Old lady in distress pressing her key fob over and over again as me and a group of friends walk past. She's sobbing. "Is something wrong?", says I. "I can't get in my car. I think the battery in this thing is dead." "Don't worry, I'll get you in.", I told her as I held out my hand for her keys. lol. I held the long one up in front of her... pointed at it... pointed at the door lock... and made the "yooooowwww" sound mothers make to babies when they fly an airplane spoon into their mouths and unlocked it. She was more grateful than embarrassed. ...and no, nobody clapped. There were a couple of head shakes and grins though, as some of my friends realized they would have been stuck too.
I did that with my truck once. FOB battery died, I knew it had been going out for a while. I tried clicking it from every angle around the driver side door and windshield for a better signal with no luck. I shoved the key in the door, the tumbler was stuck from road salt, dirt and lack of use. Fortunately the passenger side door lock tumbler still worked fine. I lubed them up the next day, and ordered new batteries for the FOB.
Ever get frozen out of your car? That's the worst.
Yes! After an evening/overnight sleet/ice storm. The truck was covered in a 1/4" or more ice glaze and the sleet had penetrated into the rubber door seals freezing them to the door/doorframe. I chipped as much of the ice off as I could without hurting the paint then used lukewarm water over the course of another half hour to eventually get the door open. It took most of another hour with engine running (diesels take a while to warm up) and defroster blowing to break the ice free of the windshield so I could drive it. Worst iced up adventure I ever had. Glad it happened at home.
At least you have a lock on the passenger side, neither of my cars do, just on the driver side. The older one doesn't even have a fob. :(
They say to clean your rubber door gasket well, then coat it with baby powder to keep it from sticking. Talcum powder sticks to dry rubber really well. Some use WD-40 but that evaporates over time. Door locks need dry graphite grease (I buy in a spray can form, the liquid evaporates leaving a graphite coating) sprayed in them to protect against ice, salt and corrosion - before winter.
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