Car Door Handle Not Working? Outside and Inside

Two different problems

A car door that will not open from its handle is one of two things, and they are fixed differently. Either the handle itself is broken, or the handle is fine and the latch inside the door is not letting go. The quickest way to tell is to try the same door from the other side: if the inside handle opens it and the outside one does not, the fault is in the outside handle or its link to the latch. If neither side opens it, the latch or the lock is the problem.

Check these first

• The child safety lock. On rear doors, a small switch on the edge of the door disables the inside handle on purpose. It is the most common reason a back door will not open from inside, and it takes a second to check with the door open.
• The lock itself. Press unlock on the fob and on the door switch, and pull the handle while you do. A door that is still locked feels exactly like a broken handle.
• The other doors. If every door unlocks except one, that door's lock actuator may have failed, which is a different repair from the handle. See key fob not working if none of them respond.
• How the handle feels. A handle that flops loose with no resistance has usually come off its rod or cable. A handle that is stiff and will not move far points to the latch.

Outside handle not working

The outside handle pulls a thin metal rod or a cable that runs to the latch inside the door. The usual causes:

• A rod clip has popped off or broken. The small plastic clips that hold the rod are the weakest part of the whole system. The handle moves, nothing happens.
• The handle has cracked. Plastic handles, especially on cars that sit in the sun all day, crack at the pivot or the mounting points.
• The lock cylinder linkage is loose. On the driver's door the key cylinder sits in the handle, and its linkage can come adrift at the same time.

Inside handle not working

• The cable has stretched or come off. Most inside handles use a cable rather than a rod, and its end can slip out of its holder.
• The handle housing has broken. Common on cars where the inside handle is pulled hard every day.
• The child lock is on. Worth checking twice, on the rear doors only.

When the door will not open from either side

This is the harder case, because almost every repair on a door is done from the inside, with the door panel off, and the panel comes off with the door open. When the latch is jammed shut, the door has to be opened first, without damaging the panel, the weather seal or the paint. It is slow, careful work, and it is why a door that will not open at all is worth a text before anyone pulls harder on a handle that has already failed.

What not to do

• Do not keep yanking the handle. A handle that is already off its rod will not reconnect itself, and a cracked one will break off completely.
• Do not pry at the door edge. It bends the frame and tears the seal, and the door may never close quietly again.
• Do not take the panel off with the door shut. The clips break, and the panel cannot come off far enough to reach anything.

What the repair usually is

With the door open and the panel off, most handle problems are a clip, a rod, a cable or the handle itself. A latch that has failed is replaced as a unit. Many handles and latches are model specific, so we ask for the make, model and year up front, which tells us whether the part is a common one or one that has to be ordered.

Send us a text

Text the make, model and year, which door, which handle (outside, inside or both) and, if you can, a short video of the handle being pulled. With your ZIP, that is enough for us to tell you what it most likely is and what it will take, before we drive over. If you are locked out rather than dealing with a broken handle, see car lockouts or keys locked in the car.

Questions people ask