Some Ineos Grenadier owners will soon need to visit their dealers to fix a serious door latch issue.
Ineos is launching a new recall for its old-school SUV, because a door latch fault could cause the doors to accidentally and randomly open while driving. The problem actually lies with the way the door latch mechanisms were assembled, wherein a lack of grease on the door button assembly could cause the button to stay in the depressed position and not fully latch when an occupant closes the door. In total, the recall impacts 7,022 Ineos Grenadier SUVs.
A stop-sale is also in effect, preventing deliveries of any new Grenadiers that are in the recall population from making it out to customers until repairs are completed.
Affected vehicles were built in sequential VIN order, covering cars built between July 6, 2023 and April 19, 2024. Their VINs range between SC6GM1CA0PF004877 and SC6GM1CA5RF018955. In determining whether your vehicle is part of the recall, you’ll want to focus on the last 8 characters of the vehicle identification number: “P” and “R” signify the model year differences (P is 2023; R is 2024), while “FXXXXXXXX” is the actual production serial number. The build month and year will also appear on the vehicle’s identifier plate/sticker, located in the driver’s door jamb.
Ineos notes there should be several warnings of a problem before the door actually swings open. When the door button is depressed, the closing sound will be different to normal operation, where the door latch actually engages with the striker to hold it shut. If the driver sets off while the door is not fully latched, a visual warning will appear in the gauge cluster and an audible warning will go off. That’s what should happen, at least, but a door randomly flying open presents a safety issue, so the automaker is bringing the impacted vehicles in to conduct repairs in the next few weeks.
What’s the fix?
Ineos already notified dealers of the problem between March 8 and March 14. It says it will notify owners between March 3 and May 4, and will set up repairs from there. Service technicians will replace all the door button assemblies — the whole mechanism, not just the button itself — free of charge.
The automaker says its updated components “feature improved guidance and kinematic mechanisms”, and the components are assembled using a better grease application process, so the buttons should no longer bind up and stay in the depressed position. The company tells the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) that it included the newly iterated door latch component in production after April 2024, so later vehicles shouldn’t be affected (including Ineos’ new Quartermaster pickup, which kicked off production in late January of this year).
