Driving a 2006 Saturn Vue V6, about 262000 km on it, and while driving yesterday, the door skin on the driver side door bowed out enough that I couldn't open the door from the inside. I was able to tape the door on the bottom (so I can close it). I tried tightening the torx bolts along the side of the door, and they turn, but do not seem to connect to anything. Anyone with some advice on whether I should remove those bolts, and if so, what to replace them with. I just want to get the skin back bolted to the frame, because the rest of the vehicle is in great shape. Thanks, Paul

Door pulling away from the frame, rubbing against the front quarter panel when opening/closing (unless I press into it, then its OK)

 

I'm thinking you don't mean the actual panel is bowed. More that part of it has become disconnected from the door frame. Is this a correct statement?
If the rest of the door closes and seals properly and is completely aligned, it may just be a case of rusted out fasteners that no longer connect to anything.

My recommendation would be to remove the outer door skin via the rest of the torx bolts and see what's going on. You will probably be able to replace whatever those spinning torx bolts thread into. Sometimes a torx bit socket is Handy with an extension, other times a regular will driver will do.

When putting back together there is usually a recommended sequence for reinserting the bolts that results in the best alignment of the skin on the door.

I'm going to see if I can find a set of directions for the door skin removal and reattach.

 

Right around 12:10 in this video is where the door skin has already been removed. You can look at see the edge of the door skin all the way around its perimeter. It has blind hole thread clips over top of plastic tabs. I'm willing to bet that either those tabs fell off and are in the bottom of the door, or more likely, somebody before you was a bit rough removing the outer skin and broke off some of those plastic tabs. You can watch the whole video to see how she removes the door panel. She doesn't seem to cover in this particular video how to remove the outer door handle.

Your issue will be finding a way to repair the broken plastic area and put the right size hole through it so that you can put a clip over that.

Or you could use some type of epoxy and just directly thread the hole you make in the plastic piece.
Just remember that the repaired tab area will likely be less flexible and therefore less forgiving going forward in terms of handling the door skin. I'm guessing all three of those clip tabs are broken off along the front edge of the door.

This person also has a reassembly video for the same door skin. I have not watched it. Hopefully it includes how to reattach the door handle on the outside such that you can do the reverse of the actions or is that the inverse, of the steps in order to remove it.

Remember when working on this vehicle that the plastic is 20 years old and likely in general much more brittle than you might think. Don't Force anything.

And for the weather strip removal, **do not bend that weather strip along the top of the skin where it meets the window** I consider that a two-person job where one person is removing the trim and the other is ensuring it is not bowing as you go. You can also try sliding it off the top Edge once you get it unhooked from over the ledge with a similar tool she used. If you bend it enough, it will never fit properly again. The more you mess with it, the worse it gets.

And when you take the third nut off of the posts for besides you mirror, you're going to want to hold the side view mirror. Especially if yours is the original stock and color matching one. They don't interact with the ground well upon impact.

Here's the link to the video I mentioned

 

You're correct, the actual panel is not bowed. I've enclosed a picture showing the two TORX screws inside the door which I figure have "let go", and are no longer attached to anything on the frame itself, causing the front of the door to stick out from the front quarter panel.

 

It is very likely that the plastic door panel is damaged where the torx screws attach. Plastic tabs on 20+ year old cars fail all the time. Sometimes they can be repaired easily and other times when the tabs break off you are better off replacing the panel. I can?t use car-part.com for Canada but Detroit shows this black door.

 

Going to bring the Saturn to a reputable GM body shop in town and see what they can do. I would love to do the work myself, but have a feeling this job might be a bit over my comfort level, and I want it done it right, as I would like to keep the truck in the game a few more years. I will let you know what the damage is in terms of cost to restore this door.

 

A local auto wrecker has a 2006 Saturn Vue door in black in good condition, or I can get a brand new Saturn Vue front driver side skin as well. The new option is $1450 Canadian. The used door skin is $850 max, maybe down to $500 depending on how quickly it fits to replace the old door skin. Going the used route here.

 

That's obscene for a 20 year old door skin. 850 used?
Whatever you get, make 300% sure that all of the plastic attachment tabs are present and are not cracked. As in by your own visual inspection or, if not in person, request pictures that include all of them. The last thing you want is to buy a door with compromised plastic tabs. If they are already cracked they will tear off eventually and you will be in the same boat sort of

 

The quotes do include labour, the $850 also includes 5 hours of labour (as a worst case scenario). The actual cost of the door skin is $300. A new door skin would probably been close to $1000. The estimator was expecting that the amount of labour to remove / then install the used door skin would be significantly less than the quote. Thank you for the suggestion of pictures of the plastic tabs, I will be sure to ask the shop here for pictures before they install the skin.

 

That sounds much better, I realize that the shop is familiar with plastic bodywork in a rust prone environment.