2005 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN Complaints

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2005 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN. THE CONTACT STATED THAT BOTH THE REAR DRIVER AND PASSENGER SIDE SLIDING DOORS FAILED TO LOCK OR UNLOCK. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT TAKEN TO A DEALER FOR DIAGNOSTIC TESTING. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 130,000 AND THE CURRENT MILEAGE WAS 135,000.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2001 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN. THE CONTACT STATED THAT WHILE TRAVELING APPROXIMATELY 30 MPH, THE PASSENGER'S SLIDING DOOR ERRONEOUSLY OPENED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT DIAGNOSED OR REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS CONTACTED ABOUT THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 158,700.

FOR AT LEAST A YEAR NOW (DATES AND MILEAGE ABOVE ARE SOME SORT OF APPROXIMATION) OUR CAR HAS BEEN HAVING TROUBLE UPON REFUELING. AS I DRIVE AWAY FROM THE FUELING STATION, WITHIN ABOUT THE FIRST MILE THE CAR HESITATES, CHOKES AND EITHER THREATENS TO STALL OR ACTUALLY STALLS. AFTER A FEW MOMENTS, OR UPON RESTARTING, THE CAR DOES FINE. I HAVE ASKED THE DEALER ABOUT THIS AND THEY EXPRESSED NO KNOWLEDGE OF CHRYSLER NOTICES ABOUT IT OR WHAT MIGHT BE CAUSING IT. THEY SAID IT WOULD BE EXPENSIVE TO PULL THE GAS TANK, SO I HAVE LEFT IT FOR NOW. BUT HAVING THE CAR DO THIS IS DANGEROUS. I GOOGLED THE PROBLEM AND FOUND THAT THERE ARE NUMEROUS PEOPLE WITH THIS 4TH GENERATION CARAVAN THAT HAVE THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM. DODGE'S MEDIATOR SUGGESTED THAT IT'S A PROBLEM WITH TOPPING OFF THE TANK, BUT I HAVE FOUND THAT NOT TOPPING IT MAKES NO DIFFERENCE, AND AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE ONLINE STRINGS I AM ATTACHING, THERE ARE OTHERS WHO NEVER TOP OFF THEIR TANK AND HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM AS WE DO. THIS IS APPARENTLY A DESIGN FLAW THAT CREATES A DANGER. IT IS EXPENSIVE FOR THE CONSUMER TO FIX, AND MY IMPRESSION IS THAT IT WILL STEADILY GET WORSE. WE WERE PART OF THE HEADLIGHT PROBLEM WITH THESE CARS TOO. THE HEADLIGHTS ON THE CAR WERE UNSTABLE FROM THE TIME WE BOUGHT THE CAR. AFTER YEARS OF COMPLAINING, OUR DEALER FINALLY SEEMED TO HAVE FIXED THE PROBLEM, BUT WE HAD TO PAY PART OF IT. SINCE THEN WE HAVE RECEIVED A NOTICE THAT CHRYSLER IS TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE PROBLEM. I HOPE THIS GAS TANK PROBLEM WILL NOT TAKE SO MANY YEARS TO CORRECT AS THE HEADLIGHT PROBLEM. *TR

ELECTRIC OPERATION OF LOCKS QUIT AND HAS NOT RESUMED. NEITHER KEYS REMOTE FEATURE WORKS TO LOCK OR UNLOCK THE VAN, ALTHOUGH THEY BOTH CAUSE THE LIGHTS TO FLASH AS USUAL. LOCK SWITCHES ON DRIVER AND FRONT PASSENGER DOORS ALSO DO NOT WORK. MANUAL LOCKING VIA THE OLD FASHIONED BUTTONS WORKS OK, AS DO KEY LOCKS ON REAR HATCH AND DRIVER'S DOOR. *TR

THE SAME AS SO MANY OTHER COMPLAINTS. THE ELECTRIC LOCKING SYSTEM AND POWER SIDE DOORS STOPPED WORKING. CAR DOES NOT LOCK WHEN REACHING SPEED EITHER. THIS IS A SAFETY HAZARD. I HAVE A CHILD IN THE BACK AND CANNOT BE ASSURED DOORS ARE LOCKED. I DO NOT HAVE THE ABILITY TO LOCK OR UNLOCK IN CASE OF EMERGENCY. REAR DOOR LOCKING IS HIT OR MISS. IF IT'S TRUE THAT THE SYSTEM NEEDS AN UPGRADE WHY DO I HAVE TO PAY FOR THAT? SHOULDN'T THE COMPANY THAT BUILT THE DEFECTIVE PART HAVE TO FIX IT? NOT THE FIRST ELECTRICAL PROBLEM I HAVE HAD. HEADLIGHTS STOPPED WORKING WHILE DRIVING MULTIPLE TIMES. I REPLACED THE SWITCH, WORKS FOR NOW. I ALSO HAD A DEFECTIVE WINDOW MOTOR AND SWITCH WHICH HAD TO BE REPLACED. *TR

