On Monday, 5/20, I was exiting my 2000 Chrysler 300M and as I pulled the interior driver's side door handle, the chrome plating on the handle split along the top seam, slicing a deep gash in my middle finger. After attending to the wound, I found that the center of the door handle now has a 2" section of the chrome finish that has torn away from the handle, leaving a horizontal, razor-sharp protrusion that could cut me again at anytime. Fearing this hazard would cause further injury to me or members of my family, I contacted my dealer, brandywine Chrysler Jeep in wilmington, de about getting a replacement handle for the driver's door. The parts department told me that Chrysler doesn't make replacement door handles; I would need to order a whole new interior door panel at a cost of $309, not to mention the $70/hour labor to install it. I went to their service department yesterday, 5/21, and the service guy remembered having a door panel in the shop and went to see if there's something he could do. He returned to tell me that there's no way to remove the handle from the panel without damaging it, and told me that the only option is to replace the door panel because the protruding strip of chrome finish cannot be repaired. Even if it were possible to remove the treacherous 2" section of finish from the handle, that would leave two equally sharp and dangerous vertical edges running completely around the handle. Today I contacted Chrysler customer service via email about the defect, and they sent me a cursory response that said thereS nothing they can do since the handle is part of the door assembly. They didnT even mention the injury or defective handle.

- Rising Sun, MD, USA