2015 Toyota Highlander - Driver Door inner handle cable repair (part 1 of 2)
This is a video that shows the inner workings of the cable that attaches from the inner door handle on the drivers door to the door release
PROBLEM:
My 2015 Toyota Highlander had a problem where the driver attempting to exit the car by pulling that inner handle couldn’t open the door
The only way to get out with roll down the window and reach around and open the door from the outside
SOLUTION
 when I pulled the door open and had a look around, it was obvious that the lack of resistance in fraction from the handle was the result of the cable being broken - the cable ended up sharing off very close to the lock assembly
I ordered a part on eBay for about 30 bucks and it took a couple days to ship out
At the end of the day by replacing the cable, everything seem to work OK
I wasn’t sure about doing this repair myself. I was worried about breaking things worse but if you are on the fence, I would encourage you to try to repair yourself.
There’s some good videos in addition, hopefully to this one that are helpful
WHAT I LEARNED
The clips that hold the inner panel of the door to the outer door are super forgiving - basically once you get the three screws out the entire inner door panel comes off super easy so don’t let this part of the procedure put you off
Make sure you have some plastic trim tools or use plastic flat edges to pry off the plastic so you don’t end up denting.
I was super worried about getting the lock cable mixed up with the door release cable (the online manual names are not clear) - the part number is pretty clear in the video here
-  because I had to remove the one bolt on the window guide to get that assembly out. I was worried about the window not working so I made sure I tested it before I started putting everything back together.
The only mistake I made in the assembly / procedure was I ended up cracking the housing that holds that tiny floor light in at the bottom left-hand side of the door - so my recommendation for you is to be super careful with that light and disconnected as early as you can and the procedure