fm radio works. No apple carplay, no phone pairing, no Sirius. Most of the time, however, we drive around in COMPLETE SILENCE, sometimes with our seat warmers stuck “on” because we can’t turn them off since that feature is controlled by the Uconnect system as well. The dealer has seen the car and has fielded my complaints, but ultimately says they are unable to fix it and won't take the car back. Chrysler would not allow the replacement of our Uconnect system because “they are working on an update.” I’ve been waiting for that "update" for over a month, and no dice.

I am at a point where I purchased a $40,000 vehicle with a substantial defect which the dealer cannot cure and the manufacturer is unwilling/unable to cure. At very least, I have a lemon law/breach of warranty claim.

HOWEVER, a social media search shows hundreds of other purchasers of Chryslers, Dodges and Jeeps with these same Uconnect problems. All of us purchased these cars in part because of this, seemingly fabulous, Uconnect system. We are now driving around with non-functioning systems, and no one able or willing to cure the defects. Some people’s vehicles are at the point where the computer is shutting down while driving (mine included) causing safety concerns. We’ve lost money, we’ve lost sleep, we’re stressed to the max over the fact that we’ve been swindled by Fiat Chrysler America.

The dealership has repeatedly informed me that Chrysler is and has been aware of this problem. They were aware of it when they sold me my vehicle, yet I was never informed of it. Had I known about it, I certainly would not have bought the car. I bought this car under many false pretenses, and it was the worst decision of my life. What resale value does a car with a broken computer have? A fraction of the purchase price, maybe???

I've been punted between the dealer, Uconnect and Chrysler so many times I've lost count. I have multiple case numbers, phone numbers, and no resolution in sight. I found numerous articles online about this problem. I am posting this here to warn potential buyers so that they do not end up in my shoes.

 

[SciTchr]

I purchased a brand new 2018 Chrysler Pacifica last month. The day after we brought it home, the Uconnect system (which controls all entertainment, climate, navigation, etc. in the car) started malfunctioning. The situation has worsened to the present point where occasionally ONLY the am/fm radio works. No apple carplay, no phone pairing, no Sirius. Most of the time, however, we drive around in COMPLETE SILENCE, sometimes with our seat warmers stuck “on” because we can’t turn them off since that feature is controlled by the Uconnect system as well. The dealer has seen the car and has fielded my complaints, but ultimately says they are unable to fix it and won't take the car back. Chrysler would not allow the replacement of our Uconnect system because “they are working on an update.” I’ve been waiting for that "update" for over a month, and no dice.

I am at a point where I purchased a $40,000 vehicle with a substantial defect which the dealer cannot cure and the manufacturer is unwilling/unable to cure. At very least, I have a lemon law/breach of warranty claim.

HOWEVER, a social media search shows hundreds of other purchasers of Chryslers, Dodges and Jeeps with these same Uconnect problems. All of us purchased these cars in part because of this, seemingly fabulous, Uconnect system. We are now driving around with non-functioning systems, and no one able or willing to cure the defects. Some people’s vehicles are at the point where the computer is shutting down while driving (mine included) causing safety concerns. We’ve lost money, we’ve lost sleep, we’re stressed to the max over the fact that we’ve been swindled by Fiat Chrysler America.

The dealership has repeatedly informed me that Chrysler is and has been aware of this problem. They were aware of it when they sold me my vehicle, yet I was never informed of it. Had I known about it, I certainly would not have bought the car. I bought this car under many false pretenses, and it was the worst decision of my life. What resale value does a car with a broken computer have? A fraction of the purchase price, maybe???

I've been punted between the dealer, Uconnect and Chrysler so many times I've lost count. I have multiple case numbers, phone numbers, and no resolution in sight. I found numerous articles online about this problem. I am posting this here to warn potential buyers so that they do not end up in my shoes.

@ChryslerCares are you aware of this problem?

 

[Brookeeye]

I purchased a brand new 2018 Chrysler Pacifica last month. The day after we brought it home, the Uconnect system started malfunctioning. The situation worsened to the present point where occasionally ONLY the am/fm radio works. Most of the timehowever, we drive around in COMPLETE SILENCE, sometimes with our seat warmers stuck “on” because we can’t turn them off. The dealer has seen the car and has fielded my complaints, but ultimately says they are unable to fix it because it is a "computer problem." Chrysler will not allow the replacement of our Uconnect system because “they are working on an update.” I’ve been waiting for that update for over a month, and no dice.

