Chevrolet Uplander Sliding Door Problem Persists
This week alone, we have received several calls on the 1 800 LEMON LAW hotline from distressed Chevrolet Uplander drivers who are experiencing difficulties with their sliding doors. This is an issue we have routinely handled throughout the last few years. In fact, the Pittsburgh NBC affiliate reported on one of our clients back in 2007.
Folks have complained of the buzzer going off for no reason, doors not locking correctly and even instances where the door opens while driving. THIS IS A SERIOUS ISSUE AND SHOULD NOT BE TAKEN LIGHTLY. Some service managers have blamed the problem on debris affecting the sensors, but if the problem persists, you need to take action.
If you have been back to the shop three or more times with a sliding door problem, or if you have been back once on a relatively new vehicle and the problem is still present, call us at 1 800 LEMON LAW or e-mail us to discuss your rights under State and Federal Laws. If we can help, it is completely cost-free.
Popularity: 26% [?]
June 22nd, 2010 at 3:42 pm
Hmm, this is good to know. One of my relatives drives an Uplander. She currently hasn’t experienced any troubles, but I will make her aware of this so she knows to be on the lookout.
As always, good content here – thanks for the coverage.
July 8th, 2010 at 11:02 am
I have had my 2006 Uplander in several time for the same sliding door problems. Both under warranty and not under warranty. The problem doenst ever seem to go away. Days after the fix it is broken again. I am so frustrated I just want the doors to work!
July 13th, 2010 at 4:02 pm
Sounds like you have a potential claim under Federal Law. Give us a call at 800-LEMON-LAW and we will be happy to discuss the matter with you.
July 14th, 2010 at 8:36 am
I just bought a 2007 Uplander at the end of April. The first day I had it the sliding door would not shut. They took it in, and had it for a week to fix the problem. I have had some problems with it not wanting it to shut. A couple of weeks ago the motor on it broke again and wouldn’t shut at all. As of right now it is back in the shop to get the door fixed again. I had to find away to get another vehicle because they said it would take 7 hours. I hope this will solve the problem but what I am seeing this might be a consistent problem that never goes away.
July 15th, 2010 at 11:57 pm
Truly agree…………even i had an 2007 Uplander and i was facing the same problems……..
July 28th, 2010 at 8:01 am
I have a 2005 Uplander. I also have a automatic sliding door problem,amoung other problems. been to the shop twice, and both times they can’t duplicate the problem… yet the door opens when I’m driving, specifically up x-way ramps, and bumpy roads. my child almost fell out one time before. Only way to fix is shut off car, start and force the door shut, then the motor kicks back in. sometimes the door will open itself when locked..ie. shopping at the mall.
I am always taking this car into the shop to get fixed. I like the van, but I’ve had more problems with this car than any other GM product I’ve owned.
August 4th, 2010 at 1:55 pm
I have a 2007 Uplander and the doors have been worked on several times. Now the passenger side door has fallen off. The bearings in the fell out and the door was hanging from the top mount. I was able to push the door back into place, but it can not be used without it falling off. The shop just called and they said it would be over $800.00 to repair. The entire module (slide, rail, motor, everything except the door) needs to be replaced. I just want the door to not fall off. I don’t care about the electronic part.
August 10th, 2010 at 4:24 pm
I have a 2005 Uplander and from the minute I drove it off the lot I have had problems. The ding-ding-dinging of the internal bells (if you own one, you know what I mean) started and I couldn’t get it to stop. When I took it straight back to the dealer, they looked confused and didn’t have a clue what to do. Turns out it was the doors. I had to open and shut them numerous times to finally get the dinging to stop. Since then, we have had non-stop problems with the power sliding doors, on both sides. When you shut them with the button, they will shut almost all the way, then bounce back, dinging furiously. You have to manually close them. I have taken this into 4 separate dealerships and they have all attempted to fix the problem, each time telling me “problem solved.” What a joke. I have had MANY heated phone conversations with GM customer service employees, and the most I got out of this hassle was a card for free oil-changes for a year. My warranty has long since expired, so contemplating getting this thing fixed now seems hopeless. I have lost all faith in GM and would never recommend this vehicle to anyone.
