1,058 of the
18,883 complaints filed about the Dodge Grand Caravan
are about the body and structure —
6% of everything owners reported.
The worst model year for it is 2016.
MINIVAN HAS SLIDING DOOR LOCK ACTUATOR FAILURE, DRIVER SIDE. UNABLE TO OPEN SLIDING DOOR MANUALLY OR WITH POWER DOOR MOTOR. LOCK/UNLOCK LATCH IS STUCK IN LOCKED POSITION. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE IN CASE OF VEHICLE CRASH OR FIRE. EXACT SAME ISSUE WITH OLDER MODELS. CHRYSLER HAS ISSUED A WARRANTY BULLETIN (D-21-15) FOR FACTORY REPAIR OF THIS SAME ISSUE FOR 2015-2017 MODELS. THE EXACT SAME ACTUATORS ARE USED IN 2018 AND 2019 MODELS.
NHTSA complaint #11749568 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Automatic sliding doors will not unlock or open at all- not manually, not with the inside door buttons, not with my key fob, and not with the automatic buttons on the front ceiling of the van. I have 3 young children all 5 and under. This is an EXTREMELY dangerous fault that puts all of their lives into danger! The inconvenience of a grown adult having to climb through the back hatch to lock her kids in is annoying yes but my concern is how I'm supposed to safely get to them if we were in an accident! My husband can not get to the kids at all as he is well over 6 foot and can not fit. I'm trying to get the dealership to fix the issue but they're telling me that there is no recall even though I thought I received something in the mail awhile back. The message that appears when we try to automatically open the door is that we should first unlock the doors to which we already have. The lock will not move when you manually try to unlock it either.
NHTSA complaint #11740352 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The rear power slide doors are opening on their own with vehicle in motion. The power switch on the roof is off. We have 5 children. No warming lamps or issues this is a known issues will caravans
NHTSA complaint #11732749 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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.
the sliding doors and sometimed the trunk door on this van unlocl and szlf open randomly. I took it to a mechanic and they said that it is the actuator failing. Dodge knows that this is a problem and extended the warranty, but the dealership in south audtin is difficult to work with. THIS JUSTIFIED A FULL RECALL BECAUSE THE DOORS COULD JUST SELF OPEN WHENEVER AND SOMEONE COULD FLY OUT OF THE VAN
NHTSA complaint #11718888 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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.
09/26/2024 Transmission had to be replaced at 47,000 miles. Without warning, the van began lurching forward at a stop light almost causing a collision and then completely stalled having to be towed to the shop. Luckily, I bought a service plan and only had to pay $100, but the parts list was $6,000+. Sliding rear doors have the electric assist option. On several occasions myself and my children have nearly been closed in the door as it malfunctions and randomly starts closing. Once I was getting my child out of the car seat when the door began closing on me, it did not stop closing as it met the resistance of my body. I have not had this issue serviced, as it is very intermittent. 10/28/2025 My driver's side headrest exploded. Thankfully no one was injured and I wasn't driving at the time. This could have caused a really dangerous situation had the vehicle been in motion. I was in the parking lot with nothing touching the headrest. Looking at the headrest there are jagged pieces of plastic that just crumbled to bits. Upon further investigation, this is a known issue with this type of vehicle, but it's not a recall. 70,000 miles. I'm waiting to see what the bill for this repair will be, but I'm concerned it is going to be replaced with the same malfunctioning equipment and I may not be so lucky next time this happens.
NHTSA complaint #11696230 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
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.
I purchased the vehicle on 9/15/2025 at approximately 103,900 miles. Around 10/6/25 at approximately 103,982 miles the driver side sliding door actuator has failed causing the door to get stuck in the lock position and creating a safety hazard. I reached out to Dodge today and spoke with a representative by the name of Lynn and they've declined to repair.
NHTSA complaint #11695198 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Passenger side sliding door is stuck in the locked position. Nothing I do will unlock it. The lock doesn't respond to any buttons either on the key fob or on the overhead panel. Also cannot be unlocked manually. It is my belief that this is a serious safety issue for rear passengers.
NHTSA complaint #11689287 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Passenger side sliding door can't be unlocked manually or by the fob, will not open by the handle inside or out. Passengers are unable to exit vehicle through passenger sliding door.
NHTSA complaint #11687214 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Our driver side back sliding door door has seized and will not open. This looks to be a common issue with the grand caravan. The lock is stuck in an in between state and will not open automatically or manually. This is a safety hazard for back passengers.
