Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (battery, alternator, wiring, ignition, instrument cluster, infotainment).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
The contact owns a 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan. The contact stated that while driving at an undetermined speed, the vehicle was being hacked and she was being contacted with negative instructions. The contact stated that it was difficult to drive while the hacker was controlling the vehicle. The vehicle was being taken over. The contact stated that she believed that the vehicle was taken over through wave frequency. There were no warning lights illuminated. The local dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 105,205.
The contact owns a 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan. The contact stated that on several occasions, while inserting the key into the ignition, the vehicle failed to start. Additionally, on several occasions while driving at various speeds, the vehicle stalled. The contact stated that during each failure, the key was wiggled in the ignition for approximately 20-30 minutes each time, and the vehicle was able to be restarted. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 52,000.
Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan. The contact discovered a mileage discrepancy after purchasing the vehicle. The vehicle was a dealer sale. At the time of purchase, the mileage was approximately 116,000. The contact stated that a month after the vehicle was purchased, the transmission failed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer for repair, and it was discovered that the mileage was 131,000. The contact was unable to use the warranty due to the mileage discrepancy.
A month, or so ago our passenger slide sliding door started making a loud buzzing sound when we unlocked the doors. That is annoying, but to me is not a safety issue, so wasn't too concerned about it. What is going on with our driver side sliding door now I do believe is a safety issue and needs to be part of a recall. The driver side sliding door was refusing to unlock, or open sometimes but now it is all the time. We are unable to manually unlock it to use the door. It is stuck in the lock position and totally unusable now as we are unable to manually unlock it by hand and unable to unlock it using the door locks, or the the remote. The lights flash when i click the button on the remote to open that door, but it doesn't respond and unlock it. What is gonna happen when the other door decides to do the same thing and no one can get out of the van in the case of an emergency. …
The slider doors and back/trunk hatch have many electrical malfunctions. -Driver-side sliding door: After we press the button to open the door, the door often begins closing on our kids as soon as it has fully opened. When I press the button to open it again, it will start closing again immediately. Sometimes this process repeats 2-3 times before it stays open and our children can exit the car. -The door emits a horrible, loud BUZZ when the car is locked, the car is unlocked, the car doors are all locked but a door opens (triggering the doors to unlock), AND when the car is in drive and begins to approach or exceed 10-15 MPH. -The back hatch occasionally fully opens and then closes immediately. Or it opens and lurches downward so it's only ~2/3 open. At times it has almost closed on/hit one of our kids. This has been going on for years and I just learned that we could file a report. …
Vehicle's rear sliding doors intermittently jam locked, one, or the other, or both. The respective sliding locks will not budge, not by remote, not from the button on the driver's door, and especially, not even manually, from the sliding lock on the doors themselves. Sometimes a buzzing sound is heard from one or the other of the the locks when commanding to lock electrically, including when the car starts moving at over 20 mph or so, and all doors lock automatically. I understand that electrical commands ("power" this and that) may stop working at some time in the life of a car, but at least they can be so engineered that in case of the door locks not to jam the lock in the locked position! I understand there are a few hundred complaints about these locks, all jamming, all in the locked position, on all vans w/sliding doors built by Chrysler. …
Driver side power sliding door lock stuck in the locked position. The door CANNOT be unlocked regardless of the method used; Key FOB, driver side door electric unlock switch, power sliding door switch in the roof of the front seats or the manual lock on the door itself. The safety concern is that in an emergency situation the driver side sliding door CANNOT be opened, manually or other which means occupants could be trapped. This problem was confirmed by the dealer and deemed NOT to be due to the "actuator", for which an extended warranty was issued by FCA for. The dealer stated that the "drivers door needs new latch" mechanism is at fault and needs to be replaced. Specific FCA MOPAR part number is 68030379AG for the faulty component. Prior to the failure no noises or other improper operation occurred. The door lock "latch" just failed. …
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 lock actuator in both rear sliding doors has failed. The first to fail was the rear passenger door. While the door and lock still operate, it makes a loud buzzing noise whenever it is activated (as described in the 2016 TSB issued by the manufacturer.) My mechanic inspected and confirmed this problem in September 2021. Just the other day (10/20/21), the actuator on the rear driver door also failed without any warning (it had never made noise): the lock "seized" and we were unable to unlock and open the door through any means. This exact pattern of failure has been reported by many other owners of this vehicle. Malfunctioning locks present an obvious safety problem, especially in the case of the locked door which would make it difficult for my children to escape the car quickly in an emergency. …
Sliding doors do not work. Driver side sliding door stopped working 1 month after purchasing from dealership, and passenger door only opens and closes some times. Safety of my family/passengers are affected seriously if there were any accident or failure for passenger door to completely stop working. They will not be able to exit unless crawling to very front of vehicle. Driver sliding door does not open or close at all. Passenger sliding door works 60% of time. I have not taken to a dealer as I cannot afford the cost. Vehicle has not been inspected by anyone. No warning signs to let me know the doors would not or will not work. Someone with the same make/mode/year of dodge grand caravan said there was a recall for the sliding door actuators on this year of van and they got theirs fixed because of the recall. This causes a very big concern for me and my van. I need them fixed please. …
Electrical complaints in other Grand Caravan years
Frequently asked questions
How common are electrical problems on the 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan?
NHTSA has 314 complaints about the electrical system of the 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan, 31% of the model year's 1,002 complaints. The component named most often is ignition (2 mentions).
Is there a recall for 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan electrical problems?
No. NHTSA lists no electrical system recall for the 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan, though it has 6 recalls for other components. If the problem is widespread, a repair may still be covered by an extended warranty or a manufacturer service bulletin — ask a dealer.
At what mileage do 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan electrical problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 60,000 miles, and 7% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 0 crashes, 3 fires and 0 injuries to electrical system problems on this model year. If you notice symptoms, have the car checked before driving further.
Source: U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) — owner complaints through October 20, 2026, recalls and defect investigations; fuel economy from the EPA. Complaints are unverified reports and are not proof of a defect. How we rate model years.