[someguy]

My driver-side door handle touch to lock has stopped working. I've tried manually holding the key a foot away while touching the little divot and it still doesn't work. The passenger side front door works normally (ie, with key in pocket or bag). When I approach the locked car driver door, it unlocks normally.

Any thoughts or things I should try before contacting the dealer for service?

 

[Atlant]

My driver-side door handle touch to lock has stopped working. I've tried manually holding the key a foot away while touching the little divot and it still doesn't work. The passenger side front door works normally (ie, with key in pocket or bag). When I approach the locked car driver door, it unlocks normally.

Any thoughts or things I should try before contacting the dealer for service?

There are quite a few threads here in the forum about this. On my own 2021 AWD Pro S, the lock function on the driver's door handle is intermittent, failing about a quarter of times that I try to use it.

 

[someguy]

There are quite a few threads here in the forum about this. On my own 2021 AWD Pro S, the lock function on the driver's door handle is intermittent, failing about a quarter of times that I try to use it.

On my 2021, it has been completely reliable and solid and now will not work at all. That seems different than your experience? Does your passenger side handle work reliably?

 

[Dougie01]

My passenger side door fails once in a while; I have attributed it to some combination of humidity and/or greasiness of fingers.

 

[Atlant]

On my 2021, it has been completely reliable and solid and now will not work at all. That seems different than your experience? Does your passenger side handle work reliably?

So far, we have never seen the Passenger Door's lock triangle fail to work and when the Driver Door's triangle fails, I usually just walk around the car and use the Passenger Door's switch (unless that side of the car is parked against a snowbank). And when the Driver Door's triangle fails, it's a hard failure for that moment. One day, it failed and both my wife and I experimented with both doors. Both of us could reliably operate the Passenger Door's lock but neither of us could operate the Driver Door's lock at all.

What I need is for it to fail on a day I'm at the dealer. ;-)

And the thing I haven't yet remembered to do was a diagnostic suggested by another member here: When the Driver Door's lock fails to operate, look at my fob and ensure that the Red LED on the fob is blinking, indicating that the fob is in communication with the car while I'm standing on the Driver's side of the car.

 

[TidingSStables]

Is this type of door lock seen any other VW group vehicles?

 

[Atlant]

Is this type of door lock seen any other VW group vehicles?

I THINK that loaner Audis that I've gotten in the past few years have had this same affair but my memory also says that they 1) used the triangle for both locking and unlocking and 2) Audi has the good sense to put the triangle on all four doors so you at least have redundancy on each side of the car.

 

[someguy]

During my testing this morning, while standing on the driver side I noticed the fob red LED was flashing. But the driver triangle wouldn’t work no matter how I tried to use it. It has been this way consistently for several weeks now. My car has had zero issues unlocking automatically as I approach the driver side.

if I get time, I will try the other fob.

So far, we have never seen the Passenger Door's lock triangle fail to work and when the Driver Door's triangle fails, I usually just walk around the car and use the Passenger Door's switch (unless that side of the car is parked against a snowbank). And when the Driver Door's triangle fails, it's a hard failure for that moment. One day, it failed and both my wife and I experimented with both doors. Both of us could reliably operate the Passenger Door's lock but neither of us could operate the Driver Door's lock at all.

What I need is for it to fail on a day I'm at the dealer. ;-)

And the thing I haven't yet remembered to do was a diagnostic suggested by another member here: When the Driver Door's lock fails to operate, look at my fob and ensure that the Red LED on the fob is blinking, indicating that the fob is in communication with the car while I'm standing on the Driver's side of the car.

 

[Atlant]

During my testing this morning, while standing on the driver side I noticed the fob red LED was flashing. But the driver triangle wouldn’t work no matter how I tried to use it. It has been this way consistently for several weeks now. My car has had zero issues unlocking automatically as I approach the driver side.

if I get time, I will try the other fob.

Inspired by your reply, I just conducted the experiment with my ID.4 (which, conveniently, is broken right now).

With the car locked but the fob in range, that fob LED pulses several times per second.

Unlocking using the “underneath” touch pads on the door handles produces 3 (?) very rapid flashes, the car unlocks, and the car then "silences" the fob LED; it goes dark and stay dark until something else happens.

On the (working) Passenger side, pressing the lock triangle apparently causes the fob to be interrogated. Its LED flashes once and then resumes the fairly-rapid “car is locked” pulsing.

On the (non-working) Driver side, pressing the lock triangle does nothing. I presume from this that the car doesn't know that anyone has touched the lock triangle because the door handle is broken.

Locking and unlocking the car from either side using the fob buttons works fine.

 

[someguy]

So, I tried the other fob (which never gets used) and the driver triangle worked first try. I will have to test more with both to determine if the fob switch had an effect or if my car is now behaving like others with the issue (ie, it randomly works or doesn't). Again, prior to the fob switch, the driver triangle had consistently not worked for at least two weeks.

 

[Atlant]

So, I tried the other fob (which never gets used) and the driver triangle worked first try. I will have to test more with both to determine if the fob switch had an effect or if my car is now behaving like others with the issue (ie, it randomly works or doesn't). Again, prior to the fob switch, the driver triangle had consistently not worked for at least two weeks.

Good idea! I'll conduct that experiment as well, the next time that the car breaks AND I'm in a position to borrow my wife's fob AND I can remember to do this. ;-)