I am at a point where I purchased a $40,000 vehicle with a substantial defect which the dealer cannot cure and the manufacturer is unwilling/unable to cure. A social media search shows hundreds of other purchasers of Chryslers, Dodges and Jeeps with these same Uconnect problems. All of us purchased these cars in part because of this, seemingly fabulous, Uconnect system. All of us are now driving around with non-functioning systems, and no one able or willing to cure the defects. Some people’s vehicles are at the point where the computer is shutting down while driving (mine included) causing safety concerns. We’ve lost money, we’ve lost sleep, we’re stressed to the max over the fact that we’ve been swindled by Fiat Chrysler America.

The dealership has repeatedly informed me that Chrysler is and has been aware of this problem. They were aware of it when I purchased my vehicle, yet I was never informed. Had I known about it, I certainly would not have bought the car. I have 3 children, this car purchase was a big deal for us financially. We researched extensively and saved for 3 years to buy it, and we ended up with a lemon. This purchase could not have turned out worse for us, and Chrysler doesn't care.

 

[keith]

Have you pulled you battery cable and try to reboot the system? There is 2 updates for the UCONNECT from last year that you have to do manually. Maybe the U connect system needs to be replaced. I agree with you, I would be totally frustrated that I cant use any functions.

Good luck.

 

[Brookeeye]

No we haven't tried that. Thank you for the suggestion, it is worth a shot at this point. The dealership called us at one point and told us to do all this bizarre stuff (pump breaks 3x, turn car on and off, hold down button for 30 seconds, etc), but that did not work. According to the dealer their Chrysler rep is telling them there is nothing they can do at this point. We just want to return this car and get our money back now.

 

[wisejd]

No we haven't tried that. Thank you for the suggestion, it is worth a shot at this point. The dealership called us at one point and told us to do all this bizarre stuff (pump breaks 3x, turn car on and off, hold down button for 30 seconds, etc), but that did not work. According to the dealer their Chrysler rep is telling them there is nothing they can do at this point. We just want to return this car and get our money back now.

@;

I think at least one of things the dealer was suggesting was a soft reset of the Uconnect, which based on the issues you are describing I doubt would fix anything. The software Uconnect updates on the other hand could well help. If you go to the Mopar.com site you can link from there to the drive Uconnect website. Once there, you enter your vehicle VIN and you will see if there are Updates applicable to your Pacifica. If there are, you can find detailed instructions on this Forum as to updating yourself with a computer download and then unzipping the file and copying it on to a Thumb drive. It is actually very easy to do and takes about 30 minutes.

When we first got our 2017 Pacifica Limited (gas), we were about 600 miles from home and the Uconnect screen stopped accepting any input from the touchscreen. As you have noted, you can't do many key things on your vehicle without access to the screen. We did the Updates and have never experienced the issue again. We now have about 10K miles on the Pacifica.

 

[Brookeeye]

Thanks. I did try that already, it says no updates available. I have a sinking feeling that these issues are not going to be fixed easily. We've already been waiting 5 weeks and there's been nothing. At this point we are ready to explore our rights under the lemon law.

 

[stop-eject]

Check your radio software version. There are several threads with the instructions. I had similar problems, and they completely disappeared after the last month OTA update.

 

[cknierim]

Ugh. We've had ours going on 3 weeks and have had it in the shop twice for similar issues. The dealership is now telling us they want to replace the whole module - screen, radio, the whole system. First they told us it just needed an update. The updated was completed and while driving home the same issue popped right back up rendering the entire uconnect system useless. So frustrating on a brand new vehicle.

 

[Bond007]

So sad to hear this. The OP should pm @ChryslerCares and see if that helps him in speeding up the swapping of parts at least.

 

[drmelvinh]

I have experienced uconnect glitch twice. All resolved by itself after turn car off, leave the car and lock the car for about three minutes. Here is what I think the glitch is caused by: using the uconnect while the engine is not turn on. For example, we were watch DVD in the car without starting it. After that, we start the engine, uconnect start to act weird. Stuck in 360 camera the first time and heating seats menu disappeared the second time. All resolved by restart the car. My guess is that the system don't like unusual shut down. Maybe new software will address all the glitches.

