So I am in a bit of a pickle here. Yesterday I drove my car in the morning, I came home, parked it and in the evening I come to the car and I find out I cannot open the doors from the remote. I changed the battery to the remote, but still nothing. I take the extra key and still nothing. Then I tried to use the key to the driver’s door but I cannot turn it at all, I tried left and right, nothing, I tried next the key to the trunk - it doesn’t even go in. Another thing I noticed is that the little light from the car lock inside is not flashing. I assume the car battery is dead. I really don’t know what I can do in this case. If anyone has any idea how I can enter, I do have the charger for the battery at home so if I could at least somehow access the hood to take out the battery would be great but no idea how to.
This is the result of always using the fob to open the car. Since the lock never gets used, it freezes up so when you need it, it won’t work.
Try a little lock lubricant (buy it at a hardware store) and lube the key and work it into the lock. That should free it up. If it doesn’t, you either need a locksmith or a tow to a mechanic.
You can use another battery and jumper cables or a jumper pack, connect the positive cable to battery cable on the starter, and the negative to any ground so a temporary power source will allow you to open the door.
Do you have AAA or roadside service as part of your car insurance? That should cover the cost of calling a locksmith or garage for a lockout. Is it very cold where you are? If it is try warming up the lock with a hair dryer. Have you tried the lock on the passenger side?
Once a year I lube my never used mechanical locks just so they continue to work. I had one car though that I had to pull the lock out to free the tumblers and still had to remove one of them.
The dilemma seems to be that the OP cannot get to the battery to jump it so he can use his key fob to unlock the doors.
First off, I would happily use up a whole can of WD-40 trying to loosen up those rusted, nasty, dirty locks so the manual key would work…
I am not familiar with this vehicle, the Golf IV, but next I would try to snake a “cloths hanger” wire or bent rod or some other item into and though the grill to trip the hood latch? It may not be easy but I have got to believe that this is preferable to busting a window.
I know “Slim Jims” have a bad rap for improper use and that they can cut or strip an electrical wire in the door, but in those cases it was usually caused by someone with nefarious reasons to use it and wanted as little attention drawn to them as they picked the lock. Someone who is not afraid of the attention as they attempt to unlock their vehicle should not a problem…
Yes, at least some of us do and that’s how we have the time to sit around our computers responding to various calls to mechanical distress verses sitting on the side of the road waiting for AAA to come fix our flat because our spare is also flat…
No experience with OP’s car, but one time my Corolla’s hood latch got stuck, couldn’t open the hood. Normally I pull a little cable-operated lever in passenger compartment. I figured out how to open it from underneath the car by visually tracing where the cable was routed. Required a forceps clamping tool from underneath the car and helper tugging on lever at same time. This method wouldn’t work if hood latch is electrical-solenoid actuated, but might provide OP some ideas anyway. In any event, once hood is open, take some photos of the hood-latch mechanism, might be helpful if it happens again.
My mistake was not lubing the hood latch mechanism. Lesson learned, nowI lube it on every oil change.
