Rear Door Fixed for $100

[sienna4ever]

If you've had problem with the door breaking on your rear hatch on your Sienna 1998-2000, don't go to the dealer to get it fixed. Just order the part and have your personal mechanic put it in. The part itself is around $60 with tax. The parts department told me how to have it installed and I took the part to my personal mechanic who installed it in less than 2 hours and charge me only $50 whereas the dealership was going to charge me $80/hr for 2 hours.

Now that's a deal.

[Chuck Paskovics]

Hi. I spoke to you previously through PM. Just a few questions...

Do you have power lock doors? That might make a difference in price, but when I called my dealership they told me the rear hatch latch mechanism would cost $154.51. That seems like quite a drastic change from what you got. Also, what year is yours? Mine is a 1999.

Thanks!

[junfab]

99Sienna LE w/ power door locks.While hurrying to open the rear to grab something , I broke the handle.I had to remove the inner plastic door siding with the door closed to get to the darned thing!It turns out the black plastic handle has a plastic finger protruding into the opening mechanism- it depresses a lever w/c pulls a cable that opens the rear door.Asking other people with similar misfortune, I gather it almost always breaks in the same particular area:right where the finger joins the handle.So, for $60 per handle you get to repeat the entire vicious cycle.I put a stop to this:Bought a small piece of G.18 aluminum at a hobby supplies store.I get the broken piece then traced it on a piece of paper then trnsferred the pattern to the aluminum.I folded the aluminum in two to make it stronger then cut out the pattern with metal shears and added a base to the design for fixing it back to the handle w/ rivets
Worked like the factory design should be in the first place!