Door handle fell off, what the ???

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pingflood
Posts: 37
Joined: Sun May 06, 2007 3:15 am

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No joke, the door handle came right off the driver's side door today when I went to open it. 2007 Versa SL hatchback, 48k miles, not abused in any way.

Looks like the pin that holds the front part of the door handle snapped off somehow and the entire thing just came loose in my hand.

Anybody else have this happen?


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iluvmyVersa08
Posts: 1540
Joined: Mon Sep 01, 2008 2:49 pm
Car: 2008 SL Sport
Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

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Wow, that sucks. No it has not happened to me.

pingflood
Posts: 37
Joined: Sun May 06, 2007 3:15 am

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Of course, not in warranty means I have to find parts and fix it...

So far: door handle fell off, horrible piston slap, lots of rattles from the dash, turn signal that acts up intermittently. Not what I expected from a Japanese car even if built in Mexico.

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NODES
Posts: 939
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2009 2:49 pm
Car: 2007 Nissan Versa SL (Blue)

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pingflood wrote:Of course, not in warranty means I have to find parts and fix it...

So far: door handle fell off, horrible piston slap, lots of rattles from the dash, turn signal that acts up intermittently. Not what I expected from a Japanese car even if built in Mexico.
Mexico = FAIL

Look at VW Jetta's many issues as well and they are priced a lot higher then the Versa.

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VersaMG08
Posts: 2060
Joined: Wed May 28, 2008 5:16 pm
Car: '10 Mazda 3 s hatchback
'14 Nissan 370z
Location: Prescott Valley, AZ

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NODES wrote:
Mexico = FAIL

Look at VW Jetta's many issues as well and they are priced a lot higher then the Versa.
Cheaper to manufacture in Mexico and labor costs. I'd prefer they manufacture them in Canada, US or Japan and ship them to the US.

pingflood
Posts: 37
Joined: Sun May 06, 2007 3:15 am

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NODES wrote:
Mexico = FAIL

Look at VW Jetta's many issues as well and they are priced a lot higher then the Versa.
Actually, my wife has a 2002 Mexican built Jetta and at 95k miles it's been trouble free.

The Versa at half that, not so much.

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NODES
Posts: 939
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2009 2:49 pm
Car: 2007 Nissan Versa SL (Blue)

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pingflood wrote:
Actually, my wife has a 2002 Mexican built Jetta and at 95k miles it's been trouble free.

The Versa at half that, not so much.
lol tell that to my brother in law 3 jetta's everyone had issues

pingflood
Posts: 37
Joined: Sun May 06, 2007 3:15 am

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Well, the resolution to this was me buying a $12 trim piece (that seems to hold the door handle in place; it's the piece around the lock) and spending some time getting the door handle in there. Was a bit of a pain, and had to take off the inside panel, but managed to piece it back together.

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TrustME
Posts: 424
Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2007 6:59 pm
Car: 2007 Nissan Versa 1.8S
1994 Nissan Sentra

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pingflood wrote:Well, the resolution to this was me buying a $12 trim piece (that seems to hold the door handle in place; it's the piece around the lock) and spending some time getting the door handle in there. Was a bit of a pain, and had to take off the inside panel, but managed to piece it back together.
This just happened to me 30 minutes ago. Thanks for posting this, hoping there would have been an easier solution but this works.

bucksnort
Posts: 210
Joined: Tue Feb 19, 2008 11:54 am
Car: Versa S

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got a turn signal switch $25 sh
pingflood wrote:Of course, not in warranty means I have to find parts and fix it...

So far: door handle fell off, horrible piston slap, lots of rattles from the dash, turn signal that acts up intermittently. Not what I expected from a Japanese car even if built in Mexico.
I have a turn switch for $25 shipped.

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07redversa
Posts: 9
Joined: Sun Mar 07, 2010 8:39 pm
Car: 07 nissan versa

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do you think you can post a more detailed description of how you got it back on? my passenger side door handle fell off over a year ago(the dealership was supposed to order me a new one but that never happened) I still have all the pieces and I would really like to have my door handle on my car again.

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versanewb
Posts: 31
Joined: Mon Jun 21, 2010 7:06 pm
Car: Versa SL

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There is no excuse for a door handle falling off....ever. If this happens to me I will never buy another Nissan again.

nickoladzez
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Jul 06, 2010 12:48 am
Car: Nissan Versa S Hatchback 2007

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That happened to me on my passenger side door.
I managed to get the handle back on, but i couldn't get the little plastic thingy that covers the keyhole to stay on.