Oh, by the way, I failed to mention that the gas gauge is all over the place. Ie: I just filled it today and the gauge stayed on “E” for about an hour after that, and the fuel light even came on. Then, it jumped up to about 2/3 fill. I have to count my miles so that I know when to fill the tank.
This vehicle is a joke. I can’t believe Chevy/GM gets away with this…
August 14th, 2010 at 6:00 am
Thank you for this info, we bought a used 2006 Uplander. Right after we bought it, the door wouldn’t open, and motor was running, and we thought it was the button to open the door, so we used the key to get into the car, and it shut off. We had the experience of it opening on its own. Wish we knew all this before we bought it. All this time we didn’t realize it was an issue. Thank you all so much for the information.
August 30th, 2010 at 1:14 pm
I am having the same problems concerning my doors opening and shutting and the dinging noise. I pulled out my book and realized it was a fuse. My husband pulled the fuse to stop the dinging after I put the doors on manual. Now with the fuse out, I have no radio and no alerts (back up alerts, keys etc..) My warranty is off so I would like to know if replacing the fuse would solve the problem.
September 3rd, 2010 at 1:18 pm
I wish I had the answer to that. I would still visit a GM authorized dealership to find out. Most parts come with a 12 month 12,000 miles manufacturers warranty.
December 6th, 2010 at 10:38 pm
I live in canada and I have a 2008 uplander and it gets water inside at the back where the jack is on the sie and in the frnt floor boards both sides we all get wet when we drive it I would never buy another chevy again any ways you guys should think about your water leaks and see if its a seam or something
February 11th, 2011 at 6:49 pm
I have a 2007 Uplander LT. I bought it brand new Jan 2007. In April 2007, my passenger side sliding door began messing up. It was taken to the dealership 6 times total, the 5th time it was taken with the door open, because it would not close. By that point, GM was involved and recommended complete replacement of the mechanical portion of the door. This was done by the dealership or so everyone thought. It began messing up again and I took it in for the last time and it was detemined the technician only replaced portion of the parts. It was finally that last time and I got one year free oil change and tire rotation. The story does not end. In April 2010, my Driver side sliding door started messing up. It has been taken in to a different dealership 8 times, even though they officially say it is 6 times. I get the same response each time, they cannot reproduce. GM has now got involved twice and at this point has also been no help to find the root cause. This time around the door unlatches itself both when sitting and while driving. It never opens like the passenger door did. The alarm that goes off when a door is open when you have the key in the ignition and the vehicle started, sounds and there is no indication on the display that a door is open. The door will sometimes not open via remote, overhead or the side button. Most of the time it has to be opened manually, once that occurs no amount of battery power will close the door. The door has to be forced closed. The door will also, in the middle of closing, open back up and then go into alarm. Two of the times taken the service experienced the quirks of the door. Once it was back to where the service tech can look at it, it will not reproduce. No error codes have ever been shown on readouts. It is very frustrating not only, in my opinion, going deep enough to find what the root cause(s). Thought I would tell my story.
February 12th, 2011 at 9:36 am
We certainly can help you, or find a firm in your area. Please visit http://www.lemonlaw.com/rid.html and send us your information.
February 23rd, 2011 at 10:08 pm
I have had multiple trips into the dealership with problems with the sliding door which they can never seem to find and now the alerting chimes wont shut up when in drive. Of course my warranty just ended.
February 28th, 2011 at 4:30 pm
My warranty had already expired since I have high mileage but I have an extended warranty. So far the only expenses I have had is to pay for weather stripping they thought was a problem along with the first time in and they reprogrammed my doors and put silicon on the contacts. To no avail on anything they have done to date. Since then, when I have brought it in, they cannot recreate so they give it back.
March 10th, 2011 at 12:06 pm
I have a 06 uplander and it’s the same thing, Ding, ding, ding. they have given me every excuse in the book but it still doesn’t work. this will be my last chevy!
