- FCA agreed to settle a lawsuit involving sliding door actuators on Grand Caravans.
- Faulty door actuators may leave owners unable to lock or unlock the sliding doors.
- FCA will add a 10-year or 100,000-mile warranty extension to cover affected vehicles.
Automakers are no strangers to legal trouble, especially when mechanical gremlins turn into costly headaches for drivers. It’s a familiar cycle — something breaks, customers complain, and lawyers circle like vultures over a stalled warranty claim. Most of these cases quietly settle before ever reaching a jury, and now FCA is doing just that with a class action lawsuits tied to its 2017–2018 Dodge Grand Caravan.
Faulty Door Lock Actuators
Door lock actuators can be prone to failing over time on many vehicles. Indeed, I had to replace a door lock actuator on my Renault because one of the small electric motors inside had died. In the case of the Dodge Grand Caravan, a lawsuit alleged that the actuator could fail over time, meaning owners would be unable to lock or unlock the sliding door.
Read: Ford Recall Rubs Owners The Wrong Way And Now They’re Suing
While the automaker is not technically liable for any defect and denies the existence of a fault, it has agreed to a voluntary settlement. There’s no word on how much the settlement could cost FCA, but it’ll help it avoid any of the costs of ongoing litigation.
While we don’t yet know the financial blow of the settlement, FCA has revealed that it will provide a warranty extension on impacted vehicles. This extended warranty will cover the cost of parts or labor needed to repair a failing door lock actuator for 10 years from when the first entered service, or 100,000 miles.
Warranty Extension and Potential Reimbursements
As part of the proposed settlement, FCA will extend the warranty for affected vehicles. The new coverage includes repairs or replacement of the sliding door lock actuator for up to 10 years from the date the vehicle first entered service, or up to 100,000 miles, whichever comes first.
In addition to the warranty extension, customers who bought or leased a Dodge Grand Caravan between January 1 and December 31, 2017, and already paid out of pocket to fix the issue, can seek reimbursement.
The settlement still needs a green light from the court. The US District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan will decide whether to approve or reject the proposal during a hearing scheduled for September 16.
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