Overall, I'm pretty ashamed of my versa,
1. The lever that opens the hood broke
2. The passenger door handle fell off
3. The passenger side back seat door panel broke
4. Left reverse light only works if you tap it a few times.
5. Tire low indicator is always on, even though I made sure all the tires' pressure were the same.
All this happened just 6 months after the warranty expired :(

The only good thing i can say about this car is that the engine is good. All the other sh_tty plastic pieces of the car are extremely unreliable and poorly made.

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iluvmyVersa08
Posts: 1540
Joined: Mon Sep 01, 2008 2:49 pm
Car: 2008 SL Sport
Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

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nickoladzez wrote:That happened to me on my passenger side door.
I managed to get the handle back on, but i couldn't get the little plastic thingy that covers the keyhole to stay on.

Overall, I'm pretty ashamed of my versa,
1. The lever that opens the hood broke
2. The passenger door handle fell off
3. The passenger side back seat door panel broke
4. Left reverse light only works if you tap it a few times.
5. Tire low indicator is always on, even though I made sure all the tires' pressure were the same.
All this happened just 6 months after the warranty expired :(

The only good thing i can say about this car is that the engine is good. All the other sh_tty plastic pieces of the car are extremely unreliable and poorly made.
Sorry to hear that you had some bad luck w/ the Versa.
I've had mine for over 2 years, with 35K on the clock and nothing on it has fallen apart or broken, and no TPMS here in Canada (thank goodness).
Another Versa member though had the hood lever break too. And the dealer fixed it for them for free.

roadrunner2short
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2010 10:41 pm
Car: 2007 Nissan versa

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I totally agree JUNK. This was the first new car I ever bought and I am so disappointed. The whole front suspension has been replaced. It was in the shop 6 or 7 times before the warranty ran out. Now that the warranty has run out. With like 50,000 miles on this vehicle not abused at all. The oxygen sensor has went out, The door handle on the drivers side is falling off both parts. It's popping in the front The brakes had to be replaced, rotars and all. The Motor seems to be good but it's crazy that this much work has had to be done to a new car. I wish I would have bought a newer used car. :confused:

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iluvmyVersa08
Posts: 1540
Joined: Mon Sep 01, 2008 2:49 pm
Car: 2008 SL Sport
Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

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roadrunner2short wrote:I totally agree JUNK. This was the first new car I ever bought and I am so disappointed. The whole front suspension has been replaced. It was in the shop 6 or 7 times before the warranty ran out. Now that the warranty has run out. With like 50,000 miles on this vehicle not abused at all. The oxygen sensor has went out, The door handle on the drivers side is falling off both parts. It's popping in the front The brakes had to be replaced, rotars and all. The Motor seems to be good but it's crazy that this much work has had to be done to a new car. I wish I would have bought a newer used car. :confused:
Sorry to hear about all the problems.

You are one of a few that have experienced these problems. Most of the Versa's here have been trouble free, some even have over 200k miles on them!

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kvg
Posts: 180
Joined: Thu Oct 01, 2009 11:13 am
Car: 08 Nissan Versa Sport, 89 BMW 325i coupe
Location: Calgary, AB

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I'm pretty sure 2007 model was built in Japan and 08 on was mexico.
Not that it really matters. sorry to hear your guys troubles.
I've been very happy with mine.

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VersaMG08
Posts: 2060
Joined: Wed May 28, 2008 5:16 pm
Car: '10 Mazda 3 s hatchback
'14 Nissan 370z
Location: Prescott Valley, AZ

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I sure hope this doesnt occur on my car. Everytime I open the door, I have a feeling its going to happen. :tisk:

byroan
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Sep 06, 2010 5:57 pm
Car: Nissan Versa

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I hate to bump an old thread, but I figure it's better than starting a new one. I also had my door handle fall off (2008 Hatchback) I saw that someone bought a $12 trim piece to fix it...does anyone have the link to that? I just passed the 36k mark and the dealer wouldn't honor the warranty.

Thanks to whoever can help.

versa_dan
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Nov 11, 2010 2:41 pm
Car: Nissan Versa

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You need a Torx head screwdriver T25. Open the door and on the side of the door is a small black grommet, remove grommet, inside is the torx screw you need to loosen for the lock mechanism to move. you dont need to remove the screw just loosen enough to move the lock assembly around. Once loose enough, install the door handle and tighten lock assembly back and put grommet back.

