2005 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN — Complaint #576685
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about AIR BAGS:KNEE BOLSTER filed March 22, 2006
NHTSA complaint #576685 (ODI reference 10153449) concerns a 2005 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN and was filed on March 22, 2006. The owner reports the failure occurred on February 3, 2006. The vehicle had 35,800 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to New Mexico based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as air bags:knee bolster, one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: yes, fire: no, injuries: 1, fatalities: 0. A complaint that flags a crash, fire, or fatality is escalated on NHTSA's internal review queue and factors more heavily into any Preliminary Evaluation decision on this make and model. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same DODGE GRAND CARAVAN cohort independently describe similar air bags:knee bolster failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2005 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
THIS IS A COPY OF AN EMAIL I SENT TO CHRYSLER CONCERNING AN ACCIDENT ON 2-3-06 MY WIFE WAS INVOLVED IN. CHRYSLER HELD UP REPAIRS AND SENT A "SPECIAL INVESTIGATOR" TO LOOK AT THE VAN. TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT CHRYSLER NOW SAYS THE AIR BAG WORKED AS DESIGNED AND THEY ARE DENYING OUR CLAIM. WE ARE GETTING THE RUN AROUND ON THE PHONE AND CHRYSLER WILL NOT DISCUSS IT WITH US NOW. ALL I WAS ASKING WAS FOR THEM TO RECALL THIS FEATURE AND MAKE IT DEPLOY TO CAUSE LESS INJURY AND OR DISABLE IT ON OUR VAN. THANK YOU JIMMY SUTHERLAND MY WIFE WAS INVOLVED IN AN ACCIDENT IN OUR 2005 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN, ALL THE AIR BAGS DEPLOYED AND I WAS IMPRESSED WITH THE WAY THE VEHICLE PERFORMED WITH EXCEPTION TO THE DRIVERS KNEE AIRBAG. THIS AIRBAG IS LOCATED UNDER THE STEERING COLUMN AND BEHIND BOTH A METAL AND PLASTIC DASHPLATE, WHEN DEPLOYED THESE DASHPLATES WERE FORCED INTO MY WIFE'S LOWER LEGS CAUSING INJURIES FROM THE KNEES DOWN. NO OTHER INJURIES WERE SUFFERED BY ANYONE IN EITHER VEHICLE OTHER THA
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 576685 |
| ODI Number | 10153449 |
| Date Filed | March 22, 2006 |
| Failure Date | February 3, 2006 |
| VIN | 1D4GP24R25B |
Similar AIR BAGS:KNEE BOLSTER Complaints for 2005 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN
THE VEHICLE WAS GOING APPROXIMATELY 55MPH WHEN IT COLLIDED HEAD ON WITH A COW. THE DRIVER SIDE FRONTAL AIR BAGS DEPLOYED. THE DRIVER'S LEGS WERE INJURED BY THE COVER OF THE LOWER AIR BAG. *TR
THE KNEE BLOCKER AIRBAG IN MY 05 DODGE GRAND CARAVAN OPENED IN A FRONTAL COLLISION. THE AIRBAG IS BEHIND A STEEL PLATE HINGED AT THE BOTTOM OF THE DASH. ATTACHED TO THIS PLATE IS THE HARD PLASTIC PANE
IN THE 05 AND NEWER DODGE/CHRYSLER CARS AND MINIVANS, THERE IS A "KNEE BLOCKER" AIRBAG SYSTEM INSTALLED ON THE DRIVER'S SIDE BELOW THE STEERING COLUMN, THAT IS DEFECTIVE IN DESIGN AND IN IT'S INTENDED
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.