This is a Neon that gets driven only about about 6 months of the year. It just sat for three months (with a battery maintainer connected to it).

Four days ago I started it up fine and drove around for awhile, stopping at just two places. I noticed that the autolock that happens after 30 seconds or so of driving seemed to make an odd sound, like a metal on metal sound on the driver's door. All the other locks made the normal muffled sound when locking or unlocking.

Today I drove it around again, making a few stops. I noticed the same sound on the driver's door/lock was there. It only happened when locking, not unlocking.

On the way back I flipped the lock switch a few times to see if the sound was still happening and it was no longer there. But then after I parked the car I realized the door was locked shut! The other doors were fine and I left via the passenger door.

A little later I pushed hard on the driver's door from the inside and it opened. I closed it, tried to unlock with key (or switch) and the door was stuck again. Pushing hard on door got it reopened.

I then looked at the lock latch inside the driver's door. I then looked at the passenger side to compare. I then touched the driver's side latching mechanism (that black piece) and it moved, I think downward. It was then stuck in that position! This meant that the door couldn't close. I slightly poked at it with a screwdriver to see if it would move in any direction but it doesn't seem to.

Instead of disconnecting the battery I put a mini flashlight between the door switch and the door, and wedged an item between the outside of the door and garage to keep the door as shut as possible. I then locked the doors via the key fob so that the dome light and odometer light would turn off. (I also attached the battery maintainer to the battery).

I'm probably going to have to take it to the dealer to see if they can fix it as I'm not a car person and this seems above my skill level. But is this latching mechanism issue a common problem? A hard thing to fix? An impossible thing to fix? A pricy thing to fix?

See photos below for details. (There are a few scuff marks from when I used a screwdriver to see if the part would move at all.)

The car has nearly 70K on it at this point and for the past 4 years has been driven about 4K a year (during the six months of the year it's used). As far as I know there has never been an issue with the locks.


driver's door

driver's door

front passenger door (for comparison)

 

Forgot to post an update:

I repeatedly tried moving the part of the latch I could see but it wouldn't move at all.

Made an appointment with the dealer but the soonest they could even take a look at it was something like over a week away.

So I ended up taking it to a local reputable general repair shop who was able to look at it much sooner. Then took off the inside door panel, confirmed (or told me) that the latching assembly was broken (and fell down I think) and needed to be replaced. Gave me a quote for the part + labor, which was neither cheap nor expensive, but I gave them the okay. That was on a Friday and I was able to pick it up on Monday.

And then I was back to normal. Or mostly. The replacement, when it locks the door, makes a sounds that isn't quite the same "muffled thud" sound that the other doors make when locking. I don't know if this is expected or not. But so far I haven't had any issues.

And now the vehicle has hit 70K. The next step I guess is to fork over money to get the timing belt replaced (or at least looked at).