2004 Mitsubishi Endeavor Latches, locks and linkages Problems

“Incident: I own a 2004 Mitsubishi Endeavor. About 2 months ago, the door handle/pull on the outside front passenger door broke during routine use. As it turns out, the handle is made of plastic. My dealer claims there is a back order for replacement handles, implying this is a widespread problem there are no saftey issues, simply inconvenience issues. In all my years of owning cars, this has never happened to me.”

“Back tailgate window switch and back tailgate door latch/switch/handles of early 2004 Mitsubishi endeavors just fail with no warning and neither can be opened with or without key fob. After some searching I noticed on the internet that this is a common problem. This makes it not possible to access the spare tire, or in case of accident the rescue persons cannot access the car from the back door or window. I understand this has been an ongoing problem with the early 2004 models. I had to pay close to $400 to repair this.”

“I have had to replace 2 door handles in a year due to them breaking off in your hand with routine use, these are cheap plastic handles with no apparent metal reinforcement. I have owned many vehicles and never had door handles just snap off like this. I am currently contacting the dealer for a 3rd replacement handle. This is a serious safety issue since in an emergency if the handles break then there is no access to the vehicle for rescue other then breaking windows. Updated 02/22/07.”