229 of the 1,264 complaints about the 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan are about the body and structure — 18% of everything reported for this model year. Half of the failures with a mileage on record happened before 58,000 miles.
229
Complaints
3
Crashes
0
Fires
3
Injuries
Filed with NHTSA, in their own words.
STRUCTURE:BODY
The driverside manually operated sliding door will not open. If person's riding in the rear or middle seats they would only have on egress door in an emergency situation. This vehicle has not been involved in any type of wreck and there were/are no warning lights. This happened about 1 week ago and I found out it is not covered under my extended warranty
NHTSA complaint #11724662 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
The front door panel that sits between the front window and back sliding door flew off the vehicle while driving down the road. This happened on both the driver and passenger side at different times/days. The drivers side was fixed by the dealer (eide) under warranty prior to the passenger side flying off. The passenger side panel is still missing/not fixed. You can possibly inspect it, depending on what it entails and what I would need to do. The safety of myself and other drivers was put at risk in the case of if the piece flying off hit their vehicle or they had to try and avoid it and an accident happened. The dealer was able to diagnose the problem. It has not to my knowledge been inspected by the manufacturer or police. There were no warnings about this prior to it happening or now.
NHTSA complaint #11715934 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE
The contact owns a 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, the front driver's side headrest stem fractured. The contact stated that the vehicle was not occupied when the failure occurred. The contact zip-tied the headrest to keep it secured. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle remained at the residence. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 71,567.
NHTSA complaint #11695781 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
Both sliding doors are not opening from the inside or outside
NHTSA complaint #11638674 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
The rear sliding doors do not open. Dodge sent me an extended warranty to fix the rear door actuators which fail that cause this issue. But 2 dealerships want $1600 to $2000 to replace the covered part! I cannot afford to fix this extremely hazardous situation of the rear doors not opening. As I have talked to other owners this is a major repaired part that dodge will not repair on their own and a recall must be forced on them.
NHTSA complaint #11629563 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
Transmission had to be rebuilt at 153,000. The sliding doors actuators are locked all the time and unlocked all the time, which is a safety hazard for anyone riding in rear seats.
NHTSA complaint #11589265 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
Sliding door is permanently locked shut and doesn’t open. Have tried to open from outside and inside the car. Will not lock or unlock due to being locked all the time.
NHTSA complaint #11569660 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
BOTH SLIDING DOORS ARE LOCKED AND CAN'T BE OPENED MANUALLY OR AUTOMATICALLY OUR KIDS AND PASSENGERS CAN'T EXIT SAFELY IN THE EVENT OF AN ACCIDENT OR FIRE. THE ISSUE HAS BEEN CONFIRMED AND WARRANTY EXTENTED-DEALER CHARGED $155 AND TOLD US THAT THE DOOR BEING LOCKED AND NOT BEING ABLE TO OPEN IS NOT THE ISSUE BUT THE LATCH IS DEFECTIVE. (WE DON'T BELIEVE THIS TO BE TRUE) THIS ISSUE HAS BEEN CONFIRMED BY MANUFACTURER AND WE RECIEVED A LETTER DIRECTING US TO TAKE THE CAR IN FOR REPAIRS FOR THESE ISSUES. THE POWER LOCK ACTUATOR MADE A CLICKING/BUZZING SOUND AS DESCRIBED IN THE LETTER FROM FCA US LLC BEFORE GOING BAD. WE ARE TRYING OUR BEST TO RESOLVE THIS ISSUE BECAUSE WE HAVE THREE KIDS THAT ARE DAILY PASSENGERS.
NHTSA complaint #11534702 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
The door locking actuator failed. The door will no longer open from the inside or out. It’s essentially stuck locked. There was a loud buzzing noise which now I know was the warning signal for the actuator starting to go bad.
NHTSA complaint #11533885 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
The contact owns a 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan. The contact stated while driving 58 MPH, the spoiler deck lid on the liftgate fractured and detached from the vehicle. The contact also became aware that the brake light was missing from the liftgate. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the spoiler deck lid had fractured and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 109,086.
NHTSA complaint #11531276 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
The power sliding rear door on the driver side is stuck in a locked position for 4-5 days now. This has happened previously to our power sliding rear door on the passenger side as well (before the current extended warranty) and we corrected that issue on our own by replacing the door actuator. Now that it has happened again and there is a warranty on it, I took it to the dealership and they are telling me it is not the actuator that is broken but the door rod and latch and quoted $1600 to fix the problem. I personally think this is a deceptive practice to get out of replacing the actuator under the warranty, but I am not a mechanic. It sure is suspicious though seeing as the rod and latch are linked to the actuator. This is very dangerous and could cost lives if the vehicle was full of passengers who needed to exit quickly and the door was jammed shut. The fact that it is so closely related to the actuator that already has an extended warranty is a cause for concern.
NHTSA complaint #11527873 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
No warning lamps. I managed to reset the actuator but it jammed up again. The doors won't unlock or lock depending on the position the actuator failed in. I haven't taken this to a dealer, but based on several videos and forum questions I was able to self diagnose and reproduce the problem.
NHTSA complaint #11520847 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
both of my side sliding door won't open, unlock or lock. This puts family in me at risk in case of a accident or something we wouldn't be able to get. Out of nowhere they just stop working first one door gave out and now the other and I been searching not the only one with this issue.
