Locked out

[TimF]

Any ideas on this one?

The car will not unlock. Doesn't react to keyless sensor. Doesn't do anything when keyfob buttons pressed (both fobs tried, repeatedly). The mechanical emergency key doesn't do anything.

The car DOES detect the keyfobs, as the boot can be opened. I climbed in through it and although the car was awake (I could turn on hazard lights, mess around with the mirror control) nothing significant could be activated (door handles inoperative, couldn't turn on infotaiment, main power switch nothing, pressing brake pedal nothing, put keyfob in the cupholder no change).

I rang the dealer, who told me I had to arrange recovery to them - it's over two years old, so roadside assistance has expired (I had forgotten it only lasted two years, and there was no reminder that it expired at that point - in any case it is on the drive, so I'm not sure roadside recovery would have been available). Recovering a bricked EV from a driveway must be difficult and expensive?

I would not be surprised to find this problem is related to the keylesslessness issue I've had for some time (particularly in wet weather, the car won't unlock simply by grabbing the door handle - I have to use the keyfob), which the dealer finally accepted WAS a problem, not my imagination or incorrect use when it happened for them on the third visit to deal with this issue.

[Mo1]

Maybe a 12V battery issue?

[Stig2011]

Just had a quick look and roadside recovery for id range is 3 years, so you should still be covered - I'd phone customer service and see what they say. See link https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/en/owners- ... tance.html

[TimF]

Maybe a 12V battery issue?

That was my bright idea over lunch. Having double-checked that the boot only unlocked if the key was nearby, and that it was still the case that no door unlock system was operating, I climbed in again so that I could release the bonnet and check the 12V battery. But the bonnet release can't be operated unless the driver's door is open. While clambering around I'd inadvertently touched the horn button (it worked!) and grabbed the interior door handle to help get into the driving seat. At which the door opened and the alarm went off, with the dashboard showing the cause was that the boot was open (no way was I going to close that while I was inside a locked car!) Closing that stopped the alarm. Now that I could open the bonnet, I could check the 12V battery: 13.5V, so no problem there.

The car is now perfectly normal. All systems for locking and unlocking work exactly as they should.

I think the 12V socket in the boot is only live while the car is "on", so checking 12V on a locked-up vehicle would mean prodding around in the fuse box?

I'd love to know what the fault was, AND what I did that cleared it!

[TimF]

Just had a quick look and roadside recovery for id range is 3 years, so you should still be covered - I'd phone customer service and see what they say. See link https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/en/owners- ... tance.html

Thanks. Since I haven't had an offer to renew on expiry, I think I'm entitled to assume it is still in force! That webpage says standard is one year, so the dealer quoting 2 years means there is confusion somewhere.

[Stig2011]

Just had a quick look and roadside recovery for id range is 3 years, so you should still be covered - I'd phone customer service and see what they say. See link https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/en/owners- ... tance.html

Thanks. Since I haven't had an offer to renew on expiry, I think I'm entitled to assume it is still in force! That webpage says standard is one year, so the dealer quoting 2 years means there is confusion somewhere.

One year normally, but 3 years for id cars - maybe dealer took the average!

[vanb]

Definitely 3 years roadside assistance for the ID.3.

[sidehaas]

Just had a quick look and roadside recovery for id range is 3 years, so you should still be covered - I'd phone customer service and see what they say. See link https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/en/owners- ... tance.html

Thanks. Since I haven't had an offer to renew on expiry, I think I'm entitled to assume it is still in force! That webpage says standard is one year, so the dealer quoting 2 years means there is confusion somewhere.

Definitely 3 years. You don't do it through your dealer anyway, if the car needs recovering you ring VW assist, who will send someone out (to my surprise, they were with me in less than a couple of hours). That person will assess it, confirm if it needs recovery, and ask which dealer you want it recovered to, then book AA or a subcon in to do the actual recovery. They'll also arrange a hire car for you. At the point the car lands with a dealer, they then take everything over. I went through all this recently to get my car recovered for its battery fix. My car was already just over 2 years old.

Edit, if the fault had cleared and the first guy to come out found that the car didn't then need recovering, this would of course just be a waste of your and his time. Only do it if the fault is still there and you have good reason not to drive the car.

[TimF]

Thanks for all the help and advice. I've dug out the "Price and specification guide" sales brochure, which confirms roadside cover is for 3 years. Studidly, I'd forgotten about this, and simply rang the dealer as my usual first point of contact with any problem. I'll know better in future!

I'm wondering if the 12V battery had run down (although everything had been fine a few days earlier), and the recharging from traction battery feature didn't kick in early enough? After my initial messing around, maybe the 12V battery hit "full recharge NOW!" state, and the car sorted itself out? The 13.5V I measured a few hours later suggests it had very recently been (or even was still being) charged?