Here is a picture if you need a bit of visual clues.

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/1218 ... dlefix.jpg

Image

AJBane2006
Posts: 29
Joined: Tue Nov 16, 2010 8:56 am
Car: 2011 Nissan Versa S 1.8
Location: Natural Bridge Virginia

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I hope this dosen't happen to my Versa. I just purchased mine 2 weeks ago. New off of the showroom floor!

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NODES
Posts: 939
Joined: Tue Jul 07, 2009 2:49 pm
Car: 2007 Nissan Versa SL (Blue)

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not really the door handle but the trim piece...I actually thought your door handles were falling off :)

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Tacuvito
Posts: 116
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2007 5:01 am
Car: 2007 Nissan Versa SL
Location: Texas

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I take some offense to the comments made here about the Mexican made Versa. I would like to point out that this beloved car of ours is an entry level model. These models usually are built with low quality parts in order to meet the projected price. The assembly line has little to do with the flaw in the parts which are made in Japan, Canada, USA, Mexico, etc. You can get a replacement door handle at your local junkyard. Please stop the bigoted comments. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

versacomment
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Dec 30, 2010 8:13 am
Car: 2009 versa

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This exact thing has happend to my 2009 Versa. At a store, and the door handle simply came off in my hand, when I was just getting in. I have been crawling through the other side now for about a week. The Service people laughed at me at the first place I took my car, saying I needed to go to the bodyshop - which I did, and they want to charge me to fix it of course. I now learn it should be a warranty item, since my car is less than 3 yrs old and has less than 36,000 miles on it. Hopefully, I hear back from on this new plan (at a differnt dealership, I might add) soon. And by the way.. the first dealership was to call when the part came in... and never did call me back either. Sadly, this cheap $44.95 part/defect will keep me from EVER purchasing a Nissan again! (although the cost to replace it, was $150 for me, as there are "3" parts to the door handle.)

Jerr
Posts: 12
Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2007 1:40 pm
Car: Nissan Versa SL 2007 Blue
Contact:

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Ah, so today I felt my door handle was loose getting into the car. I started poking at it and the lock cylinder assembly popped off and looked like one of the clips was broken. The handle itself feels loose as well, so I was wondering if it just needs to be tightened down and/or need a new trim piece. I don't really want parts of my car flying off when I hit a bump in the road...

Poorversa
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat Jan 22, 2011 6:57 pm
Car: 07 Nissa Versa

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My driver's side door handle fell off my 07 versa 2 days ago and the dealership said it would cost roughly $250 to repair. wtf, I think I can do this myself, thanks for the instructions man! Anyone else had their door sealing come loose on their versa as well?

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Tacuvito
Posts: 116
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2007 5:01 am
Car: 2007 Nissan Versa SL
Location: Texas

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All this Vs with missing door trim, are these cars garaged or are these parked out in the open.

8o88y
Posts: 3
Joined: Sun Feb 13, 2011 3:04 am
Car: 2011 Versa 1.8S Hatch Manual (current)
Previous:
1987 Sentra Sedan Manual.
(Talked 2 girlfriends into getting early 90s SE-Rs, and loved driving them.)
1977 Datsun King Cab Manual.

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I bought a 1.8s hatchback, and they omitted the keylock from the passenger side door. Apparently, they expect you to get this model with power locks, and if you don't, then there's no way to open the passenger door without climbing through from the driver's side. Damned inconvenient and embarrassing if you want to open the door for your date or your mom, or if you come to the car with some packages you want to put in the passenger side.

lain
Posts: 534
Joined: Sat Mar 25, 2006 9:59 am
Car: 2007 Nissan Versa S
Location: Rosemead, CA
Contact:

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Poorversa wrote:My driver's side door handle fell off my 07 versa 2 days ago and the dealership said it would cost roughly $250 to repair. wtf, I think I can do this myself, thanks for the instructions man! Anyone else had their door sealing come loose on their versa as well?

I would demand that the dealership fix it for free. the door handle is not suppose to break off. this happened to my versa after i had the vehicle for about 6 months...so i had the warranty. and i think the reason why it came off was because i was pretty toasty and opened the door as if the handle was suppose to pull out the other way...so that thing just popped right off. i figured it was my fault.

captndon777
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2011 5:48 pm
Car: 2007 Versa

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Nissan Versa door handle falls off.

This happened to me to.

This is how I permanently fixed my 2007-2011 Nissan Versa outside door handle and the key lock trim that also fell off.

