Power sliding doors in minivans

[Ghoste]

Anyone have these for a long term yet and can offer reasonable opinions as to their reliability over said long term?  How about need after the "gee whiz" factor wears off?  Are they useful or an expensive gimmick?
I don't care what brand of minivan just in general on the option itself.

[bobs66440]

My wife's 2005 Honda Odyssey has them on both sides and they work fine. When it was new, sometimes the passenger's side one would stop and return halfway while closing (sensing resistance, safety feature). They taced it to a bent track. They tweaked it and it's been fine since.

They are probably most useful if you have small children. They can just hop in, give the handle quick a tug and the door closes. They are also controllable from the driver's seat, so you don't have to get out to open/close them. They are also controllable from the key fob, so if you're carrying groceries or whatever, it makes it a little easier to open them. You can also disengage the power so they will work as normal sliding doors.

I think they are a good safety feature with kids too. Less likely to get a foot or arm slammed in a heavy door. 

Do they work well? Yes
Do they change our lives measurably? Not really
Are they necessary? No
Would we order them again? Probably

[Ghoste]

Does she still like them, does she find it useful?  My wife thinks she wants them and I wasn't convinced.

[bobs66440]

Does she still like them, does she find it useful?  My wife thinks she wants them and I wasn't convinced.

Yeah, I think she would get them again. I would. See edit above.

[bill440rt]

They are probably most useful if you have small children. They can just hop in, give the handle quick a tug and the door closes. They are also controllable from the driver's seat, so you don't have to get out to open/close them. They are also controllable from the key fob, so if you're carrying groceries or whatever, it makes it a little easier to open them.

Do they work well? Yes
Do they change our lives measurably? Not really
Are they necessary? No
Would we order them again? Probably

Same here. My wife has them in our '09 T&C, and we had them in our last Grand Caravan. They work fine. Rear gate is also power. There was a small recall on the sliding doors, it was just a plastic retainer clip or something stupid for the wiring harness.

They are very convenient and do make things easier, but not an absolute necessity. They are useful at times. My wife likes them.

[moparstuart]

 My wife has them in her 03 windstar , she loves them. They are heavy and a huge draw on the battery . The van takes a dam expensive truck battery to run every thing in it .  If one of the door doesnt close and suck up to the body just right the stupid turn signal in the door mirror flashes . My kid have let it go all night several times and killer her battery .  Thats my only complaint .!!!     

[gtx6970]

Next to stow and go seating . power doors and liftgate are the bst.

Wife has them all  in here 06 Caravan

Picture walkng out to the car and your hands are full with kids or grocery bags, hit a button on your key fob and it opens up before you get there.

Also, your on vacation in Florida in July and you want to open the van up to let some of the interior heat out.
Easy walk out on the balcony of your condo and open it up . that way you don't get hit with the blast furnace when you open the door for the 1st time of the day. Try story btw.

And for the most part, power doors and liftgates have been pretty troube free ( at least on Dodges )

[Cooter]

CAUTION....YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.....

These things are the devil. Especially GM ones. Cannot be fixed once broken. Even GM says this in so many words.  Biggest, dumbest, stupidest, sh*t that was ever devised by man. All because some Soccer mom was too damn lazy to actually open the freakin' side doors.

http://www.lemonlaw.com/wordpress/chevrolet-uplander-sliding-door-problem-persists/

http://www.lemonlaw.com/articles/chevrolet-uplander-sliding-doors.html

[Indygenerallee]

Biggest problem with them on the Dodge/Chrysler mini vans with the automatic doors that come through my shop with non functioning doors is the track that conatins the power wires will get crimped and break wires, easy fix. Done way too many of them though I would say Mopar needs to do away with it, too many damn lazy people.

[Charger-Bodie]

I dont have any,but its not all about laziness. Ive seen people at the store etc. walking up to them , fob in hand, along with arms full of baga of groceries or whatever. Click a button,the doors open. No need to stack the stuff on the ground,or worse the car, to open the door.

[bobs66440]

I dont have any,but its not all about laziness. Ive seen people at the store etc. walking up to them , fob in hand, along with arms full of baga of groceries or whatever. Click a button,the doors open. No need to stack the stuff on the ground,or worse the car, to open the door.

I agree. It's a matter of convenience and safety. Like all the other developments in the last century. No different. It's no more lazy than power windows are as opposed to rolling them up manually, or an automatic transmission compared to a manual.  

[71charger_fan]

I rented a Town and Country in FL when we cleaned out my mom's apartment after she died. Having the power doors and liftgate was awesome when we were moving all that stuff. If I was in the market for a minivan, I might not spend the money if they're an option. After having the T&C for a week, I'd never have a van without the stow and go seats though.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

I had them on both an '02 & '05 Honda Odyssey....invaluable with small children especially with our schools "stop & drop" policy....

[A383Wing]

another problem with the Chrysler ones is that if someone changes battery in vehicle, and does not use a memory saver when battery is disconnected, some of said vehicles will have to go back to dealer to have BCM module reprogrammed so the power door will open I close again

Bryan  (don't ask how I know this)