[jtrosky]

Holy crap! I don't remember reading about this type of issue, so I don't think it's a common issue. As to whether or not you need a new door handle, the only way to tell would be to pop the door panel off and see if something broke or if something just came loose somehow. I would suspect that something broke, but you never know. You've taken the door panels off before and know that they're actually pretty easy to remove - although, I don't remember how accessible the backside of the door handle is...