In a message dated 1/31/02 7:58:34 AM Pacific Standard Time, JordanVw@AOL.COM
writes:

<< the '80-'84 vanagon sliding doorhandles were made with cheap pot metal from
 lower mongolia.  (ask  BenT or Terry for the story here)  anyway the point
 is, they always break, exactly every 100k mi.   there is a small timer built
 into the handle (dont even look for it, you cant see it - a marvel of german
 (or mongolian) engineering) which causes a siesmic wave internally in the
 handle, and creates a fault line.  which also simultaneously corresponds with
 the same time your mother in law YANKS the doorhandle OUTWARD instead of
 pushing down. those two forces create the undesired result - what is called
 the"sliding door handle stubby" (yes, its a scientific term) .      >>

There's your problem Chris. Mongolians probably don;t like YANKS and you've
put them in the same paragraph. I'm not sure but I think the guy's problem is
latch rather than handle related. Otherwise, wouldn't that make him
"handlecap"?

my 82 had a similar symptom. I found that periodic adjustment of the rear
lacthing mechanism kept it easy to operate.

BenT