How Unbreakable?

We had an interesting drive the other day. A GV owner stalked us to our destination. Nothing strange about this - infact we get it a lot. People see our vehicle and follow us with the purpose of asking where we managed to buy parts that they have been told don't exist.

Anyway, after a quick chat about snorkels, suspension and under body protection, the GV owner asked about the rear door handle. When I mentioned we supplied an unbreakable handle he mentioned that he had purchased one from a store in WA. When he showed me the handle I could see that it was a plastic replacement aftermarket handle and NOT an unbreakable handle. The plastic replacement handle is prone to exactly the same the stress points as the OE part. If anything, our experience has shown that it is often weaker than the original factory handle.

We have also found a few vehicles that have been supplied with a lower quality version of an unbreakable handle. These handles are prone cracking due to having air bubbles in the polyurethane. We stringently assess all the handles we sell for these flaws and any that do not make the grade are not accepted into stock. You can often see these handles with marks and bubbles in the face of the handle.

From the hundreds of handles that we have sold in the last three years we have been required to replace only one. That handle did not break but was instead a cosmetic replacement after the handle began to 'green'. This occures when water comes into contact with the polyurethane. In this case it looks to have been a result of some pretty extreme coastal weather conditions and an area of the handle where the paint was too thin (allowing seepage). A replacement was sent out and the original handle was sent to us for review at no extra cost to the customer.

It's important to us to let our customers know that we want our products to last and to encourage other Grand Vitara owners to fix their handle problems once and for all. We know what a pain it is to find yourself with a handful of handle!