You didn't say what car you have, but I think I remember you have a MK3 VR. When you say they open fine from the inside, you mean they still open when you hit the button on the dash? If they still open that way it is not a vacuum leak. The power locks are opened and closed by vacuum lines. It may be a coincidence that boh door handles went bad within a short amount of time. My suggestions would be to get new door handles. You can get them online for about 20 bucks each, and they are complete handles with all required bits, not just the handle. They will come with a new key, or you can change over the lock tumbler from the old door handles to keep your factory key. When you turn the key in the lock is there any "feeling" there are absolutely nothing? Way back when I first got my car, something similar happened to me, only the driver side though. There is a metal hook inside the handle that connects to the lines to open and close the lock, and that had broke off, therefore the lock was unusable.