Remote locking fails in one particular place

Remote locking fails in one particular place

Author
Discussion

sim72

Original Poster:

4,945 posts

135 months

Friday 21st April 2017
quotequote all
I've searched to see if this has come up before, but I can't find anything, so apologies if it has.

I bought a Mk5 Golf TDI as a runabout in January. It has remote locking which works perfectly well (indeed it locks from a good distance away) - except when I'm parked in one particular place - to be precise outside my local Indian restaurant. I've parked there three times in the last month or so, and every time the car won't lock - or to be precise most of the time it won't lock, though I did get it to do so tonight by holding the remote right against the car.

Most of the time I'm not massively bothered by this, because I'm literally walking into the place, paying for my takeaway, and walking out again. But I'm intrigued as to why it happens - is something interfering with the remote, and if so what could it be? Also, it's never happened with any of my previous cars that had remote locking, which included two VWs.

sim72

Original Poster:

4,945 posts

135 months

Friday 21st April 2017
quotequote all
smarty156 said:
I had this with a motorbike alarm when parking in a particular place. Realised it was when I was right outside a taxi office. Think the radio signals were blocking the alarm remote.
Anything like that where the takeaway is?
Nope, it's one shop in your bog-standard urban parade of shops - takeaway, general store, hairdressers etc. There are flats above the shops, but nothing else really. Very odd.


Edited by sim72 on Friday 21st April 23:38

sim72

Original Poster:

4,945 posts

135 months

Sunday 23rd April 2017
quotequote all
littleredrooster said:
Two possibilities come to mind:
1. Another legitimate RF signal is interfering with the remote - most probable answer. There's a car park in Rugby that I use which has this problem, I think it's the remote-control barrier of a place next door to it which blocks the signal.

2. A signal-blocker is in place nearby and thieves have targeted the car park for thefts. Was (apparently) common a few years ago where thieves would hide a transmitter in a hedge nearby to catch people out who thought they'd locked their cars.
Oddly, this is also in Rugby. Not a car-park or near one, though.

sim72

Original Poster:

4,945 posts

135 months

Sunday 23rd April 2017
quotequote all
marcford86 said:
Is it near a hospital/police station? Not same manufacturer but older subarus are common for not disarming immobiliser in areas with high radio frequency and a tow down the road usually sorts it and will disarm as normal laugh
No, it's outside a parade of shops in the middle of an unremarkable housing estate. Here, to be precise.

Google Street View