I barely lifted the handle and it broke it. I heard others complain about how easily the door handles snap but I didn't think it would happen to me, at less than 36,000 miles of personal use. I bought the vehicle used at 25,400 miles, so it hadn't even been 70,000 miles yet. I was early for my next class by 30 minutes, so I definitely was not in a rush. I wasn't upset or anything. So I had to get out by hoping over to the passenger side and opening the door. I was later told by another owner of a 2007 Dodge Nitro (all four handles broke in theirs at different times) to roll the window down and open the door from the outside to let myself out. So I would have to cut the car back on each time, as I forgot to keep it on, to roll the window down, open the door, then roll it back up and turn the car off. So embarrassing, and annoying.
There seems to be a problem with all of the door handles and locks.
1. The driver side door handle broke off. Why its made of plastic who knows.
2.. The passenger side door cannot be opened from the inside and presents a safety issue if the passenger has to exit in an emergency.
3.The rear doors do not unlock and have to be manually unlocked. This is just a pain in the ass when I have to try and open the door because I have to reach inside and unlock it.. The vehicle itself I like, the door issue sucks. It seems that opening doors was not a priority for dodge I guess.
This is an OBVIOUS problem that has the potential to cause serious injury and/or death! Can you say RECALL! These handles are such junk and should be on the recall list ASAP. My front driver's side handle broke first and I refused to pay over $300 (65 for the handle, over $250 in labor) to have it fixed. A friend switched the rear passenger handle with the broken handle as a temporary fix. However, the front passenger side handle also broke! Again, had the same friend switch the other rear passenger handle with the broken one. Now my passengers can not get out of the back seat doors. This is a major problem.
Sure, these handles look cool, however there is an obvious flaw/defect in the design and the material is absolute JUNK!
NO, I am not "rough/hard" on my handles.NO this is definitely not "normal" wear and tare.
- Dawn S.,
Cape May Crt Hs, NJ, US
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I fail to understand why a car manufacturer would make an interior door handle out of plastic. Seriously, are you design folks idiots? Is this the best American made we have? Yelling does not work neither does ranting but I am hopeful that the design geeks for Dodge rethink their use of plastic especially in a very used product like a door handle. If you are going to use cheap plastic at least make the replacement part cheap in price.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
Dodge knew of the problem as the replacement handle was cast in a thicker plastic. This should be a free replacement or at least paid for the part.
- rwoodward, Punta Gorda, FL, US