Door Latch problems of the 1996 Chevrolet Blazer

The contact owns a 1996 Chevrolet Blazer. While driving 35 mph, the front driver side door flew open. The contact examined the door and noticed that the latch failed. He placed a piece of wood at the lock position to keep the door closed. A few days later, the front passenger side door lock also failed. The vehicle is currently parked at her home and will be taken to the dealer for a diagnostic. The VIN, engine size, number of cylinders, dealer information, and failure mileage were unavailable. The current mileage was 49,000.

Drivers side door always sagged down a bit. Hinges eventually failed requiring hinges to be replaced. Due to this problem, the latch catch also failed. Both required new parts and welding to make the door operable as door would no longer latch shut. I literally had to tie the door shut to take it for repairs. In reviewing your site, I also have had similar problems as many other Blazer owners (hood latch mechanism failed; upper ball joints needed replaced; too many problems with this vehicle to list here). I am told by the repair shop that the door hinge issue is quite common among Chevrolet/gm products.

Driver's side door lock failed.

Consumer stated hatch back latch becomes loose in result of exhaust fumes entering into vehicle. Dealer has been contacted. Please provide further information. Ts.

The metal that the door strike latches are mounted to is falling away. There is no sign of rust, and the drivers side door has a significant number of holes at this mounting point. The reamining 3 doors are beginning to show signs of metal failure as well, although not as bad as the driver's door. You can literally take 2 fingers and move the "u" shaped door strike latch quite easily. When driving, air will enter if you lean against the door. It is a matter of time before this latch breaks off completely and the allow the door to open. 1 dealer (kery-morris Chevrolet in columbus, in) and 2 independent body shops claim they've never seen this before. After calling Chevrolet, it was suggested that we take this vehicle to another dealer for another opinion. We went to our local dealer (royal Chevrolet in bloomington, in) and the body shop manager indicated that he had seen this before but not this bad; he checked other 96 Blazers (including his in-laws) and found the same thing to be happening. There are no bulletins regarding this, so even though it is serious, it is our responsibility to repair it (estimated at $475. 00 from keri-morris). Royal indicated that if it was rusted, then the factory would stand behind it, but not because of metal fatigue. I can provide pictures if desired; the problem is very easy to see.