I have a 2003 Mazda MPV. For the 5th time, the door lock on the driver’s side has jumped (pushed? fallen) out of it’s housing into the door. I never use the key as I have a remote keyless entry.
I have also had to replace the window motor, which I think has something to do with the door lock in the door housing.
The last time this happened was six months ago (February).
I have just moved across country, so I cannot go back to the dealer who has done this.
At this point, I am saying…there is no reason a door lock should “fall” out of the handle this many times, especially as I never touch it. Something is clearly wrong, either in the handle. I might blame the glue or the screws, or the people who have done this, but 4 times? I can’t go back to the dealer as I’m over 3000 miles away. And I’ve not only paid for this work several times, but I’ve also paid to repair the window motor which is probably due to this defect as well.
I’m busy. Since I haven’t needed to open the window or use the lock (keyless entry and electronic toll devices) water has entered the door and I just noticed the bottom of the door is showing rust. Who knows what else is wrong.)
Mazda gave me a case number and I’m going to a local dealership. I think Mazda should replace the door itself (as somehow it’s not holding onto the lock) for free, and get the dealership to pay back all prior repair deals.
Does this sound reasonable? And has anyone else heard of anything like this? Any other thoughts?
The window motor should only have had ab effect on the door lock if the lock needed to be removed to replace the window motor. Other than that, the two problems are unrellated.
The car being 9 years old, I don’t know that you have a case on replacing the whole door. It should not be dropping the lock, but that won’te be the entire door, just the lock retainer hardware. Yes, they should fix the problem correctly, however since the vehicle is long since expended its warranty period, the new dealership is unlikely to do so. The warranty would be the dealership’s workmanship warranty, and in this case the one that’ll be fixing it wasn’t the one that did the original fix.
Some plastic part has failed, sure they could have spent the extra 50 cents, and made it out of metal, 9 year old car, your problem,not theirs. Now how to demand better parts in the future, threaten their sales by telling your experience, otherwise the bean counters will win 4 now.
@ Mountain bike…it’s the lock that is messing up the window. The lock falls in the door. It rattles around. Then when the window opens, the lock jams the window/motor.
I’m not familiar with your particular vehicle but have taken lots of doors apart. Usually they use a plastic part to hold the rod in place. Rod goes into hole and a small retainer clips over the backside to hold it in place.
Who’s to say how these guys have been fixing it? Maybe they tried some half-@$$ed method rather than a new retainer?
Also, in a lot of less expensive designs the mechanical linkages are all tied together. Whether you use the mechanical means of the door handle or the electronic solenoid via FOB, that retainer is seeing stress.
Nobody is going to pay for a new door besides you. And unless you know exactly how the repair shop tried to fix it, the vehicle manufacturer isn’t likely to assume any responsibility either. You either have to go back to the shop or suck it up and make sure it’s done right by a new place. Those retainers may be hard to find new…