Body Problems of Dodge Grand Caravan - part 1

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.

See all problems of the 2018 Dodge Grand Caravan 🔎.

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.

See all problems of the 2017 Dodge Grand Caravan 🔎.

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.

Driver side door is not locking or unlocking with keyfob.

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.

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.

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.

See all problems of the 2019 Dodge Grand Caravan 🔎.

Both sliding doors are not opening from the inside or outside.

See all problems of the 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan 🔎.

Cracking front windshield (temporarily fixed by clear tape), broken window regulator motors on both passenger and driver sides stop lifting the glasses up and down, passenger side plastic window part (vertically snapped on the upper part of passenger door) fell off, engine light sometimes on and off with unknown detected problems.

See all problems of the 2015 Dodge Grand Caravan 🔎.

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.

2019 Dodge Grand Caravan driver side left rear sliding door locks and will not unlock with electronic or manual methods. Have to disassemble the door panels to unlock.

Left/drivers side automatic door actuator failed, door would not open and actuator had to be replaced. Mechanic notes available upon request. Safety risk as door could not be accessed for evacuating the vehicle in the event of an emergency. Notification was issued from the manufacturer that this has been a concern in this model, but manufacturer did not replace it. The vehicle was independently inspected before replacing, and replacing the actuator remedied the issue. There were no warning signs or symptoms prior to failure.

Right sliding door does not lock when lock button is pushed and will swing open during driving and can be opened when parked while the lock system is still in place. Also the door when manually closed has trapped an arm and does not stop closing. Also have bubbles on front hood from unknown cause. Door problem started several weeks ago and was looked at then and also today at the dealer.

Driver side rear door is stuck in the lock position and will not unlock with the manual button on the front doors, key fob, or the button on the door itself. So, it is therefore stuck in that position.

Driver side passenger door is stuck in locked position. Cannot manually open door. This is a huge safety risk as all rear passengers must exist passenger side rear door. I am learning that this is a very common safety issues with these vehicles and Dodge will not do anything about it. Extremely unacceptable that they will not fix it. Simply profits over people.

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.

See all problems of the 2014 Dodge Grand Caravan 🔎.

Lock actuator malfunction. Unable to open side door.

This weekend both passenger and driver side power sliding doors seized shut, in the locked position. The doors will not manually unlock with applying a lot of force to the locking lever. Looking online there is a manufacturers warranty that was extended to 15 years or 150,000 miles for this specific problem, pointing out the locking actuator as a faulty product, only on certain models, and years. My make and year qualify but the manufacturer has not added my model to the list of affected parts. I have verified my model has the same actuator mpn as the one affected, but still not added to the list. This is a safety issue as how do we get our kids out in a safe and timely manner in an event of an emergency? this weekend we had to crawl back to the back to safely buckle them in and get them out. Would like for this issue to be forced to add the 2017 Dodge Grand Caravan sxt model to the extension of the manufacturers warranty known problem with rear power sliding and locking door actuators. The manufacturer is aware of the problem and is at risk of a lawsuit of this issue.

The passenger sliding door on the driver's side is stuck in the lock position and cannot unlock the door. Other doors need to be utilized to exit the vehicle and this poses a safety concern. I read many forums where this seems to be an issue with Dodge caravans and should be a recall as it is known to be faulty. Contacted dealership and they want to charge over $600 to fix but this should be covered by Dodge and should be recalled as this poses a safety concern.

Rear sliding door actuators prematurely fails causing loud noises and door to not operate properly. This makes it unsafe to drive with children in the vehicle. Dodge refuses to reimburse extended warranty claim.

I put my 18 month old into the van and closed the door with no issue using the button above the front center console. We drove to the elementary school to pick up my daughter and back. The car stayed on the entire time, and the trip there and back took about 20 minutes. When we returned I pressed both buttons for both sliding doors, and only the right side opened. When I went to open the door manually it wouldn’t budge. When I tried to move the lock manually to unlocked it felt as if there was something preventing it from moving all the way to unlocked. I googled the issue and discovered that this is a common problem and that the lock actuator needs to be replaced. A costly and time consuming repair is necessary, but what is worse is the safety issue. It’s not unheard of for cars to be hit, ind tipped over to one side. If that door was the only side that was accessible it could pose a significant safety risk to anyone in the back seat as it is completely jammed and cannot even be manually opened. Upon researching the issue further, it appears earlier models had a recall due to this door issue, but later models are not covered for this recall.

