I have a 4 year old yeti, today I suddenly can't open the front passenger door. They are going to force the trim and break the lock to repair. I 'may' get some goodwill money. My door trim will probably be slightly damaged..

Has anyone else had experience of the locks failing (individually, not a central locking issue)

It doesn't seem right that I should just get told its 'hard cheese, luck of the draw'. Just because its out of warranty doesn't mean it's ok that it's gone wrong, it's a part that should last the life of the car. Any advice welcomed.

Sorry to hear this but I suspect that the lock/unlock actuator in the central locking system has failed. They are an electro-mechanical item that fail on lots of vehicles over time. They cannot be built to "last the life of the car". Often they are never lubricated, which causes the problem.

If they can get the door panel off I doubt they will have to break the lock.

I can see how a failure in the lock can't be predicted. It's not something I've come across before though.. And we've owned quite a few different cars. Ours is the first yeti that has come back to the garage over this though they said they've had to fix this on quite a few VWs. Fingers crossed the trim survives..

Common problem on Mk V Golfs, rectified on Mk V1. It you keep switching from un-lock to lock using the switch on the drivers door it will often unlock, when it does take it to the Dealers and they can change the lock by removing the outer skin from the door. The price of this is circa £240......

Thanks, I will certainly try this!

Note, you want to pull the inner door handle as you do this at the same time and keep at it and eventually it will unlock. It seems to be prevalent on the passenger door as this gets less use if you just unlock the drivers door. The mechanism will time out after a while so you have to give it a rest. I had this issue on my Golf V and it will give eventually, don't give up.

I will try that now, I've already tried it without pulling the handle, also tried the holding the outer door whilst unlocking with the fob and at the same time whacking the door method.. To no avail :-(

We use the passenger door at least every day, I drop hubby off at work so I don't think it's underuse.

But thank you so much for you help, feeling a bit despondent about this!

Just told my hubby about this problem and he says we had it before in a golf, and he manged to pull the handle off! Though it was the drivers door. I was there, too.. I knew my memory was bad, but..

The door did eventually open, and has not been a problem since. Today it went in to have the lock done, and I even opened it this morning.

They have now rung from garage to say that it wasn't opening when it got there (less than a mile from our house)

Apparently it is the electrics instead of the lock, and hopefully the wiring part will be there tomorrow and they hope to get it in too. They have already asked manufacturer who will pay 70%.

All rather odd, I think..

Interesting, it is usually the lock they have to replace, once it starts playing up that's it. Thanks and keep us posted as to the outcome.. :|

Had heard that the cabling going into the door is subject to failure on VW groups cars - seems to be an ongoing issue for some owners

Had heard that the cabling going into the door is subject to failure on VW groups cars - seems to be an ongoing issue for some owners

 

That must be the biggest cop-out one hears; "it's a common fault"

 

I've been on here for 4 years and this is the first time I've heard of anyone suffering this problem.

Yes it is possible that where the wiring continually bends at the hinge that eventually it could break. We used to get a similar problem in the wiring to the rear door on the Freelander, normally at about 6 years old, but even then I wouldn't describe it as "common".

To update - the drivers door has now had to have the same wiring problem, only this time the door wouldn't lock! All within a week of one another.. This time they have not charged me anything.

The new rubber covering of the wiring between the door and the car is very different looking from the old design, the old rubber covering was a wide straight shape, the new one is like a u shaped loop hanging down so they've obviously changed the design.

To update - the drivers door has now had to have the same wiring problem, only this time the door wouldn't lock! All within a week of one another.. This time they have not charged me anything.

The new rubber covering between the door and the car is very different looking from the old design, the old rubber covering was a wide straight shape, the new one is like a u shaped loop hanging down so they've obviously changed the design.

Edited 1 July, 201412 yr by turnedlight