What not to do...

[hama]

...lock BOTH sets of keys in your car.

Yup, being a complete moron I managed to do just that. I called up VW Assistance (the RAC) who promptly sent someone out. Frustratingly, the guy couldn't do much for me, he was very wary to attempt to put his long metal rod through the hole in the frameless window lest it buckle and explode. On that note, the local dealership advises not to even try smashing a window (if you think that might be the most necessary solution). He says their experience so far is that Scirocco windows are a bugger to replace, needing special attention to mechanisms in the door.

The guy from the RAC is arranging for another bloke to visit me later today who has the VW lock pick kit. Annoyingly, not all of them carry this gear. Hopefully it will work out for me and I can get in and on my way. Also, I called the AA who found out that their crews don't have such equipment, so be warned when considering which recovery company to go for...

I'll take this one on the chin, hopefully the experience will mean I'm a lot more careful in future! If you haven't had this happen to yourself yet, give it some careful thought next time you're loading your boot! From now on, I'm making sure I unlock the car, too, each time I unlock the boot.

[maisbitt]

To be honest, I think the whole car should unlock when you pop the boot, and then you should lock the car again.

I know that you currently don't have to lock the boot, you just need to close it for it to be locked, but at least if the onus was on you to lock the car again, you couldn't lock the keys in the car, you'd just go in the (open) car and pull the boot button if you'd left your keys in the boot.

Why carry both keys with you though? If you only had one of them with you then you couldn't lock both in there.

[hama]

Maisbitt, you're right about having both keys in the car. I've been working abroad and travelling around a lot in the past month, with the car. I was packing up this morning to drive to Scotland from London and at was just one of those pinch points where my spare keys were in my bags and I totally fcuked up by putting my active key set onto a bag which I then put in the boot. I should have put it straight into my pocket again. Still, a lesson learned and not just about being careful with the keys. I was rather surprised to hear that the AA couldn't be of any help whatsoever...

[maisbitt]

I'm sure someoone handy with Vagcom could make it so that when you pop the boot, the whole car is unlocked.

If VW had designed the car in this way, it would be impossible to lock yourself out of the car, you'd just have to remember to lock it again (as most people in other cars do now).

[true]

The guy from the RAC is arranging for another bloke to visit me later today who has the VW lock pick kit

I don't think my cars has locks on the doors...

[Blueroc]

The guy from the RAC is arranging for another bloke to visit me later today who has the VW lock pick kit

I don't think my cars has locks on the doors...

There is a keyhole shaped slot tucked under the rear part of the door handle which I have not tried but I presume allows you to unlock the car manually if the battery on the remote fails.

Dave

[Evil Derboy]

.

[true]

Handy to know! Cheers

[hama]

So I managed to get in after a five hour wait for a second RAC man. It turns out he had a sort of slimjim key but it wasn't supplied by the RAC, it was his own purchase, and he hadn't used it before. With the advice of a locksmith (outside whose shop I had conveniently locked myself out) he was able to fairly swiftly open my driver's side door. Of course the alarm went off and the key he had would have been useless in getting the engine started.

A local VW garage gave me the contact details of a guy who would have done the same job but for £115 all in. I suppose it's pot luck whether your breakdown guy has such a device.