Paint in place, remove & paint, or replace?

Took my truck in for a recall and a couple of warranty things. Got it back with the door handle chewed up...

I'm not looking to make life hard on the dealership but I want it fixed right. Not looking forward to them tearing my door apart as there's not a rattle or noise in the entire truck, less than a year old and 16,500 miles. The only scratch on the truck is someone hit the pass side corner of my rear bumper in a parking lot 2 months after I got it and scuffed the paint a little... ...and of course left no apology note.

How should this be fixed? Remove and paint it? Replace the handle with a new one?

Are they even available painted? I’m thinking no. Painting it on the door SHOULD produce excellent results, and like you point out, not tearing into the door has its advantages. And there is no hard paint line right?

I would think a "good" painter/body guy would be able to sand that down, feather edge it and paint it . . . I am like you - don't want door taken apart and have a "rattle" develop from that . . . check a couple local body shops . . . see what they tell you

Years ago the power seat buggered up on my brand new Avenger. The shop scratched the sill removing and reinstalling it. Their "fix" was a bottle of touch up !! It actually cost me more in time and effort than if I'd bought the paint and touched it up myself. The scratch was over a foot long.

Just touch it up yourself then you'll have nothing to be pissed at other then the initial chip. Ask them for a free oil change or something.

Check with the parts counter at the dealership, in many cases door handles come body color. If so it is sometimes cheaper to replace the handle than have it repaired and repainted.
If not, I would opt to have it removed and painted off the car. It’s going to be hard to prep it properly for good adhesion and mask around it for painting. I’d rather deal with a rattle problem than clear coat delaminating around the edges down the road.

new truck time

I used to get stuck with buffing out scratches mechanics put in customer cars at the dealership. Some were careful and others didn't care as it's a used car to them. Raise your hand if you want a big scratch down the side of your month old vehicle.

I can't see the whole handle, but I think it could be carefully spotted in and recleared on the truck.