April 18th, 2011 at 9:39 pm
I recently received a 2006 chevy uplander after my uncle passed away. I have actually drove it for about a week now. WOW, is all I can say. After the american car companies all closed up shop and moved to mexico I started buying Honda or Toyota. I was a loyal GM supporter untill they sent the american workers packing. My uncle was an engineer at delco for 37 years, so he always bought GM. This thing is a real “PIECE OF CRAP”!!!!! It has 6000 origional miles on it. Thats right SIX THOUSAND … The front end has loose steering components and today the Passanger side sliding door will no longer open. Sure it was free to me, but cost him $30,000 new. This is why I buy Honda! Its only a matter of time for GM , They went bankrupt once and they will again. People need cars thats gonna last now days, and thats not GM.
April 19th, 2011 at 10:24 pm
In reference to my March 10th posting I have fixed my passenger side sliding door, no more ding, ding, ding !!! After being told you couldn’t do it, (the dealer wouldn’t) I took out the entire automatic opening system. The door works great and no more bell. OK no more automatic door but it was a small price to pay. you never knew when it would start dinging, now I know it will not do it again. Thank you GM for another high quality product !!!
April 27th, 2011 at 1:04 pm
I have a 07 uplander and the power sliding door has opened up on me while driving and my child was buckled in the seat. We have called and contacted many people and finally got the number to GM. They are saying they have no records of anyone filing a complaint about this. My case number is 71-942083895 and the phone number to call and make a complaint is 1-800-222-1020. Everyone please call and get your case numbers. I have also contacted a lawyer about this the more case numbers the better off we are. We could go forth with a class action lawsuit against them. Brian when i called they lied to me and told me no one else has filed a case then I found yours here thank you. If you want to email me the case number privately you can at annamarie@woh.rr.com. Also I have had issues with my traction control not working since we got the van.
April 30th, 2011 at 8:29 am
Angie, Well obvious GM did not do a detailed search. I have have had to open a case twice. They close the case after 90 days (at least according to my GM District Rep). Mine is currently open but since I have not reported any issues since February, I am sure they will close it soon. But they do maintain a history since they were able to verify my previous reported problems from the previous case number. I have documented everything this time around and have all previous receipts from the dealership saying the same thing. Since the problem in Feb, I have had no major issues with the door, minor issues with both my doors, but never bad enough to take it in to the dealer. The bottomline, the dealership wants a major castatrophic problem with the door and me or my wife drive it in while it is happening before anything will truly be explored. They have never said it directly but definitely indirectly several times.
May 22nd, 2011 at 2:34 pm
Unfortunately, yes, I am a very dissatisfied owner of a 2007 Uplander. I have had more than five problems with my Uplander, or shall I call it a Downlander. To avoid the repetitive ding ding ding ding ding ding, I pulled fuses 21, 24 and 25, all fuses labeled “PSD” and use the doors manually. PSD which in Chevy terms is “power sliding door”, however, I have labeled them “piece of Sh!t Door.” I cannot believe GM would make such a piece of crap, poorly engineered door with all the competition in the world and even after a multi-billion $$$ bailout. I am proud to say I will never, ever buy another GM product again even though it is made in the U.S. I am going to take Ford up on their offer, especially after they just received glorious rewards, or perhaps that’s because GM flat out makes the most unreliable vehicles imaginable. And yes, even the dealer I bought the van from claims it is a very poor design. Now that a couple years have gone by, noticed they took the Uplander off and redesigned it with the 4 door non sliding, swivel door. Amazing, they can build a car, but can’t figure out how to engineer a power sliding door. So, I guess that was their work around. Nice GM, very nice! way to go. 2 thumbs down. Come on GM, get with it, your foreign competition far exceeds what you make.
July 7th, 2011 at 6:07 pm
Joe Morriseau – how did you know how to remove your door motor. I am having the same issue as everyone else and my dealer is clueless.
I applaud your creative thinking!
July 8th, 2011 at 6:15 pm
Jim, It wasn’t easy. I had to remove the interior panels on the inside on the right side of the van to get access to the motor. If you are not mechanically inclined you might not want to try it. it took about 5 hours. if you have questions my e-mail is joemorriseau@verizon.net
July 17th, 2011 at 4:14 pm
i have a 08 uplander and my passenger sliding door has fallen off. i’ve had problems in the past with the car alarm that was on when i purchased it but now i don’t know what to do and i’m waitting for the dealership to respond to my messages.
