Owner-reported complaints naming the steering system, filed with NHTSA
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Reports naming the steering system — racks, columns, power-steering assist and steering linkage. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2012 Dodge Grand Caravan submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 14 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
Shown in the owner’s own words, exactly as filed
When driving the car will randomly shut off losing power. When trying to start it randomly it will turn on then shut back off. When it turns off as I’m driving it’s always under 50MPH but I lose steering. Very scary.
My wife and I have a 2012 Dodge Grand Caravan, my wife drives the car on a daily basis school runs, etc with our 4 kids. While driving the kids to school and stopped at a red light the vehicle suddenly with no warning lost all power and shutdown. My wife said she was able to restart it again right away, then just before she got home the car suddenly and again no warning shut down everything no power whatsoever she was unable to remove the key from the ignition. After attaching a battery pack we were able to get it restarted and drive home Thankfully no one was behind her at the time as it would most definetly have resulted in a crash. Since then this has occured several more times sometimes it will be a day or couple days but it will always just die with no warning, My wife refuses to drive the car now as both she and I are afraid for the kids and her safety. I have checked and fixed various items including a new battery,alternator and ASD relay all of which did not fix the issue. I see dodge has issued recalls for the ignition switch on previous years. I believe Dodge needs to look at the 2012 and fix whatever this issue is as I have saw numerous people experiencing the same issue. I am a father supporting my wife and 4 kids and cannot afford a bottomless pit of maybe its this/that. Dodge needs to step up it could be the difference of saving someones life.
WHILE DRIVING, THE VEHICLE SHUTS OFF RANDOMLY. AT THAT TIME WE LOSE POWER BREAKS AND POWER STEERING. MY WIFE AND CHILDREN WERE ALMOST IN A COLLISION DUE TO THIS. IT HAS HAPPENED 2 TIMES NOW AND HAS NO PROBLEM RESTARTING AFTER COMING TO A STOP AND PUTTING THE VEHICLE BACK INTO PARK.
WHILE DRIVING MY VAN, I ATTEMPTED TO TURN LEFT ON A CITY STREET, WHEN EVERYTHING SHUT DOWN ON ME. ALL OF MY DASHBOARD LIT UP LIKE A CHRISTMAS TREE. I HAD NO STEERING, NO BRAKES, IT WAS FRIGHTENING! I DID HAVE HEADLIGHTS, FLASHERS, I COULDN'T ACCESS THE SIDE DOORS TO GE MY CANE OUT. MY BACK GATE WOULDN'T OPEN EITHER SO I COULD GET MY ROLLERATOR AND WALK TO THE BUSINESS I WAS ATTEMPTING TO GET TO. I HAD TO HAVE MY VAN TOWED AND WAS TOLD IT'S MY ELECTRICAL SYSTEM AND THAT MANY PEOPLE HAVE HAD THE SAME ISSUE. I WOULD LIKE TO BRING MY AWARENESS TO THIS ISSUE, FOR IF I WAS ON 95, MY MAIN HIGHWAY AND THIS HAPPENED, I WOULD BE DEAD ALONG WITH MY SON. ATTACHED IS THE DASHBOARD, BUT THE CENTER BOTTOM RED LIGHT WAS FLASHING ON AND OFF. I'M TOLD IT'S MY SECURITY SYSTEM LIGHT
I WENT TO UNLOCK MY VEHICLE TO GET SOMETHING FROM INSIDE. I NOTICED THAT THE LIGHTS WERE VERY DIM AND AFTER PLACING THE KEY FOB INTO THE IGNITION, THE FOB WAS LOCKED IN PLACE. AFTER ABOUT 15 MINUTES, I WAS ABLE TO RELEASE IT FROM THE IGNITION. I HAVE TRIED RESETTING THE BATTERY AMONG OTHER THINGS AND NOTHING HAS HELPED.
