Broken door handle

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Sat Aug 23, 2003 12:58 am

My friend who has a Vibe called me up yesterday... He went to open the driver's side front door, and heard plastic break off and fall inside the door. The front part of the handle is completely detatched from the door... The right side is still attached, so you can hold down the left and open the door. So, it isn't completely broken - yet. I stopped by to take a look at it today... Whatever plastic held the front part of the handle in is gone... He's calling the dealer today to set up an appointment...Bizarre. Anyone else have this problem?

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pmh013 · Post by **pmh013** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 7:11 am

Nope, but now I'm worried. I wondered about the durability of the handle assembly, but only because I've owned a 2 other cars with handle issues:VW Rabbit -- lever would get stuck when snowy/icyCharger -- handle sucked. To open door, lift up, push in, then push down.

Triton · Post by **Triton** » Mon Aug 25, 2003 9:53 pm

I haven't had any problems. I'm not really concerned about this either. It just looks like an isolated incident.

pmh013 · Post by **pmh013** » Tue Aug 26, 2003 2:59 am

quote:The Charger is because of the striker was worn out and the hinges worn out.. I had a 1985 Dodge Ram with the same problem.. Trust me.. I don't care about this car anymore... I sold it to my cousin, who is an irresponsible little dweeb. He couldn't figure out (despite being told numerous times) that if you pumped the gas pedal exactly 14 times, you could start it, every time. He left it parked by a fire hydrant & it got towed away. He never bailed it out, so it is gone.

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Tue Aug 26, 2003 9:49 am

quote:I haven't had any problems. I'm not really concerned about this either. It just looks like an isolated incident.Looks like an isolated incident to me! Thought I'd see if you folks had this happen. He's getting the door handle replaced under warranty.Could be the excessive temperatures we've had lately, plus an initial defect in the plastic as the door handle was being made... Add those two together, and *SNAP*

ragingfish · Post by **ragingfish** » Tue Aug 26, 2003 12:23 pm

As you said, my guess would be a defect in the plastic. I too am not concerned...

ragingfish · Post by **ragingfish** » Tue Aug 26, 2003 12:33 pm

quote:As you said, my guess would be a defect in the plastic. I too am not concerned...Last time you said that, something happend man.. better edit it.. To what incident do you refer?

ragingfish · Post by **ragingfish** » Tue Aug 26, 2003 12:36 pm

quote:As you said, my guess would be a defect in the plastic. I too am not concerned...Last time you said that, something happend man.. better edit it.. To what incident do you refer?I can not exactly remember, but it did happen.. Maybe it was th window or? It was something. AAhhh!!! TouchÃ© my friend....

ragingfish · Post by **ragingfish** » Mon Sep 22, 2003 7:36 am

I just had a door handle break today, but it was a different kind of break...

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kostby · Post by **kostby** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 1:01 pm

Shazaaam! Had the passenger door outer handle break last night, at the attachment point to the mechanism that opens the door. My wife and son were getting in the car, and heard a crack. They found a tiny piece of clear plastic on the ground. I guess the rest is still inside the door.

Mavrik · Post by **Mavrik** » Sun Oct 22, 2006 2:33 pm

I'll probably regret posting but... this is getting weird guys.

zionzr2 · Post by **zionzr2** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 2:21 am

OLD THREAD Springs!! to Life!!Knocking On wood as my bumper to bumper will be expiring within the next 7 months.

cptnsolo77 · Post by **cptnsolo77** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 1:37 am

Just had my passenger door handle break in 2 peices!

bodhi_tree777 · Post by **bodhi_tree777** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:04 am

yikes. I worry about this too. Already, on the drivers side, the piece of plastic that surrounds the lock itself is loose and I can wiggle it. How much are replacement handles for these beasts?

kowell · Post by **kowell** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:52 am

Is this happening on 09s or older Vibes?

breezd · Post by **breezd** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:52 am

Glad I'm not the only one with a problem with the handles. I haven't had a handle on my drivers door in about 2-3 months now I gotta reach inside to open the drivers door FRUSTRATING!

