The handle of the left-hand (driver) door has stopped opening the door. The plastic fixture where it should engage for the door to open does not function. In addition, the window stopped rolling up at the same time. This exact defect has happened to our 2002 chevy prism. The plastic piece around the door handle of the same driver's side has cracked and no longer can engage to work. It is a safety issue when you can not open the door!
Geo Prizm door locks problems
36 of the 601 owner complaints about the Geo Prizm describe doors won't lock, open or latch, most of them for the 1992 model year.
- owner complaints
- 36
- worst model year
- 1992
Is there a fix? No recall or service bulletin covers this area of the car yet.
By model year
Often reported together
What owners say
On the 4-door model of the geo prizm lsi, the rear door latch/lock mechanisms fail, making the door un-operable from inside, or outside of the vehicle. Should this failure occur as a result of a crash, the occupants of the backseats cannot exit the vehicle without having to crawl over the front seats (which may not be possible, based on the severity of the crash...). In my case, the two, separate failures were not the result of accidents, but both rear door mechanisms did fail (at different occasions...), which resulted in loss of ability to use the back seats for occupant usage in the method designed/intended. According to the dealership's service center (superstition springs toyota, mesa, az), the electrical solonoid that controls the lock mechanism can fail, causing the loss of operability (at a cost of $300 to replace), and requires replacement of the entire lock/latch mechanism. The same mechanism is also used on the front doors, as well.
Door handles continuously break off, thus far consumer had to have 3 different door handles replaced.*ak
Interior door handles on front driver and both rear doors are broken. Will not open from inside, without pinching the handle frame together at bottom.
3 out of 4 door handles have broken where plastic housing is located, causing door handles to be inoperative. Driver will have to roll down window to use out door hanlde to get out of vehicle.
Inside door handle has broken off. Also, front windshield does not become clean in fog.
The driver inside door latch broke. Occupant cannot open driver's door from the inside of vehicle. Please provide further information.
Door lock freezes upon openning. Need to lock door inorder to close. Once locked, can not unlock until car warms up. Approx 15-20 min later.
Door handles malfunctioned. Gear shift will not move. Rear struts we worn in less than 1 year after purchase. Dealer refused to stand by warranty.
Interior door handles broke. Qcaw
Related recalls
No recalls on record for this model year.
Questions about the Geo Prizm door locks
Which Geo Prizm years have doors won't lock, open or latch problems?
The model years with the most reports are 1992 (11 complaints), 1991 (10 complaints) and 1993 (6 complaints).
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