THE POWER DOOR LOCKS FOR THE DRIVER, PASSENGER AND TWO SIDE SLIDER DOORS ON MY VAN STOPPED WORKING. THE INSIDE DOOR TOGGLE SWITCH DOES NOT WORK AT ALL. THE KEY FOB LOCKING SYSTEM DOES NOT WORK TO LOCK THESE 4 DOORS. THE KEY FOB LOCK MECHANISM WILL LOCK THE REAR DOOR HATCH ONLY. I HAVE THE CAR AT THE DEALER TODAY FOR REPAIRS. FROM INTERNET SEARCHES, IT APPEARS THAT THE COMPANY HAS TO DO A FLASH UPDATE ON THE BCM, THEY ARE AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM. *TR

THE 05 GRAND CARAVAN THAT I HAVE HAS THE LOCK ISSUE THE BUTTONS INSIDE NOR THE KEY FOB WILL UNLOCK OR LOCK THE VEHICLE. SO IF I WERE IN A EMERGENCY SITUATION AND I NEED TO LOCK OR UNLOCK MY DOORS I WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO IN TIME THEREFORE I THINK THIS IS A HUGE SAFETY ISSUE. MY FATHER IN LAW IS HAVING THE SAME ISSUE WITH HIS 05 TOWN AND COUNTRY. *TR

AS I WAS DRIVING MY 2005 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN, THE DASHBOARD FLICKERED AND THEN THE CAR SHUT DOWN. POWER STEERING WAS DISABLED BUT I WAS LUCKILY ABLE TO DRIFT IT TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. AFTER RESEARCHING ONLINE, IT SEEMS THIS ELECTRICAL SHUT DOWN IS ONGOING AND PROBLEMATIC FOR THIS YEAR AND MAKE. I HAD LITTLE CHILDREN IN THE CAR AND WITHOUT WARNING THE CAR DIES. THIS NEEDS TO BE A RECALL AS IT POSES SERIOUS SAFETY CONCERNS FOR THE DRIVER OF THE VEHICLE AND CARS AROUND IT. HAD I BEEN ON THE HIGHWAY, I WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO TELL YOU ABOUT THIS INCIDENT. WHEN I BROUGHT THE VEHICLE IN TO THE DEALER, I WAS TOLD IT NEEDED AN ELECTRICAL SYSTEM SOFTWARE UPDATE OTHERWISE IT WILL GET PROGRESSIVELY WORSE. THE DEALER ALSO EXPLAINED THAT THE OTHER ELECTRICAL ISSUES THAT I HAVE BEEN HAVING - TAIL LIGHTS BURNING OUT, SLIDING DOORS OPENING/CLOSING, WINDOW NOT GOING DOWN, POWER LOCKS LOCKING AND UNLOCKING) WERE ALSO A PART OF THIS SOFTWARE UPDATE. YET, IT IS NOT A RECALL BECAUSE IT IS NOT CONSIDERED A SAFETY ISSUE. I AM APPALLED THAT WE HAVE TO PAY FOR THIS SOFTWARE UPDATE, THAT DODGE AND THE NHTSA HAVE BEEN AWARE OF THIS ISSUE AND THAT IS NOT CONSIDERED A SAFETY CONCERN. RECALL THIS MAKE AND MODEL FOR THIS ISSUE IMMEDIATELY. THE CAR DYING IN THE ROAD IS A MAJOR CONCERN. THE DOORS CLOSING WITHOUT NOTICE COULD HAVE KILLED MY FOUR YEAR OLD, INSTEAD I THREW MY BODY IN THE MIDDLE TO PROTECT HER. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE RECALL THIS TO SAVE LIVES. THERE ARE SO MANY OF THIS MAKE AND MODEL CAR ON THE ROAD WITH LITTLE CHILDREN INSIDE. *TR

DOOR LOCKS STOPPED WORKING, NO ONE FUSE TO CHANGE FOR IT, DIFFERENT FORUMS SAYS TO UNHOOK BATTERY CABLE AND FUSES TO RESTORE POWER TO DOOR LOCKS, THIS WORKED FOR ABOUT 3 DAYS, DOOR LOCKS ARE NOT WORKING AGAIN. OVER IT!!!! *TR

POWER DOOR LOCKS STOP WORKING. THEY CANNOT BE CONTROLLED BY KEY FOB, DOOR CONTROLS OR AUTOMATIC DOOR LOCK OVER 20MPH SETTING. A DRIVER CANNOT AUTOMATICALLY LOCK OR UNLOCK DOORS QUICKLY WHEN IN AN UNSAFE SITUATION, AND DUE TO THE SIZE OF THE VAN, SOME LOCKS CANNOT EVEN BE REACHED FROM DRIVER'S SEAT.