Spending $180 to make the girlfriend happy, just to be greatly disappointed.

So, Passenger door handle has been broken since I bought the truck. It got so bad, my girlfriend couldn’t close the door, and the foam was sticking all over her clothes.

So I bought a $180 OEM Door Handle, just to open it and find that it’s already separating right out of the package.

I called Toyota and they said they will swap it, but there are only 5 listed in the US available. New list price is $360!

This things garbage. The old one is completely busted with broken tabs ripped.

This new one isn’t going to last at all. I’m a little frustrated.



These are all of the new one.

 

Bolt it up yet?

 

Salvage yard. Parts are much cheaper and have been around just as long

 

I’m going to try and talk to the sales manager and see if they’ll discount it. If this thing was like $60 I’d fix it myself, but $180 Is a little steep.

The two yards in Sac said they won’t separate the door panel, and I forgot what price they quoted for the whole door panel.

These Dismantlers come in about 25% cheaper than OEM.

I had to replace the plastic bed trim on the driver side because the car wash ripped it off. I’ve had one on order for over 6 weeks from Toyota for $78. Dismantler wanted $85 for one that’s in rough shape. I talked them down to $60 after I showed them the online OEM price. Then their attitude was here’s the part F off.

 

Definitely lacking some quality control there, especially for the price you paid. If it was mine I would buy a can of spray foam and fill all the voids and places they missed and call it a day.

 

Im hoping Toyota will discount the part, but I feel they’re more likely to destroy it than anything.

I figure it’s worth a try as $180 for a silly part, and then hoping glue will old it together in frustrating

The YouTube’s show using single part Gorilla Glue and clamps and it seems to hold the foam together.

I wish I didn’t let the original get so bad that it ripped apart and broke the tabs.

 

a box of wine and a few bars of Godiva chocolate cost less than $180. $360 buys multiple boxes of wine and many, many chocolates. Girlfriend might have appreciated that a bit more than a brand new armrest.


just sayin...

 

I'm confused. Why does the new list price matter if they are willing to send you a replacement? Are you saying they want you to pay the difference? That sounds like a giant load of horse shit.

 

Ebay?

 

Originally she said I had to pay that so that they could order it. I was able to talk the gal into ordering for me without me paying for it, and then they would swap it out. But I can’t believe how the price jumped.

They mostly were the entire door panel, and they were either beat, or pretty expensive. My door panel is clean, I just want to handle.

 

https://www.car-part.com/mobile/index.htm

 

I bet they haven't made that part in over a decade. I would also bet it's been sitting in some warehouse all that time being exposed to the heat. Luckily it's not that bad, and could be salvaged if need be. Plus it's a lot better then the one you have.

Here's hoping the replacement is better......

 

I’ll conclude this thread. Spoiler, girlfriend is now happy she isn’t getting foam bits and pieces all over her

Dealer ordered a new part, that arrived perfect. No strange trimming, all parts fully adhered, and much more supporting foam on the back side.

Dealer did an exchange and put mine back into dealer stock as they only show 5 remaining in the US. Side note, if the it was the last one available I would have made it work.

The new one, I added Gorilla glue all over the back side to help support the foam and rubber outer layer. I’d give some advice, if you ever pull the door panels, I would make this a to do item to prolong your door handles as this is a common issue.

The Gorilla glue is good stuff. It stays some what flexible, and doesn’t every seem to fail.

New one, all glued.


The old stock I returned.