NHTSA Complaint #10440873 — 2000 OLDSMOBILE SILHOUETTE

POWER SLIDING DOOR LATCH ACTUATOR FAILURE. LATCH IS STUCK IN OPEN POSITION, WILL NOT LATCH. EXACT SAME PROBLEM AS DESCRIBED IN PREVIOUS RECALLS NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER: 01V067000 AND NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID NUMBER: 01V264000. OLDSMOBILE STATES VEHICLE HAS BEEN REPAIRED UNDER THE RECALL ALREADY IN 2002. I PURCHASED USED WITH LOW MILES (AROUND 70K) IN 2009. VEHICLE HAS BEEN METICULOUSLY MAINTAINED AND IS IN CLOSE TO SHOWROOM CONDITION AS YOU COULD FIND FOR A 2000. OLDSMOBILE STATES THERE ARE NOT ENOUGH COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE REPAIR TO CONSIDER ANY ONGOING RECALLS. OLDSMOBILE INFORMS ME THAT WITH A VEHICLE OF THIS AGE, REGARDLESS OF MILEAGE OR CONDITION, MECHANICAL AND ELECTRICAL PARTS SHOULD BE EXPECTED TO FAIL. SOMEHOW, I DON'T CONSIDER MY DOOR FLYING OPEN GOING DOWN THE ROAD TO BE JUST A MINOR FAILURE OR INCONVENIENCE. IT IS A HUGE SAFETY ISSUE, ONE THAT HAS BEEN DOCUMENTED ENOUGH THAT THERE WAS AN INITIAL RECALL, THEN A SECOND RECALL TO FIX THE FIRST RECALL. OBVIOUSLY, THIS WAS A BAND AID REPAIR. I GOT MOST OF THE SERVICE RECORDS FROM THE FIRST TWO OWNERS. THIS VEHICLE WAS USED MOSTLY BY AN OLDER COUPLE AND THE SLIDING DOOR HAS MUCH LOWER THAN AVERAGE USE FOR A 100,000 MILE CAR. THERE ARE NOT THAT MANY OF THESE GM MINVANS ON THE ROAD, AND AS A RESULT THE ABSOLUTE NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS MIGHT BE LOW. IT SHOULD BE CONSIDERED THAT GM DID NOT PERFORM A SUFFICIENT REPAIR AND DID JUST ENOUGH TO GET BY. OLDSMOBILE TOLD ME THAT THE REPAIR AT THIS POINT IS UP TO THE CUSTOMER. WHAT WILL IT TAKE FOR THIS RECALL TO BE REVIEWED? FORTUNATELY NO ONE WAS IN MY CAPTAIN'S CHAIR WHEN OUR DOOR FLEW OPEN. WILL SOMEONE HAVE TO BE KILLED OR RUN OVER FOR THIS TO BE REVIEWED? *TR