5,044 complaints filed with NHTSA mention a sliding door, almost all of them on minivans. The Toyota Sienna has the most: 1,390 complaints, one in five of all the complaints ever filed about it.
| Minivan | Sliding door complaints | Per 1,000 complaints about the model |
|---|---|---|
| Toyota Sienna | 1,390 | 197 |
| Dodge Grand Caravan | 905 | 147 |
| Honda Odyssey | 819 | 74 |
| Chrysler Town and Country | 320 | 85 |
| Ford Windstar | 219 | 19 |
| Kia Sedona | 186 | 89 |
| Chevrolet Venture | 161 | 91 |
| Kia Carnival | 72 | 177 |
The worst single model years are the 2004 Sienna with 431 complaints and the 2016 Grand Caravan with 419. They're followed by the 2005 Sienna (206), the 2017 Grand Caravan (164) and the 2016 Town and Country (146).
What goes wrong
| What the complaint describes | Share |
|---|---|
| Door won't open, close or latch | 21% |
| Mentions a child | 24% |
| Cable failure | 12% |
| Motor failure | 9% |
| Door opened while driving | 6% |
| Someone pinched or caught | 6% |
Most of these are reliability problems: a door that won't close in a parking lot, a cable that frays, a motor that gives up. The minority are worse. 6% describe a door opening while the van was moving, and another 6% describe someone being caught as it closed. 6% of all sliding door complaints record an injury, against 3.8% across all complaints, and a quarter mention a child.
Several have been recalled. They include 2011–2016 Siennas whose power doors could open unexpectedly after being frozen shut, 2015–2018 Sedonas and 2022–2023 Carnivals whose doors might not reverse when they closed on something, and 2018–2020 Odysseys where water could get into the door handle cables.
Still arriving
809 sliding door complaints have been filed since 2022. Most concern 2016 to 2018 Grand Caravans (277), 2018 to 2020 Odysseys (191) and the Kia Carnival, whose rate is the highest of any current minivan: almost one complaint in five, most of them about the 2022 model.
Where owners gave a mileage, the median is 59,000 miles and the typical van was four years old. The median quoted repair is $1,200. Doors are a big part of what makes a minivan worth buying. They're also among the complaints most likely to involve children.
Buying a used minivan
Open and close both sliding doors several times each way: with the button, the handle and the key fob. Listen for grinding from the cable or track, and check that each door closes flush and latches first time. Check that the door reverses when it meets resistance, using something soft like a cushion, never a hand.
Then run the VIN, because a door recall that was never done is common on vans that have had several owners, and read the full Sienna complaint record or the one for the van you're considering.
Frequently asked questions
Which minivans have the most sliding door problems?
The Toyota Sienna (1,390 NHTSA complaints mentioning a sliding door), Dodge Grand Caravan (905) and Honda Odyssey (819). The 2004 Sienna (431) and 2016 Grand Caravan (419) are the worst single model years. By rate, the Kia Carnival is the worst current minivan.
Are minivan sliding doors dangerous?
Most complaints are about doors that won't open, close or latch. But 6% describe a door opening while driving and 6% describe someone being caught as it closed, and 6% record an injury against 3.8% across all complaints. Several models have been recalled for doors that might not auto-reverse.
How do you test the sliding doors on a used minivan?
Operate each door several times with the button, the handle and the fob, listen for grinding from the cable or track, check each closes flush and latches first time, and confirm it reverses when it meets something soft. Then check the VIN for unrepaired recalls.
Denis Kataev is a serial solopreneur and the founder of ForCar. With 15+ years in software engineering and 10 years in SEO, he builds data-driven products end to end — backed by a sharp eye for design. At ForCar he mines proprietary vehicle datasets, turning raw numbers into buying advice you can actually trust.
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