Inside door handle won't work- ARGH
 

Its been nearly 2 months since I got my 02' GS300 from the shop and I remember when my dad tried gettin out.. he couldn't. I had to get out of the car and walk around and open it. I was meaning to call the shop back and tell them what was wrong but I figured it was a child safety lock that I could switch. Its been this way since and its been buggin the hell out of me. I called up the lexus dealership and they told me that theres no child safety lock in the front and that it could cost hundreds of dollars.

What.. the... hell?

Search for door actuators.

There is a GB going on for them now

Has the shop worked on the front door? If so, they probably didn't re-connect the rod that attaches to the inside handle. When u pull on the handle see if it is easier to pull on rather than the passenger side. If so, this may be the case. To fix, u would remove the door panel, wind sealer, and u could access the "gut's" of the door. Simply look for the unconnected rod and connect. Just a guess though, since u didn't state what the car was in the shop for.

Seems like there could only be two problems. The door lock isn't working or as blaise mentioned, the rod that connects the door handle to the actual release mechanism. The door actuator actually goes out quite a bit on these cars, at least by obvserving this forum.

I was under the impression that the actuator will only stop access from the outside. You can always open the car from the inside. Mine completely got fried, and I was still able to open the door from the inside. The mechanism dissengaged from the outside door pull completely and then died.

Hmmm ya its way easier to pull on the inside passenger side handle then it is my side.. its like its not connected to anything. I guess thats the case.. I called the shop and asked them about it they said theyd give me a call back..
The work I got down there was on the bumper that had to be removed and painted and such.. I think.. which seems unrelated. However I did see someone post soemthing about the same thing happening to them when their bumper was worked on.. any thoughts?