 

[Brookeeye]

My Uconnect system is not working at all anymore. I tried the soft reset yesterday per others' instructions and it did nothing. It has restarted itself while the vehicle is in motion several times, and each time comes back on in the same dysfunctional state. A week ago I had at least some functionality, now I am nearly zero.


Chrysler assigned me two case numbers on this but has not followed up with me on either of them. We don't know what else to do. We are so sorry we bought this car.

 

[Brookeeye]

Just an update, my Uconnect system is not working at all anymore. I tried the soft reset yesterday per others' instructions and it did nothing. It has restarted itself while the vehicle is in motion several times, and each time comes back on in the same dysfunctional state. A week ago I had at least some functionality, now I am nearly zero. The dealership told me yesterday they couldn't help us, I asked them to replace the unit and they are refusing to do that. They said we should pursue a return of the car with Chrysler. However, Chrysler assigned me two case numbers on this but has not followed up with me on either of them. We don't know what else to do at this point. We are so sorry we bought this car.

 

[ChryslerCares]

Just an update, my Uconnect system is not working at all anymore. I tried the soft reset yesterday per others' instructions and it did nothing. It has restarted itself while the vehicle is in motion several times, and each time comes back on in the same dysfunctional state. A week ago I had at least some functionality, now I am nearly zero. The dealership told me yesterday they couldn't help us, I asked them to replace the unit and they are refusing to do that. They said we should pursue a return of the car with Chrysler. However, Chrysler assigned me two case numbers on this but has not followed up with me on either of them. We don't know what else to do at this point. We are so sorry we bought this car.

Would you mind sending me your VIN within a direct message, Brookeeye? Since you mentioned cases were created, I'd like to take a look and notify the assigned Case Specialist.

Jasmine
Chrysler Social Care Specialist

 

[amthen]

Add another sucker to the list, time for a serious class action lawsuit -- I'm a totally idiot because my 2018 is a replacement for our 2017 that we got replaced under lemon law ...... I figured after a year they'd have sort all the bugs out of this system.

 

[whatiswrongwithmycar]

Any action on this? Me too!

I've had the car about a month and most radio functions are totally silent about half the time. The only sure way to fix it (temporarily) is pulling over and pulling fuse 76 and restarting the car twice (the first time the system is plain nuts, but the second time is fine). I took it back to the dealer after 3 days but it didn't do it when I dropped it off, and the service person shrugged and said they wouldn't be able to do anything. They returned the car several hours later, I'm pretty sure without even looking at it. They didn't even wash it which they are supposed to do every time.

It is seriously embarassing to drop 40k on a brand new car and drive around in silence. Car radios have worked reliably since at least the 60s...

Do we have any word on the next software update? Or did this turn out to be a hardware problem with certain units somehow?

 

[whatiswrongwithmycar]

I've had the car about a month and most radio functions are totally silent about half the time. The only sure way to fix it (temporarily) is pulling over and pulling fuse 76 and restarting the car twice (the first time the system is plain nuts, but the second time is fine). I took it back to the dealer after 3 days but it didn't do it when I dropped it off, and the service person shrugged and said they wouldn't be able to do anything. They returned the car several hours later, I'm pretty sure without even looking at it. They didn't even wash it which they are supposed to do every time.

It is seriously embarassing to drop 40k on a brand new car and drive around in silence. Car radios have worked reliably since at least the 60s...

Do we have any word on the next software update? Or did this turn out to be a hardware problem with certain units somehow?

I just wanted to update anybody reading this...
@ChryslerCares helped hook me up with somebody at UConnect. If you call the UConnect help line they are very concerned and helpful about these issues. They'll even call into the dealer while your car is there to help make sure the proper things are looked for. It just so happens than UConnect seems to have finally diagnosed and released a software update. It didn't go out over-the-air (or show up on the website) yet, but when I took it into the dealer last week they were able to load it on for me. Over a week with no silent radio, I think this may have fixed it!

 

[apnar]

I just wanted to update anybody reading this...


@ChryslerCares helped hook me up with somebody at UConnect. If you call the UConnect help line they are very concerned and helpful about these issues. They'll even call into the dealer while your car is there to help make sure the proper things are looked for. It just so happens than UConnect seems to have finally diagnosed and released a software update. It didn't go out over-the-air (or show up on the website) yet, but when I took it into the dealer last week they were able to load it on for me. Over a week with no silent radio, I think this may have fixed it!

What version does radio show now?