Driver door won't unlock

Over 10K miles and have had no problems with doors or anything else.

 

There is most certainly a problem with the door actuators on not only Prius, but other Toyota models as well. My 2001 Prius is sitting in the shop right now while we argue about replacing the door actuator for the THIRD time. First it was the passenger, then the driver, now it's the passenger one again. I never thought about the extended warranty plan for something like door locks. What rubs me is that the genuine Toyota replacement parts are only covered for one year. Me thinks that genuine parts should be covered just as if they were new with the car, which would be three years. It's a little ironic that Toyota is know for quality yet the coverage is only for 3 years and 36,000 miles. Which reminds me that my 2001 Prius only has 36,000 miles on it. This, in turn, reminds me that car warranties aren't fair to people who don't drive much. Warranties should only apply to mileage, the wear and tear actually put on the car.

These small fixes are actually a big deal n a car like this where the main advantage to owning a Prius is the savings in gas. But that's completely shot out the window if you have to pluck down some $250 to replace something as benign is a door lock actuator (and this is my third time). By comparison the 40 year old door locks on my old 1961 Lincoln Continental still worked when I sold the car in 2000. And the 1987 Toyota Cressida that we sold in 2001 had 180,000 miles on it and ITS door locks still worked too.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Dave @ Jan 24 2004, 03:35 PM) [snapback]2438[/snapback]</div>

Can't it be locked/unlocked with the little mechanical key?

 

I've recently experienced this three times. One night, standing near the hatch, the interior light would flash on and off every 1-2 seconds, as if it couldn't decide I was really standing there or not. Holding the hatch open button did nothing, as well as the driver's door. Hitting lock/unlock on the fob had no effect. I was outside.

Another day, same thing with all the windows half-down while I was outside. Reached over to flip the SKS button off, and fob lock/unlock still doesn't work.

I got in by using the mechanical key to unlock, and THEN everything worked normally. This happened before and after I replaced the FOB battery.