Originally Posted by ppro

My experience with what you describe raises an even greater concern. That is the leak. Over time, this will destroy the car. Surprisingly, this can take less time that one might imagine. Living in the salt belt accelerates it but chronic trapped moisture leads to rust-through and perforation, which is death to a unibody. I would be aggressively searching and correcting the leak.

With the leak fixed, the repair of the locking system with factory parts would make sense.

If the dealer is not giving relief you may have to trouble shoot it yourself with the car on stands, a high pressure hose, and a helper. It's time well spent.