Recommendations on Trim/Door Handle Removal in Houston, TX

[youn1033]

Does anyone know of somewhere in the Houston area that would swap my door handles (have chrome but bought black ones) as well as remove my mirror caps and window belt moldings?? From everything I have read these items each take ~5min per door and a couple for the mirror caps. Hoping that someone who is comfortable with doing this could do it this quickly and for a reasonable price as I do not want to risk breaking any of the clips or turn a <1hr project into a 3hr one trying to do it myself...

 

Thanks!

[Back in a Bowtie]

its really not bad at all.  get yourself some trim removal tools on amazon (like $10), you'll use them more than you think anyway.  The mirror cap pops right off.  Door handles are super easy too just tedious.  

[Donstar]

I'd take it to a dealership and have them do the work.  My dealer switched my colour matched handles and caps to chrome.  If you don't have confidence in your local GM dealer then I've heard good things that make the drive to Conroe worthwhile!  

[youn1033]

39 minutes ago, Donstar said:

I'd take it to a dealership and have them do the work.  My dealer switched my colour matched handles and caps to chrome.  If you don't have confidence in your local GM dealer then I've heard good things that make the drive to Conroe worthwhile!  

Any idea what they might charge to do this? In my experience the Dealerships are about the most expensive option out there to do any sort of work..

[Donstar]

18 minutes ago, youn1033 said:

Any idea what they might charge to do this? In my experience the Dealerships are about the most expensive option out there to do any sort of work..

I'd give them a call and ask.  I received a printout of labor and parts cost when I purchased my truck but can't find it this morning. (Mrs. Donstar likes to file things away!)  Another option is going to a reputable body repair facility.  They will often do things like this as fill-ins between bigger jobs.  My dealership has its own body repair shop.  The body shop once gave me a better quote on some aftermarket work than their own service department!

[youn1033]

Just called the WestPoint GMC Service, Dealer and Collision center lines. None of them believe the door handles can be replaced without removing the interior trim panel on the door and each door is 1.5hr each. One quote was $125-150 PER DOOR and the other was $868 for all 4.. This is exactly the kind of highway robbery I was looking to avoid lol

[Donstar]

28 minutes ago, youn1033 said:

Just called the WestPoint GMC Service, Dealer and Collision center lines. None of them believe the door handles can be replaced without removing the interior trim panel on the door and each door is 1.5hr each. One quote was $125-150 PER DOOR and the other was $868 for all 4.. This is exactly the kind of highway robbery I was looking to avoid lol

I'm curious what would happen if you phoned the people at Weisner.  I'm not a Texan but I have GM loving family in the area!

[ChevyRoofer]

1 hour ago, youn1033 said:

Just called the WestPoint GMC Service, Dealer and Collision center lines. None of them believe the door handles can be replaced without removing the interior trim panel on the door and each door is 1.5hr each. One quote was $125-150 PER DOOR and the other was $868 for all 4.. This is exactly the kind of highway robbery I was looking to avoid lol

 

Call a body or garage shop.  Will be a lot cheaper.

 

Still expensive, you should do yourself.

[youn1033]

1 hour ago, ChevyRoofer said:

 

Call a body or garage shop.  Will be a lot cheaper.

 

Still expensive, you should do yourself.

 

2 hours ago, Donstar said:

I'm curious what would happen if you phoned the people at Weisner.  I'm not a Texan but I have GM loving family in the area!

Updated quote after sending them 8 pages of step by step instructions on exactly how to remove the handles WITHOUT removing the door panel: $435 for that, belt trim and mirror cap removal.

 

I know I should do it myself, but I'm a bit gun-shy to tackle things with breakable tabs and whatnot on a brand new 60k truck... On my '08 Nissan Titan I was much more comfortable lol. Does anyone have any specific body shops they would recommend in Central or West Houston? 

[lerbud]

Geez.  Drive to Waco and I will do it for free.  Here is a video showing how to do it:  

 

[Donstar]

I found my paperwork.  My dealer charged $237.50 in labor for installation of door handles and mirror caps.  I didn't request this work to be done but was part of the price breakdown for the retail cost of the truck.  I'm confident their body shop would have charged considerably less. Sounds like lerbud ^^ has a nice offer!

[youn1033]

30 minutes ago, lerbud said:

Geez.  Drive to Waco and I will do it for free.  Here is a video showing how to do it:  

 

Haha I appreciate the offer man!! Honestly with a how-to video I think I'll probably give it a go myself! Still skeptical about going after the Belt Moldings and Mirror Caps though...

[lerbud]

Mirror cap removal:  

 

[ChevyRoofer]

Haha I appreciate the offer man!! Honestly with a how-to video I think I'll probably give it a go myself! Still skeptical about going after the Belt Moldings and Mirror Caps though...

Mirror caps are easy! Just get a trim removal tool.

Drive over to Austin as well and I can help too.


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[Donstar]

On 1/24/2018 at 5:34 AM, youn1033 said:

Does anyone know of somewhere in the Houston area that would swap my door handles (have chrome but bought black ones) as well as remove my mirror caps and window belt moldings?? From everything I have read these items each take ~5min per door and a couple for the mirror caps. Hoping that someone who is comfortable with doing this could do it this quickly and for a reasonable price as I do not want to risk breaking any of the clips or turn a <1hr project into a 3hr one trying to do it myself...

 

Thanks!

How did you do?  Last week I discovered an advantage to having this work done by a professional.  For some reason (probably this thread) I was checking out my mirrors.  I pushed on the cap and noticed there was some give on the driver's side but not the same on the passenger side.  I mentioned it while at my dealer last week and they will be replacing due to broken clips.  (no charge)  They didn't try to blame me and I didn't try to blame them!