I bought this car in Nov. of 2006. I had bought a lemon before that (a 96 Honda Accord) with my SBA money stemming from Hurricane Katrina. I should have brought that one back right away, but like the idiot that i am, i just worked on it myself. But that's a whole 'nother story.

The trim around the door handles on the 2001 Chevy Prizm started to crack. It didn't seem to be affecting the handle that much, in the beginning, but soon started to make it harder to use the door handles. After about a year, the driver's side door handle broke altogether and I had to roll down the window to get out. Since I have electric windows, either the car had to be running or the key had been flipped to battery in order for the windows to work.

A few months after that, the passenger side door handle broke. We have also discovered that one of the back doors (it is a four-door) cannot be opened from the inside--and no, the "child safety lock" is not on.

This is getting dangerous, as I have recently had electrical problems with the car, and on more than one occasion, me and/or my fiance have gotten stuck in the car and one or the other had to get the other one out, or we would ask someone walking by. We have taken to carrying a hammer in the car in case of an emergency we would have to break the glass to get out.

When I first bought this car from a dealership, the door handles were in very good condition. I am not a rough person on my car, meaning i don't slam the doors, pull hard on handles or sticks, etc. I would also like to mention that my 81-year old mother owns the same year, make, and model as I do, except that she has roll down windows, and the same thing has happened to her car, except that the passenger side still works.

I think this is a very dangerous defect in the car, especially for those of us who have electric windows. I am wondering if there has been any recalls, lawsuits, or other legal proceedings that have been brought to Chevy because of this defect?