Car wash activated sliding door on new Chrysler Pacifica

[Traction]

The local car wash I do maintenance at had an incident the other day with a new Chrysler Pacifica. A lady with a little kid in the rear car seat, had the car wash brushes we think activate the auto sliding door on the driver side, and ripped the door completely off of the van. There is a button on the outside of the door handle, and it just takes a light touch to open the sliding door. It also can be opened with your foot under the rocker panel. It was pretty scary. The rotating brush was inside the open door spinning, and spraying water inside the van. Lucky the little kid in the car seat was on the other side. On the second pass the brush got caught in between the door, and body, which ripped the door right out of the hinges and knocked it to the ground. $6500 damage to the van, and $3500 for a broken gearbox in the car wash. Seems like poor engineering , and Chryslers fault, but now we are stuck with the bill. I wonder how many other new vehicles can have something like this happen with all the automatic door/hatch opening features?

 

[PimTac]

It's very fortunate the little tyke in the back didn't get hurt.

What a freak thing to happen. How about the interior? Any damage?

 

[DoubleWasp]

Isn't that not supposed to happen if the doors are locked?

 

[StevieC]

Do they not give them a button to turn the power doors off? I have that in my Dodge Caravan with the power doors.

 

[exranger06]

Originally Posted by DoubleWasp
Isn't that not supposed to happen if the doors are locked?

Originally Posted by StevieC
Do they not give them a button to turn the power doors off? I have that in my Dodge Caravan with the power doors.

Yes, locking the doors and/or disabling the power door function both would've prevented this from happening, but that would require the operator to actually, you know, lock the doors or disable the function. I'm not blaming the mother/driver; I know I definitely would've never foreseen this situation. I'm just saying you can't just assume people will lock the doors before entering a car wash. Automakers should probably revise their designs so this doesn't happen again. Car washes can perhaps post signs that say "Must lock doors before entering car wash" or something to that effect as a "Band-Aid" solution.

 

[Traction]

Originally Posted by StevieC
Do they not give them a button to turn the power doors off? I have that in my Dodge Caravan with the power doors.

There probably is, but who would give it a thought to do that just to go through a car wash? When this thing is in park, engine running, the doors unlock, and with a light touch of the button on the outside of the door it slides right open. I tried it on the other side that was still attached. The older vans you had to pull on the handle to activate. The poor little girl. and her grandma are going to have nightmares for years over this. "Mommy the car wash tried to eat me"

 

[OVERKILL]

From the manual (which nobody ever reads):

Originally Posted by Chrysler
To operate the sliding door manually with the handles or to avoid unintentional operation of the power sliding doors from the rear seats, push the power sliding door power off button, located in the overhead console, to remove power to the handles and buttons just inside the sliding doors. The power off LED, in the overhead console, will be lit
when the handles are manual. When the LED is lit, pushing the power sliding door power off button will return the handles to power operation.


Originally Posted by Chrysler

NOTE:
• To open the Hands-Free Sliding Doors requires a valid Passive Entry key fob within 5 ft (1.5 m) of the door handle. If a valid Passive Entry key fob is not within 5 ft (1.5 m), the door will not respond to any kicks.
• The Hands-Free Sliding Door will only operate when the transmission is in PARK.
• If anything obstructs the Hands-Free sliding doors while it is opening or closing, the sliding doors will automatically reverse to the closed or open position, provided it meets sufficient resistance.
• If the power sliding doors encounters multiple obstructions within the same cycle, the system will automatically stop.

The Hands-Free Sliding Doors feature may be turned off through Uconnect Settings. Refer to "Uconnect Settings" in "Multimedia" for further information. The Hands-Free Sliding Doors feature should be turned off during Jacking, Tire Changing, and Vehicle Service.

 

[JTK]

The push button or motion activated power doors are usually disabled unless the vehicle is stopped and in park. I assume it was in neutral and being propelled through the carwash by the track/roller system. Weird anomaly for sure.

 

[Traction]

Originally Posted by OVERKILL
From the manual (which nobody ever reads):

Originally Posted by Chrysler
To operate the sliding door manually with the handles or to avoid unintentional operation of the power sliding doors from the rear seats, push the power sliding door power off button, located in the overhead console, to remove power to the handles and buttons just inside the sliding doors. The power off LED, in the overhead console, will be lit
when the handles are manual. When the LED is lit, pushing the power sliding door power off button will return the handles to power operation.


