general problems of the 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee - part 2

17jan11 -- door handle faulty -- I own a 2005 Jeep gran cherokee that two have cracked at the door handle. If they continue to fall apart the vehicle occupant will be trapped within the vehicle. I have contacted Chrysler and they are not willing to fix or help with the $1,400. 00 bill for just the two door panels. If the battery were to die you would be trapped in the vehicle, or if you were forced off of the road and ended up in a lake you could not get out. My friend has explained this to Chrysler and they do not feel that it is a concern that they have to worry about. I explained that I would send pictures of the vehicle to show it is in excellent condition, and garage kept (no damage to the vehicle), adult driven. Why did the other two panels crack, they have no answer.

Interior door handles have broken. Rear passengers cannot exit vehicle. Soon the driver side door will completely fail.

My 2005 grand Jeep cherokee limited has defective door panels. 3 door panels have holes around the handle, 1 is completely broken and is will not open the door. The 4th door panel is cracking. Soon all four doors will not be abled to be opened from the inside, causing a safety issue. This car is in mint condition with onle 26,000 miles on it. This is a defect, not wear and tear!!.

Plastic panels that hold the door handles are cracking and breaking, causing the door handles not to work. After the door panels break we cannot open the doors from inside the car. At this point we have one door completely inoperable, one with plastic broken and missing, and two where the cracking has started.

Interior door handles are broken. This is very dangerous because you cannot get out of the car - especially in an emergency. The rear door handles have been very rarely used, and still have broken. This is definitely a mfg defect that they are avoiding. Very dangerous and unacceptable that they (Jeep) are not recognizing this issue.

Theres is a defect in the plastic used to make the door panels on my 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The plastic around the door handle latches is breaking apart and crumbling. All 4 doors are having the same issue of the plastic failling. If the plastic continues to break apart the door handle will fail and you will not be able to open the door. This is safety issue which could prevent myself or passengers from exititing vehicle in case of an emergency. Dealership was contacted and informed of the defect. Dealership stated there was no recall and they had not come across said problem before. I informed them that it was obvious defect since all the doors were degrading at the same time. Dealership stated that my only option was to buy new door panels for $2600. My research shows that this is not an isolated inicident and there have been many complaints of the defect door panels. This is a serious safety issue and chrystler needs to recall the door panels on this model.

2 out of 4 interior door handles on my 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee have broken & are subsequently rendered useless. This is a hazard if there were to be a crash & individuals inside needed to get out. There is also cracking in the door handle on the driver's door which could lead to a more severe case of being trapped. At this point & through my searches online it seems that this is a greatly occurring issue & needs to be dealt with on the manufacturer level. There has been nothing done as of yet to replace the parts as I feel it is a malfunction of the vehicle & not normal wear & tear. The estimated cost to replace each door panel with a similarly cheap quality product is $800. I would like to file this complaint in hopes of creating a large list of owners with similar issues so that Chrysler/Jeep takes responsibility for their shoddy prioduct & officiates a recall.

Unsure of the specific incident date. The failure is the plastic molding around the inside door handle for 3 out of 4 doors. The plastic has broken, exposing the inside mechanics and allowing for the handled to extend further than necessary. This makes exit questionable as the door handle is only holding on to the latch without any place for leverage. In the event of an accident/emergency, if the door was to be involved it is possible the handle would suffer further damage and be unable to operate. There has been nothing done about replacing the part. It costs roughly $700 per door to repair.

I have a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee and I really have a concern to whom or where I could file a claim with a problem with my interior door handles. The reason why I'm complaining is that all the 4 interior door handles cannot by openned from the inside as usual because all of them are broken and with the plastic cracked, made in pieces and holes where the plastic have been missing. Most of the time I have or the passengers have to open the door from outside. Please help me in this or give me an advice. . . . . . . . . . . What I have to do or where I could find information to replace them. . Thanks.

The contact owns a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The contact stated the inside driver and passenger front door handles were breaking which made it difficult to open the vehicle from the inside. The dealer and manufacturer were notified, but denied any assistance with repairs. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 76,000 and the current mileage was 81,000.

Two of my interior door handles are just breaking off .

3 out of 4 inside door handles broken due to cheap plastic used. Unable to get out of Jeep from the inside. If there was an accident, you could be trapped inside. Could cause death or injury. Dealership charging over $2000 out of pocket to fix when it was caused by faulty, brittle plastic. Unsafe to drive with my kids in the back seat.

