sptsailing
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2010
- Location
- Safety Harbor, FL
- TDI
- 2006 Jetta Manual, stock with Panzer Plate & Franko6 modified EGR cooler & CAM
So my driver door lock was showing as failed and failing to actually lock the door on my 06 Jetta. The symptoms were that when clicking lock on the FOB, nothing would happen, or sometimes it would indicate success by the short beep, but the door did not actually lock, and opening it would sound the alarm. It could be locked with the key though.
So I went shopping for a door lock. I found a 'great deal' replacement door lock actuator on ebay for about $26.10, auction 291630090448 with ebay vendor partsbuddy . I also replaced the door wiring harness, as I found it to have cracked insulation, but in continuity checking everything post-mortem, concluded that it had not actually failed.
I replaced everything cited above and everything was fine for several months. About 2 months ago, I began to notice that slamming the driver door shut did not actually succeed. It had to be shut gently or it would bounce open. This symptom has been increasing, which I thought odd, but was content to endure. Two days ago, I made a hard right turn and the driver door flew open. Furthermore, it has become a challenge to shut the driver door with exactly the right amount of force that will result in a successful close.
So it is clear to me that the adage, 'you get what you pay for' is a factor here. Researching on ebay for this part shows hundreds of these by many vendors have been sold similarly cheap. This indicates to me the commonality of the issue.
From the distinguished participants in this forum, I have the following questions. First, has anyone had continuously good results with ebay replacement door latches? Second, can anyone recommend the best source for a door lock actuator that is not a piece of crap?
Many thanks to the contributors to this forum. I could not even hope to own a car like this without you.
So I went shopping for a door lock. I found a 'great deal' replacement door lock actuator on ebay for about $26.10, auction 291630090448 with ebay vendor partsbuddy . I also replaced the door wiring harness, as I found it to have cracked insulation, but in continuity checking everything post-mortem, concluded that it had not actually failed.
I replaced everything cited above and everything was fine for several months. About 2 months ago, I began to notice that slamming the driver door shut did not actually succeed. It had to be shut gently or it would bounce open. This symptom has been increasing, which I thought odd, but was content to endure. Two days ago, I made a hard right turn and the driver door flew open. Furthermore, it has become a challenge to shut the driver door with exactly the right amount of force that will result in a successful close.
So it is clear to me that the adage, 'you get what you pay for' is a factor here. Researching on ebay for this part shows hundreds of these by many vendors have been sold similarly cheap. This indicates to me the commonality of the issue.
From the distinguished participants in this forum, I have the following questions. First, has anyone had continuously good results with ebay replacement door latches? Second, can anyone recommend the best source for a door lock actuator that is not a piece of crap?
Many thanks to the contributors to this forum. I could not even hope to own a car like this without you.