Sliding automatic door makes loud buzzing noise when opening. Apparently this is a known problem and Dodge has done nothing about it. After doing some research it seems everyone that has this model has this issue after a few years. It will eventually be a safety issue when the door stops working and we can’t get out in an emergency. Do the right thing and make this a recall. It’s a known issue.

Driver side passenger door is stuck in lock. Can not manuallly unlock from inside or outside. Have tried with key entry and that isn't working either. Had mechanic check and he thinks it could be a mechanical issue and could be very costly to fix because unable to unlock manually and would not be able to remove door to fix. This could possible be a safety issue if ever in an accident. Our daughter has the same year and is experiencing the same issue.

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.

We found a warranty extension for Dodge caravan driver and passenger sliding door power lock actuators, but when I searched for our VIN, it is not included, but we are having the same problem. All of a sudden, our driver side sliding door was stuck shut, and would not open manually or with the key fob. I found a workaround from an online forum to hold the manual lock to open position, while pressing the unlock button either on the driver door or the key fob. Since then, when the sliding door shuts and wouldn't open, this is what we do. And then shortly after that, we noticed a loud buzzing sound coming from the same door when accelerating and the automatic lock activates.

10/2020 - bought this van at findlay Honda in henderson, relied upon carfax report provided by the dealer that no manufacture recalls reported to carfax. Vehicle qualifies for the carfax buyback program. [xxx] - @ around 1am I was driving at [xxx] towards [xxx] when the van lose power and was forced to parked near a safety zone. Waited out for an hour and was able to arrived home safely. 02/24/24 - called findlay Honda about the incident but was told it was not covered by an extended warranty. Was told to call towbin Dodge henderson. The van was towed by agero towing to towbin Dodge for diagnosis. 02/29/24 - towbin Dodge henderson confirmed that the automatic transmission failed and must be replaced and fix for $8,100+ coz it's no longer covered by a manufacturer's warranty for driving 60,298 miles. The vehicle was not inspected by the manufacturer, police, insurance representatives. [xxx] - I noticed a dashboard warning to change oil so I went to a mechanic friend for change oil that day. Went back to mechanic on 02/21/24 because the warning for change oil still popping up. Ask to check the transmission oil and showed me the oil level is proper and color is red. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Passenger side sliding door will no longer lock. It will not lock with the clicker, the indoor power lock or manually. *this is a dangerous risk as an intruder may be able to access the interior of my van even if my kids or I are in it. Also, because it doesn't lock it could open while the car is driving injuring someone, etc. . . *I have not yet had it checked at a dealer. I found many other complaints from people saying the same thing. I assumed there was already a recall for this and was very disappointed that is not the case. I did not check with insurance, etc. . As our warranty has already expired and it wasn't caused by an accident, etc. *there was no warning that this was going to occur. It worked one day and didn't the next. I first noticed the problem about 3/4 weeks ago and have been looking for information, etc. . On recalls or what to do with this. It is obviously a safety hazard and it was not caused by anything we did.

I had the same door lock actuator failure (door is stuck locked and can't be opened) that was flagged for caravans through model year 2017 (the model year before). Https://static. Nhtsa. Gov/odi/tsbs/2021/mc-10204361-9999. Pdf since little changed about these vehicles from 2017 to 2018, I'm guessing that might've just been an issue of insufficient data, so I wanted to document this failure that still may be occurring in later model years.

The driver side back door is stuck in the locked position. It can not be manually unlocked anywhere by key driver or passenger doors either. This is a huge risk with small children and only one exit in the back. And I have had this examined and they state it's not an issue it's a build issue. If there is a wreck or inability to enter or exit the car kids or passengers (which I help transport my grandparents) can not get out of the car except for the rear tail gate or climbing over seats through the front doors. This has happened before due to someone in a parking lot inhibiting people to enter the car safely. No warning that this was going to stop working either it just quit one day.

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.

Without any warning or problems leading up to this, the sliding door on my passengers side has become “locked” and cannot be opened. I used my keys, and buttons in the car, the door will not open. I even tried to use force and pull it open, but it has not worked. It is stuck in “lock”. This is a safety hazard because my children have to enter and exit on the drivers side now which is often the side facing the open street. Also makes it harder for me to get my child on that side strapped into his car seat. I have to reach back or reach through his window to get him secured. I have not taken the car to a dealership for repairs because I don’t want to be charged for fixing a manufacturer defect.

The rear drivers side slider door has locked shut and no amount of tries to release the lock will work. This is a major safety concern being that we cannot open the door manually or otherwise in case of emergency.

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.

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.

Driver's side sliding door stays locked and will not open it also prevents me to lock the passenger side sliding door.