I never thought I’d have to ask myself that question.
When my husband and I went minivan shopping in early 2009 the one thing on our minds when finding the right van was safety. As we went from dealership to dealership we finally sat down and talked with a great car salesman at Landmark Chrysler in Springfield, IL. He was so helpful and went through every feature of the 2009 Chrysler Town & Country.
One of the main features we were looking for were power sliding doors. I was so worried about buying a van without them and accidentally closing one of my kid’s body parts in the door as I slung it shut. He helped ease that fear by showing us how the anti-pinch sensors of the sliding doors worked. This man was so confident in the product he was selling, he went as far to say, “they are so harmless it wouldn’t even break a pencil.”
Really?
I beg to differ!
This past Sunday as we all piled out of the Town & Country with power sliding doors, I activated the switch. As the door began to slide shut, my 2 year old Kaydence reached in to grab her Dora purse. The worst thing possible happened. Instead of the sensors “sensing” something blocking the path, they went full force ahead and closed on my daughters small fingers. Just as the door was about to lock into place, Kaydence pulled her fingers free.
The result…a terrified and crying toddler in pain.
An hour later her entire finger swelled, but luckily it wasn’t broken. I imagine if she hadn’t reacted quickly and pulled her fingers free they very well would have been broken.
This entire incident left me with a lot of questions. Why didn’t the sensors work in this instance? How safe are these power sliding doors? Was it just a fluke? I did a little testing of my own to find the answer. Unfortunately, after a search online and within the Chrysler Website I could find no technical answers as to how large of an object needs to block the path in order for the door to retreat as it’s suppose to.
I decided to test out the car salesman’s theory that…”it (sliding door) wouldn’t even break a pencil”.
In one online review, author Bob Plunkett writes…
…In addition, sliding side doors and the tailgate open and close through optional power controls, with pinch sensors on alert during any door movement. These sensors will instantly stop the door from closing if an object — such as a passenger’s hand — should get in the way.
This quick video demonstration will show you just how defective this system is.
In part one, my husband demonstrates the pressure it takes to activate the retreat of the sliding door. He has to actually push against the door. In part two, that poor pencil didn’t stand a chance. It was pinched in the door, just like my toddler’s fingers were! Lucky for her she pulled them out before it full engaged into the lock. We went through the pencil scenario 5 times, each time with a different pencil.
- Pencil was clamped in door, but door retreated.
- Pencil was clamped in door and the door stayed shut
- Pencil was clamped in door, but door retreated.
- Same as above.
- Pencil was clamped in door and snapped in 3 places.
At this point, all I want is answers. I feel duped by the car salesman who led me to believe this would never happen. I feel let down by a vehicle manufacturer that boasts about the safety of it’s vehicles. Worst yet, I feel fear for any family that purchases this van and one of their children has to endure the pain of having their fingers clamped by Chrysler Town & Country power sliding door.
About Cat Davis
Shutting my son’s fingers in the door is one of my biggest fears. It can happen so easily so, as a mother, I completely understand why this was a priority with car shopping. I’m sorry it hasn’t lived up to its promise.
I hope Kaydence’s finger is okay! Poor thing.
ya i completely agree a couple weeks ago Z’s hand got smashed in out T&C door :-/
poor Z, i know that didn’t feel nice at all.
I have a Honda Odyssey and those doors stop for NO ONE! I am so scared Lucy will get hurt! That is awful!!!
Um yeah. Why have the sensors there if they aren’t going to work! I wonder how many other people this has happened to. I know it’s definitely something for us to keep in mind when we finally go shopping for a minivan. Chrysler is not a company I usually consider for a new car, and now I will stay away.
Very eye opening. I’m going to try this with my Honda minivan. This was one of the features we really liked on our 2008 Honda Odyssey.
Poor sweet baby. I’m glad nothing got broken, but I agree that the dealer and Chrysler should be giving you some answers. They should not boast being safe when they are not.
I am so glad she is ok, I would definitely take it in, sounds like it is defective and the company should know. If it’s not just a failed system on your vehicle and it’s an issue with all of them, they may need to do a recall?
We have the Honda Odyssey and so far we haven’t had any tragedies however there have been some close calls.
I’m so sorry about little K’s finger! I hope you get the answers you are looking for!
OMG!! I’m so glad her little hand is ok!! I guess its time to look for a new minivan….and NOT from Chrysler!
That is terrible! I am glad that your daughter was not seriously injured! Sales people will say almost anything to get you to buy their product, how dishonest! I hope that you find some peace about this whole thing.
Oh my gosh! That is horrible! Thank goodness it wasn’t worse. I’ve always wondered about those automatic doors. Now I know!
Mechanic for over 25 years, over 4 for Mopar.
DO NOT BUY ANYTHING MADE BY CHRYSLER.
I’m glad she is ok and that nothing worst happened. I’m so freaked out by those things, and I didn’t want a van just because of the doors.
Thank you for sharing that! We bought a used 2006 Chrysler Town & Country so you can bet I’m going to test out how well they work. I will also be super careful using the automatic doors. Most of the time my boys are too far away or strapped in their seats when I use them but now I know I should be extra careful.
So sorry that happened!
Poor baby. Auotmatic doors and windows although are convenient they are dangerous. I will not buy a car that has them.
this happened to my sister in law and nephew when one of their siblings accidently slammed finger in the door. Oh it tore the skin off and hairline fracture were the results that happened to my nephew.
Oh my GOSH! How horrible! I would definitely contact the company and demand answers – there HAD to be resistance for it to have done that kind of damage! Obviously, it’s not performing the way it should!
How scary!! We have a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan and sometimes the doors do this too. Most of the time the door will retract back once it senses something in the way, but the other day one of the kids’ blankies was shredded by the chain.
Just glad it wasnt their fingers!
I have a Dodge Grand Caravan with the same feature and I’ve never had a problem with it. When something is in the way, it will immediately stop and move back to the open position. I hate that this happened to your baby’s hand!!! POOR THING! The Dodge and the Chrysler minivans are supposed to be almost just alike. I wonder what makes that feature react so differently on the Chrysler version? Have you spoken to anyone? I would be SO mad, as I am sure you are!
I love that the bottle is in the video, and how resilient and happy Kadence is!
I always worry about the car doors slamming on the kids’ fingers and dread the day when it inevitably will happen. But for the salesman to say that something like that couldn’t happen is crazy! There would be some angry parents at that dealership.
We have a Chevy Uplander and if the door starts to close on me (which it has), I have to force it back with my shoulder to stop it. The sensors obviously aren’t motion sensors, they must only sense something actually blocking the movement of the door. I think you should complain, for sure. Especially since you were lied to.
Amanda, you are right, there are not motion sensors, only what is called a torque sensor. It reacts to the amount of force being applied. I don’t know if it an electrical sense, meaning the amount of current needed to move the door, or a load cell sense, like your electronic bathroom scale, but either way that is the jest of it. Also, I see a comment below about someone being in the way and it did not stop. Probably what happened is they moved enough for the computer to think that everything was ok. There is a timeout period that is asscociated things of this nature. Once the computer determines that the unit has over torqued for what ever reason, most of the time, it will keep applying force for a split second to see if the force drops back below the acceptable limit. If it does, the door keeps moving. These things are not that intelligent yet. We will see how the future changes these.