Originally Posted by Chrysler

NOTE:
• To open the Hands-Free Sliding Doors requires a valid Passive Entry key fob within 5 ft (1.5 m) of the door handle. If a valid Passive Entry key fob is not within 5 ft (1.5 m), the door will not respond to any kicks.
• The Hands-Free Sliding Door will only operate when the transmission is in PARK.
• If anything obstructs the Hands-Free sliding doors while it is opening or closing, the sliding doors will automatically reverse to the closed or open position, provided it meets sufficient resistance.
• If the power sliding doors encounters multiple obstructions within the same cycle, the system will automatically stop.

The Hands-Free Sliding Doors feature may be turned off through Uconnect Settings. Refer to "Uconnect Settings" in "Multimedia" for further information. The Hands-Free Sliding Doors feature should be turned off during Jacking, Tire Changing, and Vehicle Service.

They forgot to add, When going through automatic car wash. I've heard of pileups in conveyor washes from automatic/collision braking systems too. Rain sensing wipers can get ripped off also. This car wash you just pull in, put it in park, and the machine moves.

 

[Virtus_Probi]

I always shut my car down completely in a car wash, but I can't say that I've ever locked the doors.
I suppose my tailgate could have been triggered to come up as a result...never thought of that!
I will lock the doors from now on.

 

[earlyre]

Originally Posted by JTK
The push button or motion activated power doors are usually disabled unless the vehicle is stopped and in park. I assume it was in neutral and being propelled through the carwash by the track/roller system. Weird anomaly for sure.

sounds like a bay type wash, where you pull forward until hitting a trigger, at which point you put it in park, and the wash machinery moves around the car...

 

[Traction]

Originally Posted by earlyre
Originally Posted by JTK
The push button or motion activated power doors are usually disabled unless the vehicle is stopped and in park. I assume it was in neutral and being propelled through the carwash by the track/roller system. Weird anomaly for sure.

sounds like a bay type wash, where you pull forward until hitting a trigger, at which point you put it in park, and the wash machinery moves around the car...

Yes, it is a bay wash, and there is no way to make it stop while trapped in your car surrounded by 5 moving/spinning brushes spraying water.

 

[KrisZ]

If the customer is asked to move the transmission into the Park position, then it is not automakers fault the brushes activated the door.

Car washes should keep up with the changing technology. Expensive lessons like this one make sure it happens pretty quickly.

 

[RooflessVW]

The brushes of death don't just kill your finish, they can kill you too!

 

[Chris142]

Glad that they are taking care of the damage. We have had damage at the drive through car was and were told they are not responsible.

 

[user52165]

" and ripped the door completely off of the van."

I had a high school era job 55 YEARS AGO in a car wash. There was a tension adjustment for the rotating brush. I'm sure they are much higher tech now.......................... or are they?

 

[badtlc]

Originally Posted by OVERKILL

• The Hands-Free Sliding Door will only operate when the transmission is in PARK.


I dont think this is true. Our T&C will open the doors if also in neutral. I'll double check to be sure.

 

[PimTac]

The point of this story is to never use these swirl-o-matic car washes. They are destructive on paint finishes and now we know they have even worse problems.

 

[badtlc]

Originally Posted by Traction
They forgot to add, When going through automatic car wash. I've heard of pileups in conveyor washes from automatic/collision braking systems too. Rain sensing wipers can get ripped off also. This car wash you just pull in, put it in park, and the machine moves.


Now it makes sense. The driver was just sitting in D with a foot on the brake. I get that this is still a freak incident but you gotta know to be in Park in this situation. If you creep forward during the wash, all sorts of bad things can happen.

 

[JLTD]

Originally Posted by JTK
The push button or motion activated power doors are usually disabled unless the vehicle is stopped and in park. I assume it was in neutral and being propelled through the carwash by the track/roller system. Weird anomaly for sure.


That's the way I read it also. Sounds like Chrysler should be the one paying for this damage to the vehicle.