UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Hi - first post on the forum and not really a "car person" so apologies in advance!

I've had a new Polo SE 95 for just under a month now, it drives beautifully and I've been really really impressed with the mpg. However, the other week the key refused to lock or unlock the vehicle. I rang the VW assistance number thinking they could talk me through some troubleshooting tips over the phone but they sent out a roadside assistance van. The assistance chap seemingly managed to fix the problem, however, I only had one set of keys with me at the time so he advised me to book into the garage to get the other key paired with the car as it would now be knocked out of sync (although strangely the other set of keys do work perfectly...)!

This was a few weeks ago now, and the car had been unlocking and locking fine until yesterday when it started to refuse again... I managed to pop off the door handle to get to the manual key hole although this embarrassingly set off the car alarm in the middle of Tesco car park. I called the VW assistance number again and they sent out an AA van. When the chap arrived the key worked perfectly - I couldn't believe it! So frustrating.

I rang my local VW garage again today to tell them the locking system periodically failed again yesterday - a chap with the charisma equivalent to a slice of ham told me he has ordered a new key which should arrive with them next week.

I was wondering if any other people were having issues with the locking system on their Polos and what actions VW took to rectify the problem? I'm hoping a new key will fix the problem although I'm wondering if there is an internal issue with the car itself not recognising keys etc.

Thanks

Welcome to the forum marshall.

Have you tried the spare / 2nd key when the problem occurs with the key you use as the main key? If the main key doesn’t work but the spare does, then you could have a faulty battery in the key fob.

Thank you!

No I haven't, as each time this has happened I've been somewhere other than my home - so I've not had the second set on me. It might be worth me keeping the second set with me just in case it happens again. As you said, if the second set does work then this could suggest there's simply a problem with the battery in the first set. Hadn't thought about that. Thanks

Yes I've had the same problem as you. Parked at the local Tesco mini store and on return I couldn't get back into the car. So I walked the half mile home to get the spare key which worked fine. I changed the battery in the duff key, no joy, changed it back, still no joy. Tried it the next day. No joy. Left it with the dealer for a day, they tested it and rang me to ask which key was faulty. Eh? Collected the car, tried the key, and it worked. But they ordered a new key anyway, and thus far it works.

I don't think it is a battery issue, or a fault with the car. There must be an issue with the keys themselves.

That is the second significant fault with my car in about 4 months.