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 6:12 am

Quote, originally posted by kowell Â»Is this happening on 09s or older Vibes?Considering the thread dates back to 2003, the older ones.

cptnsolo77 · Post by **cptnsolo77** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 11:09 pm

Does anyone know if the matrix door handles are interchangable with the vibes? i just called the local pontiac dealer and they wanted 59.65 for a replacement handle!!!!The toyota dealers are usually so much cheaper. This past friday i took the vibe in for a tranny flush for $130. Pontiac wanted $200.....70 bucks more!

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Sun Mar 22, 2009 11:45 pm

They might be. But if you have a 2-tone, you'll be out of luck as I don't think they had the flat black plastic door handles available on the Matrix. If you have a monotone with the painted handles, you'll also have the added expense of color matching since the Matrix has different colors. In that case, it may be more cost effective to just bite the bullet and buy from GM instead of buying a cheaper handle from Toyota then paying a body shop to paint it for you.Maybe you can find one at a junkyard somewhere...

cptnsolo77 · Post by **cptnsolo77** » Mon Mar 23, 2009 12:43 am

Thanks for the quick reply.Yes, I do have the flat black handles.Its no rush, it broke on the passenger side.Ill try a online supplier or junk yard like u mentioned.Thx for the info.Everyone on this site has been very helpfull!

tribalman · Post by **tribalman** » Mon Mar 23, 2009 3:44 am

can you tell me how to remove the handle? one of mine for some reason is rusting out and i want to try and re-seat and repair it.

FrostyVibe21 · Post by **FrostyVibe21** » Mon Mar 23, 2009 5:48 pm

I have the same problem! Anyone have any ideas?

lesliebegoode · Post by **lesliebegoode** » Thu Sep 10, 2009 11:07 am

I also had a door handle break - my 4 year-old daughter went to open the door and the handle little broke in her hand. Cheap plastic! But not cheap to replace - $40.00!! I read on these post that there are other interchangeable handles - KIA?? Sold on Ebay for $18.00. Tricky to replace but with patience it can be done. Star screwdriver, one screw hidden in interior door handle, one in interior door pull, remove panel by popping clips and removing silver clip on window roll up (manual of course). Pull aside plastic covering, one star screw you can see for handle and one that can only be removed by moving aside the door latch - three star screws hold it in place. DONE! Do reverse for putting back together. I went two weeks with the panel off until my brother suggested removing the door lock. Good luck to all you door handle replacers!!

Littlemule · Post by **Littlemule** » Fri Feb 05, 2010 3:55 am

I have a 2004 Vibe GT and I only have 1 outer door handle left that I have not had to replace. The last one cracked when my 3 year old daughter tried to open the door and all of the handles have broken in the same spot. My 5 year old daughter broke one too and I saw a toyota matrix drive by the other day with all of the handles broken. I am going to bring my car to the dealer for the last one because I believe it is a defect and that it should be repaired at no cost, I will let you all know how that works out. If you decide to change the handle yourself, see below for directions. I purchased new door handles through Toyota and they are relatively easy to install. The inside door panel has to come of and the latching assembly screws have to be removed. Once that is done the little piece on the outside has to be removed (for the front with a key hole its snaps out and for the rear there is a screw on the inside) then you install the new handle and make sure the hook catches the latching mechanism and then put it all back together. I would suggest purchasing the little cap that goes with the handle just in case.

cptnsolo77 · Post by **cptnsolo77** » Sat May 08, 2010 5:15 am

Well after a year and a half I replaced my broken handle. The passenger side broke originally so I didnt bother with it until the drivers side broke last week.So I now still have a broken pass side LOL. I bought this replacement on ebay a while back for the pass side but didnt put it in. $13 shipped & is a direct replacement with no fitment problems:http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...4825dI would REALLY like to get some painted handles to match the rest of the car (Satellite Silver) to clean up the look of the Vibe.....but this works for now. Installation was straight forward & the pass side should be even easier, since that will be my second time.

jefframin · Post by **jefframin** » Fri Nov 05, 2010 3:54 am

The driver's door handle on my 2003 Vibe just broke in exactly the same way.Is there a preferred/trusted/inexpensive source for these handles? I need a black one; no color matching necessary.Thanks!

cptnsolo77 · Post by **cptnsolo77** » Fri Nov 05, 2010 5:07 am

Take a peek at my last post.

lesliebegoode · Post by **lesliebegoode** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 2:40 am

This definitely seems to be a defect as now I am replacing the second door handle that my now 5 year old broke - something with those little hands! I saw two Vibes recently that were also missing their handles, ummmmm....

