NHTSA Complaint #11221988 — 2019 CHRYSLER PACIFICA

A SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE EXISTS WITH ELECTRIC SLIDING AND RAISE/LOWER TAIL GATE DOORS. THIS IS MY THIRD CHRYSLER PACIFIC, 2014, 2017, AND NOW 2019. ON THIS 2019, IT DOES HAVE ONE DOOR, THE DRIVER SIDE SLIDER, THAT HAS A WARNING BUZZER IF LEFT OPEN WHEN THE VEHICLE DRIVE IS ENGAGED, AND ONLY WHEN THE VEHICLE ATTEMPTS TO MOVE IN REVERSE. THAT WARNING DOES NOT EXIST IF THE VEHICLE IS DRIVEN FORWARD AND IT DOES NOT EXIST AT ALL FOR THE PASSENGER SIDE SLIDER. SO MANY TIMES, WE INADVERTENTLY AND UNKNOWINGLY DRIVE OFF WITH SLIDERS OPEN AND/OR TAIL GATE OPEN. THIS IS A SERIOUS DESIGN FLAW WITH THE DANGER OF ITEMS UNKNOWINGLY FALLING OUT WHILE TRAVELING. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT CHILDREN OR ANIMALS COULD FALL OUT. THE VEHICLE SHOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO BE DRIVEN IF EITHER SLIDER IS OPEN. NOR SHOULD THE CAR BE ABLE TO BE DRIVEN WITH THE TAIL GATE DOOR OPEN. WHILE THERE COULD BE AN OCCASION WITH THE CUSTOMER MIGHT INTENTIONALLY NEED TO HAVE THE TAIL DOOR OPEN TO ACCOMMODATE AND OVER-LENGTH ITEM, THERE SHOULD BE A BY-PASS SWITCH WITH A CONTINUOUSLY LIT WARNING LIGHT ON THE DASH. TO COMBAT DRIVING WITH THE TAILGATE DOOR OPEN, WE HAVE PLACED SEVERAL NARROW VERTICAL STRIPS OF TAKE ON THE BACK WINDOW TO ALERT THE DRIVER. WITHOUT THAT TAPE IT IS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE DRIVER TO BE AWARE OF THE OPEN TAILGATE. THIS IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND ANNOYING. TYPICALLY, IF THE CLOSE BUTTON IS PRESSED TO LOWER THE TAIL GATE DOOR OR THE SLIDERS TO, IF THE DOOR ENCOUNTERS SOME OBJECT AS IT IS CLOSING, IT WILL RETRACT TO THE FULLY OPEN POSITION WITHOUT THE DRIVERS KNOWLEDGE. THIS SHOULD BE TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE.