NHTSA Complaint #10047133 — 1997 GMC SIERRA 2500

I OWN A 97 GMC TRUCK. CURRENTLY, THE TRUCK HAS A LITTLE OVER 55,000 MILES. APPROXIMATELY, 2 YEARS AGO THE INTERIOR DOOR HANDLE FAILED TO OPEN THE DRIVER SIDE DOOR. I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO LEHMERS IN CONCORD AND THEY REPAIRED THE PROBLEM AT NO CHARGE TO ME... IT WAS STILL UNDER WARRANTY. LAST WEEK THE SAME PROBLEM OCCURRED ON THE DRIVER SIDE AND "STARTED TO SHOW SIGNS OF THE SAME PROBLEM" ON THE PASSENGER SIDE DOOR. SINCE THE VEHICLE WAS OUT OF WARRANTY, I DECIDED TO "SAVE A BUCK" AND FIX THE PROBLEMS MYSELF. AFTER REMOVING THE DRIVER SIDE INTERIOR HANDLE ASSEMBLY, I WAS SHOCKED TO FIND THE HANDLE ITSELF CRACKED I.E. THE HANDLE ASSEMBLY IS POORLY DESIGNED. (IT'S PLASTIC.) I TOOK THE HANDLE ASSEMBLY TO THE DEALERSHIP AND SHOWED THE BROKEN HANDLE TO THE SERVICE MANAGER AND EXPLAINED HOW THIS WAS THE SECOND HANDLE. THE SERVICE MANAGER SAID, "THEIR HANDS WERE TIED" AND COULD NOT HELP ME BECAUSE EVERYTHING WAS OUT OF WARRANTY. THE SERVICE MANAGER DID NOT FIND ANY SERVICE BULLETINS CONCERNING DOOR HANDLES. (I ALSO SUBSCRIBE TO AN ONLINE SERVICE MANUAL PROVIDER CALLED ALLDATA.COM. THEY INCLUDE TECHNICAL BULLETINS THE SERVICE SHOPS GET FROM GM. I DID NOT FIND ANY BULLETINS CONCERNING DOOR HANDLES.) WHILE STILL AT THE DEALERSHIP, I BOUGHT A NEW HANDLE. IT LOOKS EXACTLY LIKE THE OLD ONE. IT COMES WITH A 1-YEAR WARRANTY. I CALLED GMC AND THEY SAID THAT BECAUSE THE ITEM IS OUT OF WARRANTY, THEY COULDN'T HELP ME. THE CUSTOMER SERVICE REP ALSO SAID THERE WAS NO RECORD OF ANY OTHER DOOR HANDLE PROBLEMS. *LA