Okay, there is a reason for the user name...but I'll explain only if you ask...too long a story for tonight.

My daughter is driving a 98 Avenger ES. The passenger side door latch broke awhile back. Yesterday afternoon, she went to get into it and couldn't get the driver's side door to open. After about 2 hours of trying to get into the vehicle she called me to tell me of the dilema. OMG! I'm stumped!!! How do we get into the stupid thing???? The mechanic was no help. He suggested to break the window out. Hum..at this moment it's sounding like a pretty good idea.

Can anyone give me an idea of how or who can help with this issue? I have to drive her to all of her activities until this is fixed...not happy! PLEASE HELP?!?

 

Both door laches are broke? or just the passengerside. I would call AAA and have them open it for you. After that just take off one of the door handles and get in the car by pushing/pulling on the alluminum rods to get in your car untill you get a new door handle. Hopefully you have a garage to keep the car safe in untill you do.

 

Thanks so much for your response. That's what I was think about trying next. It sure bets breaking out the window!

 

Open Trunk , push seat down ,crawl thru open door using interior handle

 

tried that...too much junk in the back seat

 

flip seat open as much as you can and reach in and move/push the junk out of the way

 

by locksmith. we had to open it from the inside with the handle. We have determined that the locking mechanism is broken. In the mean time, we just leave the window down enough to reach in and open it.

My next next question is....who would I take it to to fix it a mechanic or a locksmith?? Any help is truly appreciated!

 

I'd pull the interior panel and LOOK first ... see if the powerlocks are moving , make sure the metal rods are connected ect ... look at the other door to compare things to ...

 

my friends 98 ES has the same problem. with the doors unlocked it is really hard to get the doors open. we have to lift the door handle and basically pull up on the entire door!!! i dont know what is wrong with it either. we hahve tried seeing if you can adjust the door, cuz we figured it was sagging or something, but it is like that on both his driver and passenger door.

 

That is bad/worn /loose hinges