01' Passat driver side door wont open from the inside

I cant open the driver side door from the inside, so everytime i get out of the car i have to roll the window down and reach over to let myself out, and then roll the window back up to lock it. I have no idea what im going to do when the power windows give out. the dealer wants to charge me like $500 just to replace the part. Does anyone know what the part is called and where i can get it. I have a few friends that are sure they can fix this for me. Just trying to save a few bucks since ive already put a fortune into this POS car. Oh and my check engine light is on for the fourth time this year. We wont even go into the cost of that...:banghead:

the cable problably broke, its like 60.00 and you need to remove the outer and inner door pannel to replace it. the labor shouldnt be more than 200.00 its not that hard to replace, that is if the cable is broke, it something alse is broke than yea it would be more.