Door won't open...Help!

[nikonNUT]

Hey all,
Have a 2010 Toyota Yaris that got hit by a deer (No, really! Came off a hill and smashed into the passenger side of the car. There are antler marks on the side glass.) and trashed the outside door handle and I am assuming jacked up the door latch mechanism. The door would open from the inside for a while but one day I opened the window and the door popped open so something was out of place and got snagged. After that... No mas. I would like to fix it but I need to get the door open (door card off, etc.) so I can assess the damage and start the fix but I am lost about the inital opening. Looking at, and fiddling with the cable assembly, I can feel resistance so its something else. I need suggestions, short of a sawzall, for getting this thing open. Any tricks y'all can offer WITHOUT aiding or abetting a felony? I'm at a loss and apprecaite any advice that can be offered!

[BLH]

You are not alone.
My brother had a similar thing happen to him.

[ex-x-fire]

Try pushing the unlock inside switch as you pull the door release.

[WeeYari]

I fear if you can't gently coax it, then you may be looking at pulling the fender off to get access to the hinge mounts. Loosening the door from the hinge side may relieve stress on the latch.
Or, get it to a body shop and leave it in the hands of people who know what they are doing.

[nikonNUT]

Thank you for the advice, guys! So I think I found my saving grace in that I can see the rod for the outside door handle so I ordered one of those "Mighty Worm" magnets on a piece of copper wire. I'm going to try and tease it up into a position where I can give it a yank and see if the door opens. If that doesn't work... Screw it! :LOL: The car is 14 years old with 410,000 miles on the clock.