Vincent64

Was there ever a filing with the NHTSA for door handles breaking. This I believe is a safety issue. GM paid for repairs to a women in Exxon, Pa to have her door handles repaced. I don't know if it's too late.

donbrew

What exactly is the "Safety Issue"? The repair part is less than $15 and is easy to do.

Obviously the DOT does not think it is a issue.

whopper

Filing for which cars? Dodge Avengers and others have had the same problems.

Oldblue

You would have to contact GM to see if they would repair your door handles.
You would have as to if a complaint was filed.
I recommend just change the door handle, the car has been out of production since 2011.
It’s not that GM wouldn’t care, but it is simply that their liability statute has expired.

extanker

doubtful it would be considered a safety issue unless it was the only way in/out of the car. That said i had to replace the drivers door inside handle after it snapped off.....typical GM .....us old folks remember GM window cranks .....what is odd is that i do not believe we have ever had anyone the rear seats but the inside door handle looks like it is getting ready to fall off .......and if you are really old...how about chevy motor mounts from the 60,s .....the motor would torque over....fan would hit radiator,pull off top radiator hose, lock gas pedal to the floor and even disconnect clutch Z bar linkage . we chained the motor down back then

Oldblue

And didn’t even think it was a problem, just extra fun on Saturday wrenching on the hot rod.
My 34 Ford a 3 window coupe with suicide doors, it used to pop the door catches , so I installed gate latch pins to make sure the doors couldn’t open.

Doc brown

Can you site a source? There's no such place as Exxon, PA.

Vincent64

Let pretend your a women. Your door handle is broken and you get caught in a flash flood. Now you window doesn't work and you can't get out. What happens you drown. And by the way they should be made out of metal. They had a recall on the SSR;s for the same reason. How many men and women do you know can take the door apart and repair it.

Oldblue

How many men and women? A lot, many people are capable of viewing a YouTube video for a how to, it’s not rocket science.

And only five recalls applied to the HHR

https://www.cars.com/research/chevro...-2007/recalls/

geg

When a flash flood or fall into the river door does not open. Even if the door handles are working. The fact is that the pressure of water on the outer panel of the door is very strong. Much stronger than the air pressure inside the car. Such pressure can not be overcome with bare hands.
Rescuers recommend opening the window to let the water inside the cabin. Thus, the pressure inside and the pressure outside equalizes and the door opens easily.
But! .. Our windows are not mechanical. They are electric, and if electricity is destroyed by water, you are a corpse and your passengers are corpses too.
With this information, it is funny to worry about one of the four door handles. I would worry about having a heavy steel fire extinguisher on hand to knock out the glass.