I (Buffalo NY) own a 2008 VUE which I have loaned to my daughter (Stephanie) and her family (Blue Hill Maine) to get them over a tough time when her husband’s car became unsafe to drive. The VUE has been great for them- 30,000 miles in 12 months with some normal maintenance. The grand daughters have plenty of room in their car seats and the cargo area accommodates all the stuff they need.

Steph called me a few weeks age to let me know that the VUE’s hatch would not open. We went through the normal checks via FaceTime to verify it was not something simple. I advised her of the mechanical was to open the hatch through the hole in the rear of the hatch.

Our son-in-law is a very talented carpenter and woodworker and a wonderful father but has absolutely no mechanical sense. I think he was aggravated not being able to use the hatch normally and decided that muscling it open would be successful. He lifted so hard at the opening switch panel that he ripped it off of the car! Every fastener on the panel and the every attachment fastener to the hatch was broken. My VUE was viciously assaulted!!

My problem now is finding the parts to get the VUE repaired. Blue Hill is a mechanic desert. The local repair shop and collision shop do not want to look at it. The Chevy/GM dealer in Ellsworth has repaired the VUE previously (alternator replacement and steering angle sensor installation for which I found and supplied the sensor) but when the Service Manager looked at the hatch damage he really did not want to deal with it. The time to find the parts was an issue. So I am left to find the parts and I am asking the Forum members for help.

The panel appears to be available, as do the switch and latch assembly. I have the shop manual but do not have part numbers for the attachment fasteners or a source for them. If I had part numbers I could see if they are available. I wonder if someone has an intact hatch from a salvage VUE so I can offer to purchase just the panel, attachment fasteners, and all of the components?

I love the VUE and want to make it whole again!! Any help, suggestions, guidance is greatly appreciated.

 

Sounds like a salvage hatch is what you're after.
You can search for it online and if necessary have it shipped to you intact.

However, when you search the online parts houses you can usually find a diagram of a part and its associated parts.

I don't know exactly which parts you need, but try the following link. Obviously, this gives you the part numbers.

Once you have those you can then do a broader search. You may find what you need on eBay.

2008 vue parts liftgate

 

Thanks Derf! I am hoping that someone will be willing to remove the panel with all of the attachments from an intact hatch and sell me just the panel, attachments, and hatch operator parts. I don't need the full hatch and it would be very expensive to ship one. I am going to check our local Chevy dealer (PADDOCK CHEVROLET) who has helped me find electrical parts for the VUE in the past. They seem to be willing to keep older GM vehicles on the road.

 

You do realize that since this part, for example, is still available from a GM parts house, that GM probably still makes them, they'll be pulled from GM stock, and you won't pay at least twice the price below for an identical part, yes?

And the shipping costs of one part from the part's house is silly the cost of many is almost reasonable.

Don't know how willing the yard will be to break up a complete hatch door but we're going to find out.

All up to you as to how you wish to approach. Just laying out the most obvious options.

Now that you have part numbers, I recommend you search eBay for new old stock and save yourself a bundle of money on used parts.

 

This looks very reasonable if they are within reach.

 

Thanks guys! Good advice and leads. I have found parts for my '93 Cadillac Allante and '94 Cadillac Deville on GM parts warehouse so am familiar with them. I may have to wait until we visit our daughter and family to see the damage for myself and test the latch and switch to be sure what parts are needed. It's tough to diagnose the issue from 600 miles away. The fasteners on the photos I have of the broken panel do not match up with what is on the parts list for a 2008. I can't tell for sure what is broken and what is salvageable.