Since it currently only sells a minivan, it's not often that Chrysler has to issue a recall, but its latest, filed with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, is big enough to affect nearly 180,000 vehicles. The recall affects 2022-2026 model years of the Pacifica and Voyager vans, which are equipped with potentially faulty side curtain airbags, and names 178,246 vehicles that may therefore fail to comply with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 226, for "Ejection Mitigation." In a nutshell, the problem is that certain airbags may not be properly sealed, and if so, they become ineffective when they're needed. It just goes to show that even if a car has been on sale for a long time, problems can still rise to the surface.Chrysler Recalls Pacifica and Voyager for Leaking Side Airbags The NHTSA recall report says that 30 percent of the named vehicles are estimated to have the defect, which affected Chrysler minivans produced between May 17, 2022, and August 8, 2025. The issue was first made public on May 8, 2025, when Chrysler filed NHTSA recalls 25V302 and 25E033. Additional testing revealed that more vehicles than originally thought have the problem, prompting recall 25V573. In all these vehicles and those named in the latest recall, the improperly sealed airbags would "not retain sufficient pressure to prevent headform displacement of more than 100 mm," as dictated by FMVSS 226. Of particular concern is that both left and right curtain airbags are faulty.A crash with these substandard airbags could mean that occupants could be partially or completely ejected from the vehicle and/or sustain injuries, so Chrysler dealers will be informed that they must replace the defective airbags with new components on April 2. Unfortunately, owners of affected vehicles will only be notified from May 14-19, so it'll be a little while yet before their vans are completely safe.New Chrysler Products on the Horizon This week, the New York International Auto Show kicks off, and one of the stars will be the refreshed 2027 Pacifica, which will hopefully be free of the problem mentioned in this recall despite appearing to be nearly identical inside to the current 2026 Pacifica. Hopefully, we'll also get a taste of what else Stellantis has in store for the ailing brand after Chrysler design boss Scott Krugger hinted at a completely new kind of sedan last week. Chrysler has been selling only minivans since the 300 was discontinued in 2023, and we'd love to see the American brand return to prominence with something affordable and attractive. Fingers crossed.
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