WHILE DRIVING THE VEHICLE AT RANDOM SPEEDS. MY DODGE CARAVAN WILL JUST SHUT DOWN. I HAVE NOTICED ON A COUPLE OCCASIONS ALL OF THE DASH LIGHTS WILL COME AND THEN ENGINE WILL SHUT DOWN. LOSE OF STEERING AND BRAKES. I HAVE MANAGED A FEW TIMES SHIFTING TO NEUTRAL AND QUICKLY RESTARTING. AN THE FEW TIMES IT WOULD NOT START IVE MANAGED TO GET OFF THE ROAD WITH STEERING WHEEL LOCKED AND BRAKE PEDAL THAT WONT DEPRESS. SIT FOR A MINUTE PUT IN PARK AN RESTART. THIS HAS HAPPEN OVER 18 TIMES OF OWNING THE VEHICLE FOR A YEAR
I WAS DRIVING STRAIGHT ON A HIGHWAY IN TEXAS IN MY GRAND CARAVAN AND MY ENGINE STALLED AND LOST POWER AND STEERING AND BRAKES, IT WAS VERY DIFFICULT TO STEER AND I WAS DRIVING AT 70 MPH AND THE WAS A SMALL SHOULDER ON THE SIDE AND MY FAMILY COULD HAVE GOTTEN HURT, IF I HAD GONE INTO A DEEP DITCH, IT WAS SCARY AND DANGEROUS!
WE WERE DRIVING DOWN A CROWDED HIGHWAY WHEN EVERYTHING ON THE VEHICLE SHUT DOWN. ALL THE LIGHTS SHUT OFF AND WE LOST POWER STEERING. I HAD TO FIGHT MY WAY OVER THREE LANES OF TRAFFIC WITH NO TURN SIGNALS AND HAD NO POWER STEERING. WHEN THIS HAPPENED WE WERE GOING UPHILL AND AN 18 WHEELER WAS BEHIND US. WE WERE RAPIDLY SLOWING DOWN AND COULD HAVE BEEN HIT BY ANOTHER VEHICLE. WE CAME TO A STOP AND PUT THE VEHICLE IN PARK AND IT STARTED RIGHT BACK UP. A FEW DAYS LATER MY WIFE HAD THE SAME THING HAPPEN TO HER WHILE DRIVING ON A DARK ROADWAY. SHE WAS ABLE TO COME TO A STOP ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND RESTART THE VEHICLE. THERE WERE NO OTHER CARS AROUND HER AT THAT TIME. R03/NHTSA 14V-373. RECALLS GRAND CARAVAN YEARS 2008 TO 2010. MY PROBLEMS SOUND AND LOOK EXACTLY LIKE THIS AND SEEING COMPLAINTS AROUND THE INTERNET IT LOOKS LIKE MANY OTHERS WITH MY YEAR MODEL ARE HAVING THE SAME ISSUES. I THINK THAT RECALL NEEDS TO BE EXTENDED TO INCLUDE THE 2012 MODEL YEAR AS WELL.
VEHICLE WOULD RANDOMLY SHUT OFF WHILING DRIVING. IGNITION SWITCH WOULD CHANGE POSITIONS IF BUMPED OR WHILE DRIVING OVER ROUGH TERRAIN. THUS CAUSING THE VEHICLE TO SHUT OFF UNEXPECTEDLY. 2008-2011 MODEL YEARS HAVE ALREADY BEEN RECALLED. I GUESS SOMEONE HAS TO DIE FOR THE 2012 MODEL YEAR, WHICH USES THE SAME PART, TO BE RECALLED AS WELL.
WHILE DRIVING TODAY ON A BUSY STREET AT 40 MPH CAR JUST SHUT OFF. NO WARNING, NO CHECK ENGINE LIGHT, NOTHING. NO POWER STEERING, GAS, ETC. JUST STOPPED WORKING. WAS ABLE TO PULL OVER AND TURN KEY OFF. CAR TURNED BACK ON AFTER. I BELIEVE THE CAUSE OF THIS IS A BAD TIPM. THIS IS OUR FAMILY'S PRIMARY VEHICLE AND I AM LUCKY THAT NOTHING HAPPENED AND MY KIDS WERE NOT IN THE CAR WITH ME TODAY HAD PREVIOUS PROBLEM WITH CAR NOT STARTING WHEN KEY TURNED. THIS IS STILL AN INTERMITTENT PROBLEM. DEALER SAID MOST LIKELY THE TIPM, BUT DIDNT WANT TO REPLACE WITHOUT KNOWING FOR SURE BECAUSE PART IS SO EXPENSIVE.