July 18th, 2011 at 2:48 pm
Ok I have an 08 uplander and I have had it in the shop more than I drive it seems like anyway. Going to take it back for the door again. And the ding ding ding while driving it. But the dealership wants to charge even after I bought the extended warrenty. What the heck…… I am so unhappy. And as a single mom of 5 and a student it is not like I can just run out and buy something else. I am stuck and so fustrated.
July 26th, 2011 at 12:53 pm
I’d like to hear more about this. Please send us information at http://www.lemonlaw.com/rid.html.
July 26th, 2011 at 12:54 pm
If you purchased or registered the car in one of our states, please call us at 1-800-LEMON-LAW or fill out our Get Rid Of Your Lemon Form at http://www.lemonlaw.com/ird.html.
August 11th, 2011 at 10:05 am
Well I am in the same boat as a lot of you. We owned a Venture for several years with no door problems and really loved it, it had the single power door. It wound up having some engine issues later and that is why I traded for an ’07 Uplander. I liked the looks of it but it has no room like the old Venture I wish I still had. The automatic doors have been a flaming nightmare and it has been in the shop for 4 days as I type this and they have no idea what to do. I bought the extended warranty, thank goodness but it is still a headache. This is at least the 5th time it has been in the shop for the doors and like a lot of you I finally just pulled the fuse to stop the dinging. The passenger side door slide bracket is broken and the drivers side has already been replaced. Both doors on mine are bad and I guess I got someone else’s problem and that’s why I got what I thought was a great deal on it. I just want it gone at this point, I will drive my tractor.
August 12th, 2011 at 11:18 am
Mark: If you have a GMPP warranty, you may be entitled to monetary compensation for the door problems under Federal Law. I am not sure where you live, but visit http://www.lemonlaw.com/lemon-law-firm.html to find a firm that may be able to help you.
August 15th, 2011 at 7:45 pm
Ok so first I have to say is WOW! I am so sorry for everyones issues with this their vehicles but so happy I am not the only one. We just bought our 2007 Chevy Uplander from Drivetime in Riverside California in February of this year. Every since the week after we bought this vehicle we have been complaining that the doors were beeping and not working right. Drivetime offers their own warranty on their vehicles because they say it saves the customers money so they do not have to pay extra for the warranty. Well that is a crock of poop because of course the doors are not covered by the warranty. So I have been complaining since we bought our van and nothing has been able to be done. It has progressively gotten worse and now the passenger side door has had a piece broken off of it and it does not want to close all the way and makes a weird sound when opening. It has now popped open on us in 3 different occasions but not alll the way. My 2.5 yr old is always sitting by this door and we have now had to move him because we do not want anything to happen to him. This is absolutley ridiculous and something needsto be done about all this and I mean something serious, now. Please feel free to email me and let me know what has happened with all of your other cases. steelersfamily6@yahoo.com
August 27th, 2011 at 11:43 am
Same issue with our family 2005 Uplander. Driver side sliding door randomly does not shut completely or faults out. Never had a problem with the passenger side sliding door.
September 2nd, 2011 at 5:04 pm
Uplander= I will never buy American again. Biggest mistake of my life. My door too randomly opens, will not close without reopening, and dings incessantly. Dealer twice blew me off told me they couldn’t reproduce the issue and to clean the door contacts. I’d like to dump this thing into a ravine.
September 5th, 2011 at 8:25 am
My wife and I purchased a used 2007 Uplander in 2010 (great deal low mileage) and we thought we had a made a smart move with little money just having our third kid. For the last year we have heard a lot of dings and jams. I have had to check the tracks and try again several times. I have pulled the excess foam out of the bottom tracks and seen on some boards. For the last couple of months the doors would shut fine but not lock and just barely pop back out. We have perfected a push at the right time to engage the lock but it is annoying. Yesterday at the church we got the ding ding again and the door jammed, on the second button try one of the trailing edge of the door roller litteraly just popped off. Well I spent my sunday taking it all apart and fixing the roller. After testing it (and it ran 3 to 4 times perfect with lock working which was exciting) I put it all back together. One of the first runs after that the door jammed. Taking it all back apart the cable was now lose. Tracing the cable into the inside and taking the panels apart I get to the motor, take the motor out and take the cover off that discover the winding/pulling mech is messed up with cable twisted and broke parts. Although it appears to be engineered product (i.e. how it works) it is mostly plastics cover/pulley and very thin copper contacts etc (IE destroyed). I, needless to say am very frustrated at this point with the product.
