Hello
I just got done replacing my outside door handle. You really need 2 people to do this job. I only had me doing the job. I asked my wife to help but she kept messing around so I had to find a way to do it myself. I had the usually failure where it will not retract. I ordered it from Yoshiparts in Japan. It took about 7 days. I paid less than $470.75 for everything including shipping.
start by removing trim cover on door panel by just starting at outside edge with plastic trim tool popping clips. 2 Phillips screws under that then pull from bottom to pop out all clips and lift up. Pull it up and out and disconnect cable for inside door handle and 1 electrical plug. Remove speaker and the cover with 3 clips. That gives you access to 2 12mm nuts down low. Remove at least 11 or 12 T 30 torx screws. 2 are hidden at top behind rubber top left and right. Remove rubber door seal at top left and inside mirror cover by removing 2 clips on plastic cover then remove rubber seal covering torx screw. Front edge of door has 4 10 mm screws. Need to remove door stop by removing 2 10 mm nuts and 1 10 mm bolt. You really have to pay attention since now door will open all the way and will damage paint if opened too far. I have jack stands with rubber covers on them that worked perfectly for supporting door from moving and a second pair to support carbon panel with window. There are 2 big black clips at the top edge of panel that supports panel after removing all screws and bolts. Just grab top edge and pull out. There is a wire harness with a rubber grommet that needs to be disconnected. I supported panel with 2 more jack stands with plastic covers on bottom and a heavy metal chair with padding to keep it supported so I could remove door handle. 4 10mm screws removed handle. There are 4 wire harnesses connected to door handle. Remember to swap out the lock cylinder by removing 1 T30 torx screws. Pull handle out and it comes out there. One last thing is when carbon cover comes loose there is a short linkage that has to be disconnected by rotating plastic lock and pulling linkage loose.

 

Impressive work; definitely can see why a 2nd person would be tremendously helpful. Thanks for sharing ... now I **KNOW** for sure I should never attempt it.

 

The more information I see on this, the more I am willing to do it myself. I’ve already had the driver side replaced under warranty, so hopefully it won’t be an issue for me again.

 

Chris,
That is a wide and hefty looking door. Does the relatively small exterior door handle feel solid and robust?

 

Do we know what actually causes this issue?

 

Water intrusion seems to be the consensus. Someone made a video where they opened up the door panel and sprayed water at the door handle from outside, the drain puts water directly onto the actuator assembly. I suppose after years of car washes and/or rain driving it causes corrosion and failure of the mechanism

 

Remarkable that after 8 years of production Toyota decided to tweak the door strikers, but still apparently hasn't changed this...

 

Solid and robust? No. I feel like it would break easily, and I’ve been concerned about it since the first time I used it. I don’t really see people complaining about the quality online, just mentioning how cool it is.

 

This is not my video, I just uploaded it to YouTube from The Source.

 

Ha!
An excellent observation. You’d think that Lexus would view this as a higher concern issue than changing the door strikers to gain additional chassis rigidity. It seems local waterproofing would not be difficult to achieve. Even with exceptionally good cars nothing is ever perfect.

 

I hope mine last forever! I have never been in the rain in my LC and I only wash it by hand every few months!

 

I live in Seattle and can't avoid rain so I'm screwed!

 

Took door handle apart and it looks like a plastic gear broke a tooth off and it got wedged between the others and locked it up. I think pushing the handle in manually is breaking this. Motor has just a bit of surface rust, but I think it is fine. I plan on testing motor to verify everything else is fine. Maybe someone will be able to 3D print this gear sometime in the future.

 

another water intrusion issue... dang it, between these door handles and the backup camera fogging up, its some really **** poor design

 

Interesting! Shouldn't be impossible to 3D print a replacement, as you say, possibly even in metal...