We need a door handle for our Toyota Camry. It busted and it’s difficult to get in.
I can replace the door handle for your Camry, but there’s a few things that I need to know.
Which door (Right Front, Right Rear, Left Front, Left Rear) and is it the outside or inside handle?
What is the paint color code if it’s an outside handle or the trim code if it’s an inside handle?
NOTE: To find the color code and trim code look at the Vin sticker that is on the driver’s door post. Bottom right hand corner is a set of letters and numbers. Should look something like this.
C/TR?? 3F5/64E
A/TM?? G144/A340F
The code in the relative position of the ‘C’?? (3F5 in the above example) denotes the Color code (paint code) and the code in the relative position of the ‘TR’ (64E in the above example) denotes the Trim Code (interior color).
What is the VIN and Production date? (I won’t disclose VIN or Prod date for security reasons)
NOTE: VIN is the 14 or 17 digit number close to the top of the VIN sticker on the driver’s door post. The Production date is on the upper right corner of the sticker (mm/yy) like 05/97.
Once you have the answers to these questions you’ll be able to order the right part from Toyota.
NOTE: you can get ‘aftermarket’ replacement door handles. Usually these are cheaper and the quality is sub-par compared to one you’ll get through Toyota. The biggest difference is that the Toyota part will be color coded to match the paint on your vehicle. This may not matter to you if 1. your vehicle is rusting out so bad that no one knows what color it was originally, 2. your vehicle has been painted and is no longer the original color, 3. you want flat black door handles for the blackout effect.
Once you receive the part it’s a matter of removing the door panel and the broken door handle. Then you can install the new door handle. For detailed instructions you can access Toyota Service Manuals via https://techinfo.toyota.com for a small fee. At the time of this writing (5/4/2011) it’s $15 for a 2 day access subscription. It’s well worth having the right information so that you don’t break another part just trying to get the door apart.
Getting the door panel off is not much of a challenge. The biggest challenge in this job is getting the rod retaining clips off. There’s one rod that connects the door handle to the latch release mechanism. If you’re replacing a front door exterior handle you’ll have a second retaining clip that holds the lock/unlock rod to the key cylinder. These clips rotate around the end of the rod and then snap onto the rod.
Once you get past the challenge of the rod clips it’s just easy bolting on the handle and then getting the door panel back on. Make sure you don’t have any extra screws left over.
If this helps you out you can leave a comment on my Facebook page (Car Care IQ).