This is an inherent design flaw so if you pay $250.00 to get it so called fixed ,it will fall off again. If you buy new parts and put them on it will fall off again. The reason the trim around the key lock fell off was because the door handle was becoming loose. My door handle was loose enough to break off the key lock trim, the key lock trim helps to keep the door handle in place, so when the key lock trim fell off ,the door handle fell off in my hand a week later.

The problem is that the door handle just clips into place. Yes, that is right, the door handle is a clip on part ,so after 2 or 3 years or less of use ,it becomes loose enough to fall off.
It won’t stay on any more so new parts are not the answer.
You can permanently fix it for less then $2.00 your self.

I simply drilled a 1/8” hole through the door handle and the part that it clips into. I then pushed in a 1/8” stainless steel cotter pin in and the door handle will never fall off again.

This is how I permanently fixed the 2007 Nissan Versa outside door handle and the key lock trim that also fell off.


Anyone can replace parts. Why put out all that time and money for a part that is just going to fall off again?
I say fix it better than it was when it was new.

This is how I fixed the driver’s outside door handle to my 2007 Nissan Versa that fell off in my hand when I went to open it.


(1) Open the door with the window up and take off parts 1, 2 and 3 (gasket). These parts may be off already.
Image[/1.img]ImageImage
Part 2 will be hard to take off unless you first take off the cap and loosen the Torx screw T25 all the way, shown at PIX 10.
Image
(2) Pry up parts 4, 5 and 6 with a screwdriver with a cloth around the tip of the screwdriver (to prevent scratching) and pull off parts 4, 5 and 6. Then take out the 2 bolts (shown on Pix 9) that were under part 6 so that the inner door panel can be taken out put in a safe place.
ImageImageImage
(3) After taking off the cap at site 10 and you have loosened the Torx screw T25 all the way and have not take it out. You don't need to remove the screw, just loosen all the way (it won’t fall out it is held in place with a clip). This is so that you can then move the lock assembly inside and around without having to disconnect the door linkage or the wires connected to the door lock, so that part 13 can be worked on.
Push the loosened door lock into the inside of the door.
https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=8 ... n7/4-2.jpg[/img]ImageImage
(4) Pull off parts 4, 5 and 6. Unplug part 6 (figure 8).
ImageImage
(5) Locate the 2 bolts that are holding in the door panel at (figure 7) and remove them. Now you can remove the door panel and put in a safe place.
ImageImageImage
(6) Pull back # 12 and pull out part 13 enough to drill a 1/8” hole all the way through part 13.
Image.ImageImage
(7) Slip part 2 all the way into part 13 until you hear it snap into place.
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(8) Make sure that the hole you will drill into part 13 lines up with with the Preexisting hole in part 2 exactly . Extremely Important to do this very precisely Use a 1/8“ Drill bit.
Then Drill all the way through part 13 and part 2, If you are precise the hole that you drill will not remove any material from part 2, The drill bit will pass through the Preexisting hole in part 2.
Image
(9) Take part 2 out of part 13.
Image
(10) Place part 13 back in place, push it into the 2 holes on the inside of the door and slide part 13 toward the door lock. Place part 3 back on to the outside of the door after pulling the door lock back on to the outside of the
ImageImageImage
(11) Snap back on part 3 and then part 2 back into the front of the door.
ImageImage
(12) Put the gaskets on first, Then slip part 2 back into part 13 until you hear it snap back into place. Then slide the 1/8” stainless steel bolt or cotter pin in from the top of part 13. Push it down through part 13 and part 2 until it is all the way through both parts. Screw on a 1/8” SS lock nut just snug or if you put in an 1/8” stainless steel cotter pin, bend up the 2 ends as high as possible making sure that they are parallel to the window.
ImageImage
(13) Line up the door lock that you pulled back to the outside of the door so that the Torx head screw, screws back into place at site. 10. Screw back The 3 Torx head T25 screws back in at site #11.
ImageImage
(14) Mask off the area around part 1 and I used fiberglass putty to put part 1 back on.
It would be better to put part 1 back on with epoxy putty. Make sure that part one does not rub against part two.
ImageImageImage
(15) Reverse the process to put the door liner and parts 4,5 and 6 back into place.
Image
And that's it. You can do it all in one hour if you do not loose any thing.
Have fun.
Last edited by captndon777 on Tue Jun 14, 2011 3:44 pm, edited 9 times in total.


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