FrankfurtDave

Hi All, I thought I would tell you about a failure that I had at the weekend, as perhaps it might help someone else in the future :-) On Sunday I drove up into the middle of the nowhere to take my dogs for a walk. On returning to the car (2018 Karoq with Keyless entry) I was shocked to find that the car would not open. Neither the keyless entry on any doors or via the remote control button. It seemed like the battery had died without giving me any prior warning that it needed to be replaced - this is what is supposed to happen. So at this point I have no way to get into car, I have 2 wet and grumpy dogs and internet access to look up how to proceed. After swearing like a drunken sailor for 5 mins, here is what I found out: On the drivers side door handle there is an old fashioned key slot hidden behind a piece of plastic. To access the slot you can use the key itself and from underneath slide this into a little hidden hole. When inserted you pull the main door handle out as though you are opening the door and lever the key up slightly to remove the plastic cover. Now you can get into the drivers side of the car. Unfortunately, the central locking does not work but you can lean over and open the other doors manually from the inside. Therefore I opened the rear drivers door and laid the seat down to get access to boot. I am sure I could have crawled in and opened the boot but decided to simply push the dogs in the back. Next was getting the engine going. Being a keyless entry system there is no key access available and I found that the Start/Stop did nothing even with the keyfob in the car. However, I found that if I held the key against the button, with the lock button pointing directly at it then it would work - hence I got the engine started and managed to get home. Changing the battery is a 2 min job requiring a 2025 battery, a large flat head screwdriver and a very small flat screwdriver (plenty of vids on the internet). I am now storing all 3 in the car in case it happens again in the future. Anyway, sorry for the long description and lack of pictures but maybe this will be of help to someone else stuck in the middle of nowhere some day. All the best Dave