So today was a bit of a surprise for me. I needed something from the back seat and closed the door behind me to avoid the rain. Should be easy enough to get out, right? Well, no…
I tried the rear door handle, but no luck. I pulled it a couple of times, and it was still locked. Pressed the unlock button on the key fob? Still nothing. Let’s just say I got a little frustrated.
I then tried to contort myself enough to hit the unlock button on the driver’s side. After a bit of struggling and too much time spent trying to squeeze across the front seats, I reached the button, clicked it, and tried to get back into the rear seat. Silly me thinking it would unlock the back.
Eventually, I had to climb out of the back seat, over the front seats, and out of the car. It took longer than it should’ve, and honestly, I felt like I was in some weird episode of the Twilight Zone.
Now I’m wondering if there’s a way to disable that ‘feature’ because I’m not doing that again. I keep telling myself, ‘the car is fun to drive, the car is fun to drive.’
Caelan said:
Sounds like the child lock is activated on the rear doors. It stops them from opening from the inside.
Ah, I get it now, but how do I turn that off?
It could be a button on the driver side armrest near the window and mirror controls. I call it the ‘kidnap button’ because you can toggle it on or off. If there’s a barrier in the car, it makes it impossible for someone to get into the front or trunk without breaking a window.
Yes, that’s the one. It’s a white plastic screw near the lock mechanism. Check out this video for a better look: https://youtu.be/MT0hi52KFTc?si=-E8LcpxqQi5vw81e. We seem to have both options in the UK.
That sounds like the rear child locks. They’ve been standard on cars for decades. Usually, there’s a switch on the side of the door to flip when it’s open.
Erie said:
That sounds like the rear child locks. They’ve been standard on cars for decades. Usually, there’s a switch on the side of the door to flip when it’s open.
But it’s not connected to the window lock. They usually have separate buttons for each. I have a wild three-year-old and wish I could lock each door individually.
There’s a button on the driver’s side door that locks the rear windows and doors. It’s the rectangle button furthest back. I usually activate it so the kids don’t mess with the windows, but I forget to deactivate it when we stop, and then the doors won’t open.
Rowen said:
Glad you figured out the child locks! The EV6 makes it easy to disable them with a button on the driver’s side door.
LOL, I got the hang of it, but what if I forget it’s on and lock myself in the back again? Why can’t I open the door with the key fob? Or even just reach over and click the button on the driver’s door? It’s way easier for a kid to crawl over and open the door than for me to do that.
I had a similar issue. A few days ago, I was sleeping in the back of the car while traveling. I was parked in a Walmart parking lot and locked the doors for safety. I woke up, opened the rear hatch to exit, but when I came back to the front, I locked myself out. I had no key or phone inside, and I had to wait for roadside assistance for hours in the cold. Lesson learned: Don’t lock the driver’s door when camping.