RoadVitals

2016 Dodge Grand Caravan Body & structure Problems

Owner-reported complaints naming the body or structure system, filed with NHTSA

Data refreshed

Body & structure reportsComplaints are reports submitted to NHTSA by owners and drivers. NHTSA does not verify most reports before publishing them, and a complaint does not establish that a defect exists. Volume is influenced by how many of a vehicle were sold, how long it has been on the road, and how much attention an issue has received.
227
Latest Mar 16, 2026
Share of all reportsThis category as a share of every owner report on file for this model year. One report can name more than one component, so the categories overlap.
23%
of 998 total
Crash or fire reportedReports in this category whose submitter recorded that a crash or a fire occurred. The reporter's own answer on the NHTSA form, not a verified finding.
3
Injuries or deaths reportedTotals the submitters entered on their own reports in this category. Not verified by NHTSA and not a casualty statistic.
3

What this page shows

Reports naming the vehicle structure, frame, body panels, doors, hood and trim. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 227 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.

Owner reports naming body or structure

The 25 most recent of 227, in the owner's own words

Body & structure
Filed Mar 16, 2026

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 ID
11724662
Incident
Mar 11, 2026
Body & structure
Filed Feb 5, 2026

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 ID
11715934
Incident
Feb 15, 2024
Body & structure
Filed Oct 27, 2025

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 ID
11695781
Incident
Oct 25, 2025
Mileage
71,567 mi
Body & structure
Filed Jan 26, 2025

Both sliding doors are not opening from the inside or outside

NHTSA ID
11638674
Incident
Jan 26, 2025
Body & structure
Filed Dec 9, 2024

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 ID
11629563
Incident
Dec 9, 2024
Body & structurePowertrain (other)
Filed May 17, 2024

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 ID
11589265
Incident
Apr 2, 2024
Body & structure
Filed Feb 3, 2024

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 ID
11569660
Incident
Aug 16, 2023
Body & structure
Filed Jul 26, 2023

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 ID
11534702
Incident
Jul 25, 2023
Body & structure
Filed Jul 23, 2023

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 ID
11533885
Incident
Jul 22, 2023
Body & structure
Filed Jul 10, 2023

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 ID
11531276
Incident
Apr 29, 2023
Mileage
109,086 mi
Body & structureElectrical
Filed Jun 20, 2023

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 ID
11527873
Incident
Jun 18, 2023
Body & structure
Filed May 7, 2023

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 ID
11520847
Incident
Jun 10, 2021
Body & structure
Filed Apr 13, 2023

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 ID
11516864
Incident
Apr 12, 2023
Body & structureElectrical
Filed Apr 4, 2023

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 ID
11515332
Incident
Dec 16, 2021
Body & structure
Filed Mar 11, 2023

Actuator failed and car makes a loud buzzing sound when locking or unlocking the door. Back driver-side door won't open.

NHTSA ID
11511332
Incident
Jun 15, 2022
Body & structure
Filed Feb 6, 2023

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 ID
11505738
Incident
Feb 6, 2023
Body & structureFuel system
Filed Jan 31, 2023

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 ID
11504780
Incident
Jan 11, 2023
Body & structure
Filed Nov 8, 2022

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 ID
11492763
Incident
Nov 8, 2022
Body & structure
Filed Aug 7, 2022

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 ID
11477994
Incident
Aug 6, 2022
Body & structure
Filed Jul 25, 2022

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 ID
11475698
Incident
Jul 19, 2022
Body & structure
Filed Jul 6, 2022

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 ID
11472508
Incident
Jun 19, 2022
Body & structure
Filed Jun 27, 2022

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 ID
11471271
Incident
Apr 1, 2022
Body & structure
Filed Jun 16, 2022

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 ID
11469653
Incident
Jun 8, 2022
Body & structure
Filed May 17, 2022

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 ID
11464994
Incident
Aug 10, 2021
Body & structure
Filed Apr 27, 2022

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 ID
11462470
Incident
Apr 12, 2022

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.

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Elsewhere on this vehicle

Data sources

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