03VibeOttawa · Post by **03VibeOttawa** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 3:14 am

wow, old thread.I posted in another thread awhile ago that I had a door handle pop off a couple of years ago. My guy charged me about $50 including the part and about 20mins of labour - his cost seemed reasonable so I forked over the cash no questions asked. I will not be surprised when it happens again, the handles are weak.

03VIBEswfl · Post by **03VIBEswfl** » Wed May 29, 2013 6:30 pm

ragingfish wrote:I just had a door handle break today, but it was a different kind of break...

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Exact ting happened to me, on the driver door most recently. Matter of fact, I only have one of the original door handles left on my 03 Vibe. These things were clearly half-assed. I'm tempted to just crazy glue the part over the keyhole that's jiggling and about to come off... i don't have the patience to be taking the door apart and fixing/replacing it...

Vibes... can't live with em, can't live without em haha

Jdhughe5 · Post by **Jdhughe5** » Fri Jun 21, 2013 1:34 pm

My '03 GT Vibe's door wasn't closed all the way so I bumped it closed with my hip, I heard the door latch closed & went about my buissiness; turns out it cracked the plastic & one day it broke the rest of the way off. I bought a pair of door handles from eBay $15 and I'm gonna be replacing the handle soon. Wish me luck!

03VIBEswfl · Post by **03VIBEswfl** » Sun Sep 01, 2013 7:03 pm

03VIBEswfl wrote:
ragingfish wrote:I just had a door handle break today, but it was a different kind of break...

Attached files

Exact ting happened to me, on the driver door most recently. Matter of fact, I only have one of the original door handles left on my 03 Vibe. These things were clearly half-assed. I'm tempted to just crazy glue the part over the keyhole that's jiggling and about to come off... i don't have the patience to be taking the door apart and fixing/replacing it...

Vibes... can't live with em, can't live without em haha

Same here... Only one of the original handles remaining on my '03 Vibe. And I got the jiggly part over the keyhole on the driver's door, and also seriously considering just gluing it...

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Thu Jun 19, 2014 2:10 pm

NECRO BUMP!

Years ago I posted this thread about a Vibe a friend had at the time. Now we have this problem.

Yesterday, in mid 90 degree temps, the passenger's side door handle on Mrs. Panic's Vibe went SNAP. Pieces of it fell into the door and every time I touched the door handle more pieces snapped off. Very brittle plastic after all these years. And we now know after repeated failures of these things it was obviously terrible quality plastic that Toyota chose to use to begin with.

The front of the handle was just hanging loose in the door, so I went ahead and removed it as well (nothing was holding it in anymore.) Covered the holes up with duct tape to eliminate some water intrusion. We were camping when it happened, so that's all I had - I plan to switch to a more aesthetically pleasing electrical tape until I can fix it.

Looking at replacement options, a quick junkyard search shows none available locally for a reasonable price that aren't painted. Plenty of new aftermarket knockoffs online but most have a smooth, black finish. Unless I'm replacing them ALL, this is not going to fly as despite the car looking like crap at this age we still don't want one smooth handle and the rest textured. I did see one ebay listing for a textured finish one, but it was for the LF side. My question is will the same handle fit both sides up front? I seem to think they may but wanted to confirm.

Once I get the handle, fingers crossed there isn't anything internally broken in the door.

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Sat Jun 21, 2014 9:35 am

Back in business.

I helped support GM with their recall bills and got the parts from the dealer. They shipped next day from the nearest warehouse and it only cost me, well, I'd rather not say. Let's just say I could have replaced every door handle with those cheap Chinese ebay smooth shiny finish ready-to-paint ones a few times over. But we wanted a matching, textured finish and everywhere I looked they were out of stock of the aftermarket types that had the textured finish. The one ebay listing I found for a textured one was from the same place who their website itself said was out of stock.

Things learned:

- The handle is in interchangeable between sides.
- P/N 88969863 for the handle
- P/N 88969864 for the keyhole cover.
- They have discontinued the body color handles. You're SOL, monotoners. I guess you have to buy the cheapo ready-to-paint ones and get them painted yourself.

Installation was a breeze, thanks to youtube. (watched your video, derf - very helpful!)

Broken door handle

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