All interior door handles inoperative due to engineering defect.

I own a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee limited hemi , it only had 26,000 miles on it. All four of the interior door panels have now broke where the door handle is attached. The drivers door panel has broke the worst and the door handle is not even attached to the panel anymore , which has become a safety concern. I have contacted my dealer and turned in a claim for customer complaints. After 3 or 4 weeks they contacted me to say it is out of warranty. That is precisely why I called them and explained my situation. Surely they can do something to alleviate this situation , all four door panels is going to cost around $3,000 dollars. I have read numerous reports about this problem on several different sites on the internet. The whole interior panel is connected to where the door handle is situated. Meaning you have to replace the whole door panel. Please help, this is definitely a big defect and a costly one to us the consumer. Any help to this matter or a fix to this situation would be hugely appreciated.

In my 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee limited I began to notice the plastic that the door handle was connected by began to crack, within a few weeks the entire door handle was no longer working leaving me to have to open the window to open the door from the outside. This is a vehicle safety issue, due to a supplier's defective plastic resin mix, not a warranty issue. In case of a crash or fire, a passenger or driver might not be able to get out of the vehicle and could be trapped in and could die, my passenger side is also hanging very loosely and soon will not work as well. The door handle is not a separate part as in most vehicles so the entire door handle must be replace. The dealer charges more than 800 dollars to fix a door piece, and the part will just be replaced with another door panel with the exact same plastic that will break eventually again.

The contact owns a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee limited. The contact stated that all the interior door handles became fractured and would not open. He had to wind the windows down in order to open the doors. The vehicle was inspected by a dealer and they advised him that they were unable to assist him. The vehicle had not been repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000. The VIN was unavailable.

On the drivers door, the plastic of the panel supporting the interior door handle has broken leaving the handle unmounted and useless. Obviously, this is a safety hazard as it takes more time to egress the vehicle in an accident.

I own a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee. The inside rear door handle has broken inside the door panel. This requires replacement of the door panel. Now you can not exit the vehicle in case of an emergency. My extended warranty will not fix this nor will Chrysler. The dealer said it will cost $700+ to repair. The panel which is not even available from Chrysler! Chrysler should be forced to recall the vehicle and replace the inside panels before someone dies.

My 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee door handles inside are breaking. They are plastic and seem to be cheaply made. They just start to crack and after a few months the whole handle is gone. Jeep needs to issue a recall or look into this issue before someone cant get out of there vehicle in a emergency.

One of the door handles on my 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee limited has broken off and is unusable. The other three are cracking and I am fearful that they will be breaking off soon. The handles and the supporting door frames are all cracking in the same location and the handles then fall off. The manufacturer has been unwilling to even discuss the issue. The dealer states it is $680 per door to fix. Parts to fix the door handles are unavailable for sale outside the dealerships. Due to the safety issue of being unable to exit the back seat area from the inside, I am fearfull to allow anyone to ride in the back seat at this time. If an accident were to occur, they could be unable to exit the car from the inside. There are numerous complaints posted as well as a website where hundreds of people are stating the same exact issue with their 2005 Jeep. There was not any outside circumstances that caused this defect. The dealer states it is “normal wear and tear�. This is a crock, 99% of the time I am the only person in this vehicle and my handle has not broken “yet�. This is an unacceptable safety hazard. I hope you will address as a recall before someone is seriously injured because they cannot get out of the vehicle.

One of the door handles on my 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee has broken off and is unusable. The other three are cracking and I am fearful that they will be breaking off soon. The handles and the supporting door frames are all cracking in the same location and the handles then fall off. The manufacturer has been unwilling to even discuss the issue. The original dealer is out of bussiness and the local dealer states it is $680 per door to fix. Parts to fix the door handles are unavailable for sale outside the dealerships. Due to the safety issue of being unable to exit the back seat area from the inside, I am fearful to allow anyone to ride in the back seat at this time. If an accident were to occur, they could be unable to exit the car from the inside. I see there are numerous complaints posted as well as a website where hundreds of people are stating the same exact issue with their 2005 Jeep. There was not any outside circumstances that caused this defect. 99% of the time I am the only person in the vehicle. The dealer states it is “normal wear and tear�. What a crock my door handle gets used 10 times a day and it has failed "yet" this is an unacceptable safety hazard. I hope you will address as a recall before someone is seriously injured because they cannot get out of the vehicle.

