Passenger exterior door handle

[PaDenali]

Hi,

2011 Denali

kid broke passenger exterior door handle off, now can’t open door from inside either. Garage looked at it and said it’s not just handle replacement, but interior parts in door are needed, $900 fix.....

I can’t fix it, but I’m not paying 900 either. What kind of places fix door handles? Body shops?

thanks

 

[Tonyrodz]

Hi,

2011 Denali

kid broke passenger exterior door handle off, now can’t open door from inside either. Garage looked at it and said it’s not just handle replacement, but interior parts in door are needed, $900 fix.....

I can’t fix it, but I’m not paying 900 either. What kind of places fix door handles? Body shops?

thanks

Imo $900 is outrageous. Body shops fix all kind of mangled stuff. I'm sure they'd be able to handle it. Get an estimate first. Bet it'll be cheaper then $900 lol!

 

[Doubeleive]

hell no way, buy a dorman door handle or buy a oem one off of rockauto/amazon/ebay and replace it yourself

 

[PaDenali]

Any idea Why can’t I open it from inside? Are the 2 handles connected somehow

 

[swathdiver]

Hi,

2011 Denali

kid broke passenger exterior door handle off, now can’t open door from inside either. Garage looked at it and said it’s not just handle replacement, but interior parts in door are needed, $900 fix.....

I can’t fix it, but I’m not paying 900 either. What kind of places fix door handles? Body shops?

thanks

Didn't one of Michael's kids do this last year? @Fosscore

 

[CaptainAmerica1]

Dude if your near Dallas I’ll help ya fix it. Sheesh I’d only charge ya a six pack...

 

[intheburbs]

I literally just replaced the front passenger exterior door handle on my 09 Denali last weekend. I think someone tried to break into it. My wife went to open the door and the handle just came off in her hands.

There is a vertical rod that connects the external handle to the mechanism, and a cable connects the interior handle to the mechanism.

Does the exterior handle com off? You should be able to grab the rod with a pair of pliers and lift it up to open the door. Once you get the door open, the rest of it is easy.

If you can't get the door open, I second the suggestion of taking it to a body shop. They'll get it open, and at worse charge you a few bucks.

 

[PaDenali]

Handle is completely off, not connected to anything

 

[intheburbs]

Handle is completely off, not connected to anything

Then that means you have two holes exposed in the outside of the door. If you look in the rearmost hole, you should see a thin, vertical rod. Simply reach in with a pair of needle nose pliers, or even better needle nose vise grips, grab the rod and pull it up. That should unlatch the door so you can open it. From there, tons of youtube videos on how to strip the door. 1aauto has some pretty good ones.

From there, you should be able to tell what parts you need. Since the door handle is plastic, and the rest of the mechanism is metal, I find it hard to believe that your kid did anything other than just breaking the plastic of the exterior door handle. You can get one at your local Chevy dealer for $100, or you can get one off Amazon for $17. I actually went the dealership route because I just wanted the damn thing fixed and didn't want to wait for a delivery from Amazon.

Amazon link: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07RD4V78P/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_pjd7EbXGQGAGG

Here's the broken one on the right, new part on the left...

 

[PaDenali]

I guess not completely off