MORE THEN A DOZEN TIMES OUR VEHICLE HAS COMPLETELY SHUT OFF WHILE IN MOTION GOING STRAIGHT AT VARIOUS SPEEDS CAUSING LOSS OF POWER STEERING AND PUTTING US IN UNSAFE CONDITIONS. THE A/C WILL BLOW HOT AIR IN HALF THE VEHICLE AND THE RADIO HAS TURNED UP THE VOLUME TO FULL AND THE CONTROLS ARE INOPERATIVE TO TURN IT DOWN. I FEEL THE DEALER INTENTIONALLY DID NOT TELL US ABOUT THE KNOWN TIPM ISSUE AND TOLD US WE HAD TO REPLACE THE ALTERNATOR WHICH WE DID WITH NO HELP IN CORRECTING THE ISSUE. THIS HAS BEEN ONGOING FOR A FEW MONTHS. I DONT HAVE THE VEHICLE WITH ME AND AM GUESSING ON THE MILEAGE ALSO THIS HAPPENED ON MULTIPLE DATES SO I ENTERED ONE OF THE RANDOM DATED BELOW.
I SEND MY VEHICLE TO FREEHOLD DODGE DEALER AFTER MANY DAYS THE DEALER DIDN'T DO ANYTHING BECAUSE MY VEHICLE UNDER WARRANTY AND THE CORPORATE DOESN'T PAY WELL TO THE DEALER I DON'T KNOW WHERE I CAN FILE COMPLAIN
1. VEHICLE DRAGS TO THE RIGHT. 2. ENGINE LOSES POWER AT TIMES 45MPH AND OR 60 MPH 3. IT SEEMS THERE IS GEAR SHIFT PROBLEM BASED ON ITEM 2. STEVENS CREEK CHRYSLER JEEP DODGE, 4100 STEVENS CREEK BLVD, SAN JOSE, CA 95129 I HAVE TAKEN IT TO DEALERSHIP SEVERAL TIMES AND LATEST BEING: 8/20/2014 INVOICE #184949 MILEAGE :6669 THEY DID FIND THE PROBLEM AND DID SUSPENSION REPAIRS. THEY SAY THEY WERE UNABLE DUPLICATE PROBLEM OF LOSING POWER - IT SEEMS THEY DID NOT DO TEST DRIVE AT ALL OBVIOUSLY FROM MILEAGE RECORD! I TOOK IT AGAIN WITH SAME COMPLAINT ON 11/12/2014 AND THEY SAY EVERYTHING LOOKS OKAY IT IS JUST ROAD CROWNING ON THE RIGHT LANE CAUSES IT. AGAIN THEY COULD NOT FIND OR DUPLICATE LOSS OF POWER AND SHIFTING. I AM TERRIBLY AFRAID OF DRIVING THIS VEHICLE WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS EVEN THOUGH MILEAGE IS LESS THAN 9000 MILES IN 3 YEARS. WARRANTY EXPIRES ON 7/21/2015. PLEASE HELP ME TO RESOLVE THESE ISSUES AND SAFETY OF DRIVER AND PASSENGERS. *TR
VEHICLE HAS ROUGHLY 36000 MILES, WHEN BRAKING THE STEERING SHAKES HARD, VIBRATING. WORRIED ONE DAY ONE OF MY TIRES IS GOING TO FALL OFF OR THE STEERING STOP WORKING AND LOOSE CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE. EVEN DODGE HAS ISSUED A TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN FOR THIS EXACT PROBLEM, THE DEALERSHIP WON'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT BECAUSE THEY SAY IT IS NOT COVERED UNDER WARRANTY BUT ADMITS THAT IT IS A DESIGN FLAW WITH THE VEHICLE BEING BUILT WITH SUBSTANDARD PARTS. *TR
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
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