[ch1]

Hi everyone! I'm hoping someone here can have an educated guess at what's wrong with my car door...

The driver's side door interior handle on my Peugeot 208 intermittently doesn't work, and hasn't done for over a month now. It occasionally works on the odd day here and there, but for the most part is broken. The only way I can exit my car is by opening the window and using the exterior door handle (or climbing over into the passenger seat and getting out on the other side!).

It doesn't work regardless of whether the engine is running, the keys are in the ignition, or the car is unlocked. Usually when the handle is working, I can feel the mechanism engaging, but when the handle is not working, I can feel nothing engaging behind it - there's just the usual sprung pull-return action.

I've taken it into a Peugeot garage twice now to be repaired. On both occasions it hasn't worked when I've left the car with them, but typically, by the time a mechanic takes a look at it, it's started working again

. (And then a short time later, after leaving the garage, it's not working.)

I was wondering if anyone here has encountered or heard of this problem, or can shed any light on it? The garage is stuck and has given up on it twice now, so I don't know what to do. I know it's a long shot...

Thank you in advance!

 

[Dan]

The last time I took a look the interior door handles were just attached using a metal rod with a hook in the end that clipped into the door handle. This was some years ago mind and could have changed since then. This diagram sort of shows what I mean but I've never seen inside the 208's door workings...

The most common issue used to be that the hook had become unattached to the handle. However if yours sometimes works this is unlikely. It might just need lubricating and the handle itself may have a broken part that usually 'pulls' the rod.

The only way to really tell is to take the interior door card off but when your car is under warranty its not something you should really have to do.

I would be perhaps a little moreinsistentwith your dealer and have them remove the door card and check everything over anyway, it sounds as if they've just open the handle and said, 'works fine' without actually having a look at anything...

 

[ch1]

Many thanks for this, Dan. It's still working after the garage tinkered with it a couple of days ago. If it breaks again (I expect it will), I'll ask them to take a closer look at the door internals. I think you're right---I should be more insistent with them. It's not anything I want to do myself, especially since it's under warranty.