Hope this helps someone out to avoid a headache.
Best Regards
Rich
September 25th, 2011 at 3:09 pm
I am a 2005 Uplander owner and my doors have been giving me fits as well. Same stuff as all of the above, but the last few days the doors have been opening by themselves after being shut and locked. Both doors were wide open just this morning after returning to the parking lot from getting groceries. Not to mention theft issues, we live in Seattle and the rain will be going for the next 10 months.
Here’s the fix:
I opened the passenger door, put two fingers in the side dashboard panel’s circular shaped vent and pulled off the panel to expose the fuse box. Pulled out fuses 21, 24, and 25 just like poster # 22 suggested. Voila, manual sliding doors. I just don’t have time or energy to deal with the dealer.
October 3rd, 2011 at 7:16 am
- have a 2007 and the rear door is not working. Took it in 4 times. Still doesn’t work.
October 3rd, 2011 at 3:28 pm
Donna: Please fill out our Get Rid Of Your Lemon form at http://www.lemonlaw.com/rid.html so we can put you in touch with someone who may be able to help.
October 7th, 2011 at 7:02 pm
Amazing….it was suggested by my kids to google Chevy Uplander door dinging since we cannot get the car to stop dinging when driving. We bought our 2006 Chevy Unplander in March 2006. Similar problems such as water accumulation inside at the back where the jack is on the side and doors not closing especially when parked on an incline happened immediately. Now since August, we cannot get this darn car to stop dinging. My husband removed fuses associated with the right and left doors but it didn’t work. It is nice to know that these are shared problems. They should not get away with this.
October 11th, 2011 at 5:12 pm
Its obvious from all the postings that GM/Chevrolet has a problem with the sliding doors and has failed the recognize this fact. Even the NHTSA when they did their study also failed to recognize there was a problem. I stop taking my car to the dealer since it was and has been useless. Getting Chevrolet involved was useless. The one thing that I have been able to confirm and I am sure others have also, is that when the door fails, no computer codes are displayed in the computer. So either the codes that are suppose to set were programmed incorrectly or the module that controls the doors are bad and do not produce bad codes. No matter the reason, it continues to be a safety hazard and GM should have done something starting in 2006 when the doors started messing up on the 2005s and continued into 2008, when they stop making the Uplander in the US. As I have mentioned before, I will not buy another GM product since they could care less about safety concerns voiced by their customers. I will soon be getting rid of my 2007 Uplander. If it was not for the doors, I would have given Chevy/GM a pat on the back because I have had no other problems with it. Continue to voice your complaints at the dealer and Chevrolet. Despite the lack of any progress on researching what exactly the problem is, at least Chevrolet will take the info and keep it for 3 months.
October 19th, 2011 at 12:55 pm
Have had same problem with passenger side power sliding door on a 2005 Chevy Uplander on and off for about a year. For the past few months it has become a huge problem. Pulled fuses 21, 24, and 25 and that solved it. Yeah, no sliding door, but I’m happy to have 2 functioning doors again and no beeping. As much as I love being able to open doors with the key remote so that the kids can run in, I’m just not willing to deal with it anymore or pay lots of money for a fix.
October 20th, 2011 at 6:47 pm
Wow is all I can say!! I’ve been wanting a minivan for awhile now. We were offered a great deal on a 2006 Uplander. We took it for a test drive and I loved it but my husband said the steering felt funny. I decided to research more on it and came across this web page. Looks like I WILL NOT be purchasing it after all!!!
November 6th, 2011 at 7:51 pm
Friends,
I just created a petition entitled Chevrolet: Fix the Chevrolet Uplanders that so many people are having issues with, because I care deeply about this very important issue.
I’m trying to collect 100 signatures, and I could really use your help.
To read more about what I’m trying to do and to sign my petition, click here:
http://www.change.org/petitions/chevrolet-fix-the-chevrolet-uplanders-that-so-many-people-are-having-issues-with?share_id=LjuBuUVwgi&pe=pce
It’ll just take a minute!