NHTSA complaint #11683760 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
First, the back hatch would just open itself even if you were going 30 miles an hour or under. Had it checked out couldn’t afford the diagnostics so I took out the fuse. Second, there is a ticking in my right back corner. It doesn’t happen when you’re going down the road, but it happens while you’re parked or just starting out. Mechanic friend of mine checked into it we would have to trace the electrical from front to back and again, I cannot afford that. So there’s 135,000 miles on my vehicle now and this happened about six months ago. I forgot there was a place to report it. I’m not very car savvy. Also, I had to replace my entire starting my starter, my alternator, a battery actually too and now I’m going to have to replace the switch for the ignition that’s all happened within one year or less. Just thought somebody should report these each time I fixed an ignition issue, the problem was fixed for at least a month or two and then the next one would happen. Very aggravating.
NHTSA complaint #11682055 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
The driver's side sliding door on this minivan became stuck shut. I had to remove my disabled son through the open window. Not being able to remove him quickly in an emergency because the door has become sealed shut is unacceptable. I cannot believe there is no manual override. I was able to solve this issue by forcing the unlock lever while pressing 'unlock' on the keyfob. However, the main reason I write this complaint, numerous people on various forums report an actuator shorting out in their doors causing this issue, meaning they cannot open the door, by any means, without this actuator being repaired. I cannot for the life of me believe that a system was engineered to not have a simple manual override on a car door. This is beyond me how this got cleared by any sort of regulatory body. If that actuator gets cooked in a fire, I guess the occupants of the car will too.
NHTSA complaint #11677269 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Vehicle: 2017 Dodge Grand Caravan Component/System: Sliding door lock actuator Is the part available for inspection upon request? Yes Description of the Issue: The sliding door lock actuator failed, causing the door to remain locked at all times. The door cannot be opened manually or using the power door controls. This renders the door completely inoperable. Safety Risk: This is a significant safety hazard. In the event of an emergency, passengers—especially children seated in the rear—cannot exit the vehicle through this door. It severely limits evacuation routes and could result in injury or death if occupants are trapped during an accident or fire. Has the issue been reproduced or confirmed by a dealer or service center? Not yet. Issue is ongoing and appointment is pending. Has the vehicle or component been inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance, or others? No Were there any warning lamps, messages, or symptoms before the failure? No warning lamps or messages appeared. The door simply stopped responding to manual or power lock/unlock commands. When did the issue occur? June 2025. The door has remained inoperable since. Assessment: Based on consumer forums and other reports, this appears to be a known and widespread issue with this model, likely caused by a defective actuator design.
NHTSA complaint #11676537 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Driver side sliding door locked. Fails to get unlocked. Tried unlocking with Key Fob, manually unlocking. Nothing works and this door now fails to get unlocked and open. Passenger side middle row bucket seat fails to fold down and get under the floor.
NHTSA complaint #11670495 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Beginning at about 75,000 miles (1st lock actuator), my lock actuators seized and rendered the backseat passenger doors unusable. The second lock actuator on the passenger side followed at about 95,000 miles. This is extremely unsafe, because if I have my children as passengers, they must climb in through the back hatch of the minivan. In addition, passengers cannot exit the vehicle from their seats in case of a wreck. Dodge has issued an extended warranty recently, but I am not eligible because my vehicle is now over 100,000 miles. (It was under 100,000 miles at the time of malfunction, but there was no extended warranty or recall at the time.) This common issue with the Dodge Grand Caravan is extremely unsafe, and all defective lock actuators should be replaced/repaired as part of a recall. A warranty that excludes certain users is unsafe.
NHTSA complaint #11668238 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.
Drivers side sliding door lock started to make some noise occasionally and shortly after the door locked shut and will not and can not be opened manually or with the buttons. A few days afterwards the passenger door has started to make this same buzzing noise and we fear it will lock itself also like the drivers side not bing able to open with the buttons or manually. I know this is a major safety issue and should be addressed by not only myself, but the manufacturer. I have read this being a common issue among many dodge caravans and I feel actions should be taken place to correct this issue to the tune of at the very least, when there is a malfunction that the door should be able to be opened and closed manually. I contacted my local authorized dodge dealership and they told me extended warranty for this issue is for 10yrs/100,000 miles.
NHTSA complaint #11668078 — an unverified report by a vehicle owner.