[Mo1]

My understanding is the car charges the 12V as soon as a door is opened if a charge is required.

[TimF]

My understanding is the car charges the 12V as soon as a door is opened if a charge is required.

But if there isn't enough charge to unlock the door .....

There ought to be an arrangement whereby 12V dropping below the minimum needed to service all the drains on this battery while the car is parked, automatically triggers a charge from the HV battery?

Although (I assume) the door locks are be 12V systems, meaning they won't behave properly or at all if the 12V is low, I would expect the vehicle's "brain" and communications to run off much lower voltages, with a low battery voltage not inhibiting function, and that these would be the last functions to stop operating as supply voltage reduced.

The car had been fine just a few days earlier. Today, it didn't like the door handle sensors or key buttons again, but opened OK with the mechanical key, at which the alarm went off until I dropped the key in the cupholder. It then told me the key battery needed replacing (I checked its voltage: 2.8V so around 20% of capacity left).

Technology, eh? Will it ever catch on?

[Mo1]

I was going by the fact you said the car was awake.

"The car DOES detect the keyfobs, as the boot can be opened. I climbed in through it and although the car was awake (I could turn on hazard lights, mess around with the mirror control)"

[sidehaas]

My understanding is the car charges the 12V as soon as a door is opened if a charge is required.

There ought to be an arrangement whereby 12V dropping below the minimum needed to service all the drains on this battery while the car is parked, automatically triggers a charge from the HV battery?

There is. I believe this has been the case since software 2.0 or 2.1 (early ID3s on 1.0 had a lot of 12V problems). It has certainly been the case that it tops it up very regularly if you are on 3.0+ and turn on the "optimised battery use" function. The 12V could still drain too far but only if there is a fault on the car somewhere.

[TimF]

My understanding is the car charges the 12V as soon as a door is opened if a charge is required.

There ought to be an arrangement whereby 12V dropping below the minimum needed to service all the drains on this battery while the car is parked, automatically triggers a charge from the HV battery?

There is. I believe this has been the case since software 2.0 or 2.1 (early ID3s on 1.0 had a lot of 12V problems). It has certainly been the case that it tops it up very regularly if you are on 3.0+ and turn on the "optimised battery use" function. The 12V could still drain too far but only if there is a fault on the car somewhere.

That's what I thought, and I activated "Optimised Battery Use" last year (I confirmed on the infotainment system that is was active once the car was functioning normally).

Oh well, I need to get in the habit of checking the car in good time before I want to use it for anything time-critical.

[TimF]

It did it again!

This time, getting in through the boot* then pressing various buttons finally woke up the car, but it took quite a while. Park seemed to be the one which did the trick. Hazards, horn and a couple of others were functional, but did not have any other effect.

I tried the app, which claimed it couldn't sync, so I suspect the 12V battery was low again - although the car had been used without any problem on the two previous days. Now the app's Vehicle Health Report tells me that there were "Issues found" the day before the problem, at around the time I got home and locked the car. The problem is "Other", and the app says "More details can be found in the vehicle wallet". But extensive browsing of that produced nothing, and the car is showing no notifications.

Although the main battery was showing over 60%, I put the car on charge. Minor hassle at 80%, as the Ohme Home Pro charger wouldn't accept the charge was complete and, despite claiming it had reached 81%, so wouldn't allow the connector to be realeased. After much messing around pressing buttons on the app, in the car and on the key the green indicator finally turned white.

The 12V battery was changed in September, as per the standard recall, along with the 3.0 software update.

*The boot release always allows keyless operation, and this is my standard way of checking that the key fob is alive / recognisable. If the doors won't unlock, opening and closing the boot kicks the in a sensitive part of its anatomy, and it then graciously permits the doors to be used - except when the car is in its "won't do anything" condition.

[TimF]

And again this morning. But this time I managed to get in through the door using the mechanical key (once the boot had been opened), at which the dashboard and infotainment fired up, but the wing mirrors stayed folded. Also new this time: the infotainment briefly flashed a message about low 12V battery.

[MattP]

I suffer with this. I’ve identified it’s when it’s cold outside and the key fob /sensor then fails to work if it’s been on your person outside for a period . I’ve spoken to VW and apparently it’s an issue !
Warm it in your hand for a short period and it will start working .

[TimF]

I suffer with this. I’ve identified it’s when it’s cold outside and the key fob /sensor then fails to work if it’s been on your person outside for a period . I’ve spoken to VW and apparently it’s an issue !
Warm it in your hand for a short period and it will start working .

I don't think that's an issue here - I normally put the key in my pocket before going out, and there's never a problem with the boot. Conversely, the car itself clearly has occasional problems with the 12V battery. For instance, right now I've just tried a sync on the app and got the message "The 12-volt vehicle battery level is too low. It will be automatically recharged with the next vechicle use."