The Honda's problems are water finding wires. The Chrysler's are a recall queue with a child-seat latch at the front of it.

The clearest 2021 pattern, and there is no recall for it. Owners describe water entering through a visible gap in the rear hatch, through body seams, through the roof, and through the rear left window seal. It runs down into the electronics. The most common outcome is the power tailgate losing all function — no response from the key fob, the tailgate button or the dashboard switch — because the tailgate control unit is waterlogged. One owner reports a mechanic finding the trunk door 'wasn't sealed' and the computer soaked. The same leaks are blamed for sliding-door control modules failing. Because it is not covered by any campaign, this lands on the owner, and it is not a trivial job: it means finding and sealing the leak as well as replacing a control unit. Look for it before you buy. Lift the boot floor and the rear carpet, feel for damp, look for water staining and tide marks around the tailgate seal and the rear window seals, and sniff for mould.

Sources: NHTSA complaint and recall database, 2021 Odyssey

Auto idle-stop switches the engine off when you stop and restarts it when you lift off the brake. On the 2021, owners report the restart failing: the engine dies at a junction and will not come back, sometimes for long enough to be genuinely dangerous. One describes the van shutting off completely at a traffic light twice in two weeks with no warning; another says 'the car tries to start and stalls'; another reports a severe stalling defect that creates an immediate traffic hazard. Owners' habit is to switch idle-stop off every time they start the van, since it turns itself back on. Honda has acknowledged a no-restart condition on later Odysseys — it asked dealers to inspect and collect parts from 2023 to 2025 vans with 'a no auto re-start condition after going into an auto idle stop' — but that is an open investigation naming other years, not a programme covering this one, and there is no recall for it on the 2021. Sit through a dozen stop-and-go cycles on the test drive with idle-stop left on.

Sources: NHTSA complaint and recall database, 2021 Odyssey · Honda manufacturer-communication bulletins and independent mechanic channel transcripts (5th-generation Odyssey)

The 2021 escapes the sliding-door recalls that cover 2018 to 2020, but the doors are still worth a hard look. One owner reports both door latches failing, the first at three years and the second at five, leaving a door that will not close fully. Others describe the doors becoming unreliable after water reached their control modules. Honda's own technical bulletin for 2018 to 2022 vans also admits an unresolved problem with the sliding-door windows: they stop partway and roll back down when you use one-touch Auto-Up, because of a software mismatch between the switch and the window regulator, and Honda's guidance to dealers says 'there is currently no recommended repair'. A mechanic who works on these doors traces a separate common complaint — the door closing then re-opening by itself — not to the motor but to the pinch-protection sensor strip in the door's leading edge, which he says Honda did not seal properly, so water gets in and the wet sensor reports an obstruction that isn't there. He disconnects the sensor and reckons it saves around $2,000 against replacing the motor. Be careful with that: disconnecting it removes the protection that stops the door on a child's hand, and he says as much on camera.

Sources: NHTSA complaint and recall database, 2021 Odyssey · Honda manufacturer-communication bulletins and independent mechanic channel transcripts (5th-generation Odyssey)

The recall on this list that matters most in the vehicle's actual job. Recall 22V-181, Chrysler code Z22, covers 2021 and 2022 Pacificas and 2021 Voyagers where 'the second-row seat-to-floor mounting latch may bind and stick open, preventing the seat from properly securing to the floor.' Because of that, NHTSA records, 'these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 225, Child Restraint Anchorage Systems.' The consequence line is short: 'An unsecured seat increases the risk of injury in a crash.' Dealers inspect and, if necessary, replace the second-row seat cushion frame, free, and owner notification letters were mailed on 7 April 2022. If you are buying this van for the reason most people buy this van, this is the campaign to check first. It is also worth doing the physical test yourself: fold and unfold both second-row seats, reseat them into the floor latches, and then pull hard upward on each seat to confirm it is genuinely locked down rather than resting in place.

Sources: NHTSA recall campaign records, 2021 Chrysler Pacifica (recallsByVehicle for both model names, plus campaignNumber for 24V-538)

Applies only to the plug-in hybrid, the version with a battery you charge from a socket, and 2021 is one of only two model years caught by both surviving campaigns. Recall 24V-538, Chrysler code 72B, covers 3,606 vehicles across 2019 to 2021: 'The battery pack may cause a vehicle fire when parked, even with the ignition in the Off position.' Recall 26V-362, Chrysler code 52D, reported 4 June 2026, covers 2020 to 2022 and says the same thing. Both carry the same instruction to owners, which is the clearest statement of how serious this was treated as being: 'Owners are advised not to charge their vehicles, and to park outside and away from structures, until their vehicle is repaired.' Both remedies are identical: update the high voltage battery pack control module software, the computer supervising the big battery, then inspect and replace the pack as necessary, free. 24V-538's letters were mailed 6 March 2025; 26V-362's from 23 June 2026. The history behind them is the reason to be careful rather than relaxed. The first campaign in this family, 22V-077, covered 2017 and 2018 vans, and NHTSA's record says it 'is superseded by NHTSA recall 24V-538'; 24V-538 calls itself 'an expansion of NHTSA recall number 22V-077'; and 26V-362 applies the same fix a third time. Get documentary proof the most recent campaign is closed on the specific VIN.

Sources: NHTSA recall campaign records, 2021 Chrysler Pacifica (recallsByVehicle for both model names, plus campaignNumber for 24V-538)

The largest complaint cluster on the 2021, and one that needs reading correctly. Recall 24V-436, Chrysler codes 66B and 79B, covers 2021 to 2023 Pacificas among many other Stellantis models, where 'the radio software may prevent the rearview image from displaying', failing Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 111 on rear visibility. The remedy is a free software update, at a dealer or over the air, and owner letters went out from 9 July 2024. What fills the complaint file is not the defect but the wait. Filing after filing repeats the same formula: 'the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair… VIN tool confirms parts not available.' Some owners describe the underlying symptom too, one reporting that 'the back over camera occasionally went blank and was flickering', another that 'while reversing, the rearview camera image was frozen or black.' One was told the recall could not be done 'unless the radio was replaced', because 'the radio was blocking the update from being completed.' For a buyer today this is mostly historical: check the VIN, and if the campaign is closed the issue is closed. If it is still open, that is a conversation to have before money changes hands, because it is a compliance defect on a family van.

Sources: NHTSA complaint database, 2021 Chrysler Pacifica (models PACIFICA and PACIFICA HYBRID) · NHTSA recall campaign records, 2021 Chrysler Pacifica (recallsByVehicle for both model names, plus campaignNumber for 24V-538)