The inside door release handle on the drivers side of our Sequoia cracked and broke in half this morning. Now, the only way to exit the truck is to fiddle with the little remaining stub. While I'm sure it is covered under warranty, I find this piece breaking is very dissapointing, since the Seq has only 19,000 miles. Maybe, I just got a bad piece of plastic. Has any one else had this problem?
Had the same thing happen to me. When the door is closed, the release handle would occasionally stick and I'd have to pull pretty hard to open it. Eventually this caused cracked handle.
Dealer replaced handle, but I took it back because the door felt the same and I thought it would crack again. What convinced the dealer was pulling the release with the door closed vs. door open.
They worked on it some more and it is better, although still a little sticky. It helps if you power-unlock the door first.
Conclusion: no solution, but be aware of it so you can raise the issue a couple of times under warranty.
How about a billet aluminum door handle?
Some of the guys on this forum can make almost anything. All you need to do is ask them, supply a sample part and of course be willing to pay the price.
Same problem a few months back. '02 w/45K miles. I think $60 for the replacement and I installed. Remove the door panel to get at it but pops out and back in easily. But this is really shoddy IMO. Couple other problems which are making me question the Toyota quality these days.
I'm wondering if this problem is related to the force required to unlock the door as well as open it. Those with the problem have you programmed your locks to automatically open when the car is in park?
I am not saying you should have to do this, I'm just currious if it may be a factor.
I just bought a new 04 and thought the force required to open the door with the locks engaged was a bit more than I felt comfortable with, so I programed the locks to open when in park and now the force needed is much less.
It does seem to require less force if the handle is unlocked. Clearly Toyota has some kind of an adjustment/tolerance problem with the door latch design.
I have a theory that this is a Toyota trait. When looking at 2-3 year old sedans a few years ago, 9 out of 10 Camrys we looked at had cracked door releases. And my 02 Sequoia's broke a few months ago. Looking at the Camry's and Sequoia's handles side by side, it was obvious that although they weren't the same size, the designs were almost identical.
Door release cracked
Me too!
but yeah, i've never heard of this happening until now. at least it was still under warranty. 
Terminator Sequoia!
Arnold would be proud!
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