NHTSA complaint #11516864 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
Passenger sliding doors will not open. In december 2021 Dodge dealership seemingly fixed issue. It is now 2023 and the doors will not open again. This is very dangerous as I have two small children. The costs for these repairs were very expensive and unfortunately hasn't even lasted 2 years. I now have to pay out of pocket thousands for an issue that is completely mechanical and dealer issue.
NHTSA complaint #11515332 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
Actuator failed and car makes a loud buzzing sound when locking or unlocking the door. Back driver-side door won't open.
NHTSA complaint #11511332 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
One day it just quit working. Along with the lock making a loud noise. Now I can’t get my kids out in the case of an emergency. This needs to be fixed asap.
NHTSA complaint #11505738 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
The sliding door actuator lock gets stuck in the locked position. Making it unsafe for me and my kids to get out in an emergency. Same with the back trunk. It was stuck for months then just started working again.
NHTSA complaint #11504780 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
Similar to recalls with other Grand Caravans, both our sliding doors will not open. There is a buzzing sound when locks are engaged. First door went out a month ago Second one today.
NHTSA complaint #11492763 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
Driver side passenger sliding door locked and won’t unlock to open door no manual override way to open door I feel is a safety hazard if in a accident.
NHTSA complaint #11477994 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
Sliding drivers side door will not open. Does not unlock, lock, latch and buttons do nothing. Door is stuck in closed position. Very unsafe! This vehicle is used for a handicap adult.
NHTSA complaint #11475698 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
With no warning, the driver’s side sliding rear door locked and will not open either manually or remotely. Concern for safety of passengers exiting the van in an emergency
NHTSA complaint #11472508 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
The passenger side sliding door fails to lock leaving people and property at risk. It is available for inspection. The dealership service department indicated it is the latch system. It had been buzzing on lock prior to failing altogether, this is similar to other issues listed online so I believe the actuator may be involved as well. This appears to be a common problem related to a design flaw.
NHTSA complaint #11471271 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
The drivers side siding door lock has failed making the door unable to be unlocked automatically or manually. This has left the door inoperable. This is a serious safety risk which leaves a person in the back seat unable to exit the vehicle through that door in the event of an emergency. The vehicle has not yet been inspected for this issue. There was no warning indicators of the failed door lock.
NHTSA complaint #11469653 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
Passenger side rear door is making a buzzing noise! will cost over $500 to fix. After researching multiple other van owners are having this same issue this should be recalled this vehicle is only 6 years old !!
NHTSA complaint #11464994 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
The driver side rear door failed to unlock and open and is available for inspection. This happened about two weeks ago 04/12/2022. When this started, my grandson was unable to get out that door, but fortunately, the other door opened fine. If there was an accident, and the other door got damaged, passengers would be unable to exit without climbing to the front of the van or out the backdoor. I noticed if I manually assisted the unlock process, it would open. Currently it's working but when the door locks either manually or with the automatic locks, it makes a loud buzzing sound. That is very concerning and sounds like it's about to fail. The passenger side door failed last September 2021 to lock and could not be locked manually. We were able to get the repair done under our extended warrantee. The serious problem with the door not locking was you could open the door while the car was moving.
NHTSA complaint #11462470 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
The left side passenger door stopped working and is stuck in the lock position. It will not unlock even manually. At first I assumed this was just something with my van but after checking online I now see this is a massive problem that has affected many people. This issue is a huge safety problem as someone will not be able to exit the van in an emergency. People have said they have complained to both Dodge and the NHTSB for years and no recall has been issued. How is that possible when the problem is so widespread? Do people have to actually die before a recall is finally ordered? Please do what you can to get this problem solved before something bad happens. I’m already prepared to pay to get this fixed but it seems to me Dodge needs to be forced to do something about it.
NHTSA complaint #11459933 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
Driver side sliding door does not latch under normal use. It will constantly cycle through opening and closing to no end. This will happen when driving which is a major safety issue. I found the following workaround (which is an unreasonable daily activity for a family): 1. Park Car 2. Turn on Child Lock 3. Put Key in Accessory 4. With Drivers Window Down, and all doors closed except the Drivers Sliding door, press lock button on the door panel. 5. Close Drivers Side Sliding Door 6. NEVER let people in/out the defective door or will have to repeat the above steps. I received a letter from Fiat Chrysler identifying issues with the Power Lock Actuator, however it does not address the Door Latch. In my case the Passenger Door Power Lock Actuator was defective and replaced under a new extended warranty, but not the Latch.
NHTSA complaint #11458937 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
The passenger side sliding door no longer locks manually or by remote. I was broken into because of this at a hotel I was staying.
NHTSA complaint #11455369 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
The sliding door on the driver’s side stopped working and stayed shut for a couple days. For no apparent reason it started opening and closing again but only when the door handle was kept pulled. I believe it is a safety issue that could have serious consequences if an emergency occurred and passengers need to immediately exit the vehicle. There was no precursor signs of any other malfunction prior to this issue. I would like to know if this a recall situation in the near future? Thank you
NHTSA complaint #11450427 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
STRUCTURE:BODY
The driver's side sliding door will not open, manually or electronically. This apparently is a VERY common issue for Dodge and is a very big safety concern. We have brought it to make mechanics and all have stated that is is extremely expensive to fix and almost impossible to find the needed parts. I have children in the car, and this is a very big safety concern. We also cannot get rid of the car, sell it or trade it due to this issue. The amount of people with the similar issue on the 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan is alarming and this should be taken care of asap.
NHTSA complaint #11448692 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.