NHTSA — Latches/Locks/Linkages: Doors: Latch Problems

10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
3 / 0
Average Mileage:
10,044 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2004 Pontiac Montana accessories - exterior problems

accessories - exterior problem

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2004 Pontiac Montana Owner Comments

problem #5

May 152007

Montana

  • Automatic transmission
  • 42,221 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I have a 2004 Pontiac Montana van with a passenger side power sliding door. My grandson pushed the power button while I was in the doorway and the door squashed me pretty hard, no bruises or injuries though. It concerned me because I have young grandchildren. I played with the door to see how much force it takes to stop it with my hand. I had to push hard and it pushed me backwards a ways before I could stop it. I took it to the dealer and they reprogrammed the door, which did nothing to fix the problem. The next day after reading the manual that said it takes more force to stop it the more closed the door is, I played with it some more but this time I couldn't reverse the door at all with my hand pushing against it with all my weight, starting when the door was fully open. I then stuck a pencil in the opening, which the day before was able to reverse the door though it did put a good dent in the wood. This time it snapped the pencil in two and half was completely shut into the door. I shudder to think what this would do to my little 18 month old granddaughther's fingers. The service center was very nice but their hands are tied because supposedly, this is how this door works. The service center tried other doors of the same model as mine and they all worked like mine. I experimented with a friend's Honda Odyssey power door and it stopped much easier. This is not safe! I disabled the door with the overhead button for the sake of my grandchildren so basically I paid for a feature that I don't dare use.

- Dimondale, MI, USA

problem #4

Jul 062006

Montana 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
Automatic sliding passenger door will close on anything in it's path. It takes way too much pressure to force the door back when it is closing on something. I've had it close on my hand (very painful) and my 5 yr old got her arm caught in it, she had a very bad bruise across the upper part of her arm. Just grateful it wasn't broken. I can't believe this has not been part of a recall. Seems to be a whole lot more dangerous than previous recalls. Dealership really has no comment or solution when this problem is mentioned to them.

- Kannapolis, NC, USA

problem #3

Sep 302004

Montana 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • miles
Contact owns a 2004 Pontiac Montana. The contact stated that both power sliding doors took a tremendous amount of strength to keep them open. If someone was entering through the door they could be badly injured by the door closing on him. The consumer contacted the dealership and the manufacturer, they stated that the power of the motor in the cable caused the door to shut. Therefore, there was nothing that they could do about this problem. The contact indicated that he did noticed this defect from the time of purchase of the vehicle.

- Lady Lake, FL, USA

problem #2

Nov 112004

Montana

  • miles
Power door of a Pontiac Montana SUV (alamo rental car) traveled backwards, pinned my wrist against the frame and seat of the vehicle. And my wrist was broken. Same car wa subsequently recalled because of similar injuries.

- Torrance, CA, USA

problem #1

Dec 212004

Montana 6-cyl

  • Automatic transmission
  • 8,000 miles
I have two complaints that no one seems to be interested in. First one is the back up sensor not correctly installed. People at the service department said it was working fine, but it only worked occasionally. It finally showed me that it wasn't working on a date that I backed into a parked car not knowing it was so close, and I had to maximize all the space I could to get out of my parking space. Luckily, there was no damage to their or my vehicle, but it's the idea of a part of my vehicle that I paid extra for not working. Also, after hearing of the recall on the motorized door, I thought it was for the pressure the door put on and object before realizing there was something there, but apparently it's only for the handle on the inside. You might want to question how hard the door shuts before it will retract when an arm, leg, body, etc is in it. I'm a grown woman and have been hurt by the door before by accidently hitting the button on the door panel or when keys are in my pocket. I'd hate to see how bad one of my kids would be hurt with it.

- Churubusco, IN, USA

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