I've had an issue with the drivers door & hatch a few times. about twice the hatch wouldn't open with the button and about twice the drivers door wouldn't open (the window just indexed down and up).

Is there something wrong or did the car just get confused because I had been walking around it instead of just walking up to it?

 

I don't know. It could have been RFI (Radio Frequecy Interference). If it continues, disconnect the negative battery cable for about 1 minute, reconnect and then re-index the door windows. If this does not help, you may need to see your dealer.

Sometimes a garage door opener with rolling code technology can interfer, which your can is in the garage.

 

The car has no way to know if you are walking around it. It doesn't look for a fob until you activate a door or hatch switch. Then it sends out a low frequency challenge and listens for a UHF response from a fob. If it receives the correct response, it will then activate the appropriate latch mechanism. Note that it may take the car a short time to do this (typically half a second), so don't expect instant response. Of course, if the car is unlocked, the car doesn't look for a fob, it simply performs the requested action.

The hatch switch is notorious for becoming intermittant due to dirt and water. There was a thread in C6 general last year with the procedure to remove and clean it to solve such issues (use the search function). The door switches are much better protected and rarely suffer intermittant failure problems.

The fact that the window indexed tells you the door switch is working. Sounds like either you didn't keep the switch depressed while attempting to open the door, or there is a problem with a balky door release mechanism. A bit of lubriplate on the latch mechanism may be in order, or you may simply need to tug a bit more on the door while opening it.

A lot of entry/exit issues with the car can be traced to timid operation by the user. It isn't a rare Ming Dynasty vase, it is a car. Don't be a gorrilla, but do use a normal amount of force when opening or closing doors, hatch, or hood.

 

good advice...the car only has 1700 miles on it so I don't think it has had time to build up crap in the hatch release. I do admit being tenative about opening the door...I'll head your advice.

 

Yesterday, my son walked up to the locked (assumed) car, and open the door. I was shocked! The FOB was 100 ft away, up in the house. Could the garage door opener (rolling code type) have caused this?

 

No, but failing to set your automatic lock options in the OPTIONS settings on the DIC will do this. Most dealers don't set this, so YOU have to.

Go thru the personal options settings in the manual - starting on page 3-68 in the '06 manual - passive locking is on page 3-73 (3-67/3-72 in the '05). If you failed to setup these options, then the car is NEVER LOCKING itself when you exit, unless you lock it manually with the FOB.

Rick

 

No timid operator here.

I've had the same problem. With me, the window indexed and door opened a tad, but not fully. I solved the problem with a butt load of silicon spray in the door release mechanism

Same with the hatch

 

Auto door lock mode is ON. Tried it today, and the car was locked with the FOB exactly where it was on the day my son opened the door?????

 

Touche!