Once you’re done, please ask your friends to sign the petition as well. Grassroots movements succeed because people like you are willing to spread the word!
JULIE ANN COOK
December 6th, 2011 at 3:50 pm
Post #35 you are a genius. NO MORE DING DING. Thank you.
No more paying the dealership for work that doesn’t work.
December 11th, 2011 at 7:29 am
2007 uplander sliding door problems, door open by itself and ding ding when closed.
December 11th, 2011 at 7:35 am
I was able to stop the ding of my 2007 uplander driver side sliding door by force closing it after 2 hr of trying, then locking it from the over head lock out but, now I am not able to open to use the door with out the constant ding ding ding. I have not taken it to the dealer because after reading others the dealers are no help. This is frustrating GM will not step up and take responsibility.
December 11th, 2011 at 9:17 pm
I have a 07 uplander and the passenger side sliding door lost a bearing, it fell out on the garage floor, I took it to the chevy dealer and he had the replacement part in stock for just under a $100. I bought the bearings/bracket and installed it in less than an hour. it seems to have solved the problem for now. In my opinion the bearings that support the door are not big enough for such a heavy door. If your door is not closing it’s probably because of these bearings wearing out. I would get them fixed ASAP before your door falls off.
One other major issue that my Non GM mechanic found with the Uplander is an electrical issue, we had an electrical problem when the van had less than 20,000 miles on it. We live in Mn and our floor matts and carpet under them are wet or froze all winter. What my mechanic found was a corroded main wire harness under the drivers feet, (you have to remove the carpet to access it.) If your having electrical problems start their first, it took my mechanic over six hours to trace the problem to this corroded harness.
December 14th, 2011 at 2:46 pm
I have a 07 Uplander and had the passenger side sliding door lose its bearing, came off the hindge and had to physically put it back on. This was done on March 2011 and was fixed with new contacts, motor, and cable, it was also under warranty by just 2 days left on the warranty. Now, I just had the other door go on the drivers side. Same problem!! Now it will cost me $1,000.00 to fix according to GM dealership…they said they had to replace the motor too. Is there a recall on these Uplanders so GM can fix them and not us?
Help,
Don
December 15th, 2011 at 4:23 pm
Don: Any additional problems under warranty? If so, call us at 1-800 LEMON LAW and we may be able to help you get the money to pay for the new repair.
December 29th, 2011 at 8:35 pm
I just bought a 2006 Uplander from my aunt as she can no longer drive and could not make the payments. She purchased it new. Of course it has the issues with the sliding doors. In order to use the doors and not be pestered by the dinging I disconnect the battery and reconnect it after the doors are closed. This will stop the dinging until the doors are opened again. I paid off the bank for my aunt and will sell it as soon as possible and continue to drive my 1997 Ford that has given me no problems at 153,000 miles.
January 7th, 2012 at 4:00 pm
I have had problems with my doors and am about to take it in because when i called they said it was probably trash in the track. It starts dinging and doors start opening to the point I cant drive. Very Annoying. Also, has anyone had problems with a loud popping noise? I found out this could be very dangerous. And….I went to get my emissions and it didnt pass and my gas hand was not working properly, then I get a code of PO463 which is a fuel level sensor high voltage and I found out this is a very bad problem as well but not a recall yet. Just in case others were having these same problems.
January 19th, 2012 at 10:10 am
Thank you to #22 for sharing your fix of pulling the fuses!!!! That dinging has been an on and off battle since I have owned the van. No more loud dinging thanks to you!!!
February 7th, 2012 at 4:38 pm
Doors have all problems as other owners. Dealer states contacts corroded, and doors working as designed. I have that written on a work order from the dealer. Would this be enough to force G.M. and the dealer to repair a door that at times opens on it’s owner or will not close, or has to be manually forced to close. I don’t know what to do. The vehicle is crap. 5 times brought vehicle to dealer to fix blower. Finally dealer admits there as a problem, but part not available. They are doing a nationwide search for the part. A control head module. No blower means no defroster. This is a definate safety issue that has been ignored by G.M. and the dealer. When the warranty runs out, then what warranty when the problem does not get fixed. G.M. or the dealer can do the right thing and buy the vehicle back. It is dangerous.