2016 Honda CR-Z

The outside door handles are defective, and Honda is aware of the issue. In warm or hot weather, the door opening mechanism binds up, and eventually the stress is too great and it causes the door handle to break. The problem has been reported by nearly every CR-Z owner. For more incidents, please visit [XXX] This defect creates a significant safety issue as if both door handles are inoperable, the alternative is to crawl in through the rear hatch, climb up to the cabin, and open the door by operating the inside door handle. In my situation, I couldn't fit between the seats, so I had to operate the inside door handle with a wire coat hanger. Please contact Honda and order them to fix this very dangerous problem. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

My driver’s side door handle has broken. I have the broken handle if you need it. It’s a safety issue because it delays entering the car from the driver’s side, which could endanger an owner or a passenger who needs to get inside the vehicle. Apparently, this is a known problem in CR-Zs and is often blamed on the car being in a hot climate (spoiler alert: It’s getting hotter these days). My car had less than 75,000 miles on it at the time the handle broke. I have been driving since 1978, and I’ve never dealt with a broken handle before. I have had a local body shop install a new door handle; that one broke after a week of light use (driving once daily). These are expensive repairs, especially for a retired owner on a fixed income such as myself (the local Honda dealer quoted me $1,000 to replace the handle). There seemed to be no signs of a pending failure that I noticed; I just couldn’t open the driver’s door one day. PLEASE get Honda to recall and replace these faulty handles. I cannot afford $1,000 repair bill every week. (My previous vehicle was a 2008 Acura MDX that had no problems with the handles even after 15 years and 200,000 miles.)