Rear passenger door handle broke from door panel causing child to not be able to open door from inside. The handle is now dangling there from wire. The other doors are showing signs of spider cracks, eventually leading to breakage.

Rear passenger door handle broke from door panel causing child to not be able to open door from inside. The handle is not dangling there from wire. The other doors are showing signs of spider cracks, eventually leading to breakage.

2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee interior door handles are defective. Passenger side door handle has completely broken due to the cheap plastic and the driver side door handle has almost failed as well. I am afraid that in an emergency, I and my passengers might not be able to exit the vehicle. I've been reading online and this appears to be a very common issue, but Chrysler refuses to fix the doors. They want $700 plus to fix each door handle, but you can't even get one because they are on back order.

Over the past year, both driver's side door panels on my 2005 Grand Cherokee (limited) have broken. Pieces around the opening handle have snapped off. The front driver side door is still usable, but the rear driver side door handle is just hanging there. These were not damaged through abuse, instead just routine use. I have not contacted my dealer as I have seen on line that most people have been unsuccessful in getting their warranties to back their claim and I don't have a lot of faith in my local dealership to go out of their way for a warranty claim. Hopefully the NHTSA can make daimler / Chrysler / Jeep / fiat, whoever step up to the plate and repair what has been pretty much proven to be a design flaw.

Interior door panel cracking around handle. Makes exiting the vehicle difficult. When the panel shatters further it will make exiting the vehicle difficult.

I have two 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokees. All the inside door handles are cracking and some are completely destroyed to the point you can not open the door from the inside. Which in the event of an accident, no one would be able to exit the vehicle. It's obviously a problem with the plastic being too thin/brittle. It's all over the internet and there are even youtube videos.

The interior door handles, all 4, broke off, at almost the same time. There is a common manufacturers material defect, as the door handle "pocket" is made out a brittle plastic, and they just shattered, or cracked simply by using the interior door handle to exit the vehicle. This is dangerous because in an emergency, one would not be able to exit the vehicle if the door handle breaks off in your hand.

2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee plastice surrounding the driver side door handle cracked and fell apart. It was taken apart and glued back together. This lasted a short while and it then broke again. It is not an easy fix. The whole door panel for $600 dollars must be replaced. At times the window must be rolled down to open the door using the outside handle. In case of an electrical failure in an accident you would not be able to exit the vehicle. This is definitely a safety issue. Many Jeeps have had all 4 door handles break. This is poor construction. Chrysler needs to step up and recall and fix this issue and not by replacing it with more cheap plastic.

2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee limited edition interior door handles breaking off. 3 of the 4 door handles are unable to open the doors in case of an emergency. Due to the number of the same complaints about this safety issue, Jeep obviously has a manufacturing defect that needs a recall issued.

Jeep Grand Cherokee interior door panel broke & door will not open from inside the vehicle causing a safety hazzard. This is the 2nd door handle that has broken in the vehicle. In searching to fix the back door, I found an article showing that Chrysler was aware of a resin problem with this vehiicle. I can find a safety recall for the locks.

N/a material used inside vehicle faulty.

2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee limited. Both front and rear passenger door panels have broken and cracked. The pfront passenger door handle on the inside is now inoperable. It is now permanently inoperable on a vehicle with only 31,000 miles on it. So far the dealer claims no recalls are available and the price to replace is about 800 per door.

2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee, 42275 miles, the door panels on the rear doors are broken at the door handles and the doors cannot be opened from the inside. Additionally, both front door panels are cracked at the door handles and more than likely will break soon. Have inquired with local body shop and new door panels are approximately $450 each and are of the same design.

I own a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee limited. The handle on the rear passenger door broke from the door panel. This is a huge safety concern because a person sitting in the rear seat could not exit the vehicle. I was forced to replace the door panel because of this safety concern. The driver and passenger door panels are now cracked around the handles and it is only a matter of time before they break completely. I will then be forced to replace those door panels as well. I don't feel that I should have to pay for the replacement of these door panels because Chrysler designed them poorly. Occupants in the vehicle should not be trapped inside the vehicle in the event of an emergency. Apparently, this is not an isolated incident. It has been a problem for numerous people that own this same vehicle. This should definitely be considered a recall and Chrysler should be responsible!!!!!!.