Which parts fail
Components named in complaints (door latches, locks, hood and tailgate latches).
Mileage when the problem started
Owner reports
Selected complaints filed with NHTSA by 1996 Nissan Quest owners, lightly cleaned up (personal details are redacted by NHTSA).
1. Driver door lock will not open at lease once a day. Replaced actuator by dealer on 6/14/00, worked for about a year then started doing same thing again plus. 2. Sliding door opens and the ajar light comes on daily or whenever a bump in the road is hit. 3. Rear door has to be opened and has to be manually reset for all the doors to lock. The number of failures, 1890 is an estimate, every time I drive this car, which belongs to my wife the doors act as described, my wife has been complaining since 1998. The dealer suggested replacing the locks, but after reading several of the other complaints from this site, I feel that this would not fix the problem. Thank for your help. Wayne plaisance
All doors will lock under 3 scenarios: 1) doors will relock immediately following, unlocking the doors. 2) doors will lock after closing driver door. 3) doors May lock without any action taking place. Could be locked out of vehicle if doors lock when closing door, with keys in the vehicle. Dealership replaced door lock actuator in 1998, problem started reoccuring in 2002 and continues to occur intermittently.
Door locks will lock/unlock intermittently, rear passenger side lighting assembly went out, sliding door will ajar while in operation, and tapping noise from engine has not been recognized by mechanics.
At the slightest decline (nose facing downward) the sliding door will violently shut hitting whomever or whatever is in the path. If you are trying to remove something from the middle or back seat, you have to put your body in between the door and the door frame to keep it open. My son got his arm hurt just recently due to the force of the door shutting on him. To my knowledge, the door has never had any type of locking mechanism to hold the door open when needed. Or if it was suppose to have one, my van's latch has never worked. I have done a search to see if there was a recall on this sitution, however did not find one. This has been an ongoing problem since purchased new but only now has manifested itself into the potential danger! Something needs to be done and addressed to correct this protential life threatening sitution.
While driving vehicle at various speeds the door ajar light & dome light would come on & stay. The sliding door would come open in first position ,but not all the way. Has happened when the door would be locked. This happened every day. No matter if door was locked/unlocked. Sometimes could be locked out of vehicle. Been to dealer & mechanic replaced the lock assembly. #98b23 service bulletin.
The right side sliding door will not remain closed. The dealer has adjusted it twice now. After the last adjustment the door came ajar almost immediately after leaving dealer. The dealer is currently suggesting that I replace both latches at an approximate cost of $265.00 although he cannot assure me that this will fix the problem since the latches did not appear to be broken when adjusted.
Airbag light flashing/system inoperable. Warranty expired 5 months ago.dealer will inspect for $75.///doors lock/unlock by themselves. Dealer replaced locks at cost of $393.///sliding door doesn't close properly and sometimes will not open. Suspect lock failure.///power steering fails intermittently at speeds of less than 10mph.
Door pops open intermittently when vehicle is in motion. Locking door does not prevent door latch from popping open. Also dealer advised of cracks in the steering column where the bolts have torn away from the anchor positions. Car has not been in any accidents and only has 50, 000 miles.
This vehicle's doors will lock randomly for no known reason. It happens whether running or not and is completely at random. It presents the possiblity of a small child being locked in the vehicle and if the keys are also in the vehicle the child could be trapped.
When front of vehicle is on a hill, door latch would not work properly. Sliding door will not remain open. Consumer felt this was unsafe because if a child had to go through that door it might close on the child. Dealer was not able to do anything.
Door Lock & Latch complaints in other Quest years
Frequently asked questions
How common are door lock & latch problems on the 1996 Nissan Quest?
NHTSA has 26 complaints about the locks & latches of the 1996 Nissan Quest, 19% of the model year's 134 complaints. The component named most often is doors › latch (24 mentions).
Is there a recall for 1996 Nissan Quest door lock & latch problems?
No. NHTSA lists no locks & latches recall for the 1996 Nissan Quest, though it has 2 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 1996 Nissan Quest door lock & latch problems start?
Half of the complaints with a recorded mileage happened before about 90,000 miles, and 17% before 25,000 miles.
Is it dangerous?
Owners linked 0 crashes, 0 fires and 2 injuries to locks & latches 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.