JLH.404

Thanks to the posts by SRX and JabobJeff I was able to replace the hatch handle.  I procured the part on Amazon, following the link posted by Mcdowepn.  Thanks to all of you!

The handle works great now, and what a savings.  (In full disclosure, I hit one snag when, when I was loosening the bolts, the socket dropped into the panel. 😞 )

Thank you, SRX!  My wife's 2002 RX300 has a similar problem, and the Toyota dealer quoted me $900!  Although I'm mechanically handy, I don't really enjoy working on cars and would rather pay to have stuff done, but I knew this was ridiculous (I'm in Connecticut, an expensive state) and so I'm gonna do this myself.

I'll update when I have it completed successfully (cross fingers).