Door Locking Issues and Dealer Lies

[MihalisTheGreek]

MihalisTheGreek

I just bought a 2008 Chevy Aveo from a Chevy dealer. I went home and realized that although the car did not have a remote key operation to unlock and lock the doors, if I turned the key in the driver’s door, the doors would all unlock but NOT lock again. I’d have to walk around the car or crawl over the seats to lock the car doors. I returned to the dealer. The service tech got the doors to LOCK one time by turning the key in the driver’s side door, but he could not get it to do it again. The Used Car Manager told me that my door did not have automatic door locks so I had to manually go around and lock each door whenever I parked my car. He could not explain why the key would unlock all doors at once but not lock them again. He simply said that my vehicle did not have automatic door locks. This sounds false. How can the key unlock all doors but not have the feature to lock all doors at once because my vehicle has “Manual” locks? I understand “Manual” to mean that I don’t have remoteness key entry, not that I cannot manually lock all doors from the driver’s door since I can open all doors from the driver’s door lock from the outside? The vehicle has 29,000 miles on it. I’ve contacted Chevy Customer Service Headquarters but they never replied!

[aleekat]

If you're in the car and lock the drivers door to the other doors lock?

[MihalisTheGreek]

Thanks for replying! If I’m inside and lock the driver’s door, the other doors lock... most times... but not always. If I’m alone and stopped at an intersection, it’s possible for someone to open the rear passenger doors, for example, and jump in my car! That’s why I think the car was not designed this way. It seems that this is a safety issue.

[aleekat]

I don't know your model specific. But I do know that most vehicles that operate that way. Has a switch connected to the locking rod. When the switch goes down it activates the motors in the other doors to lock or unlock. Only way you will know is pull the door panel. It could be a dirty switch, bad switch or out of adjustment.
You could go back to the dealer parts department and have them pull the diagram. Then you can see where the switch is located.

[MihalisTheGreek]

Thanks for replying! I chatted today with a Chevy Customer Service Agent in Detroit. They promised me a call back within 3 days as they are escalating it. I just have this car for the past month so I’m not paying for repairs if they sold me broken door locks. The dealer insists the locks are fine. Chevy headquarters is questioning that idea. I can tell you that I downloaded service records from Bad Vin.com and it shows lots more than CarFax. In fact, it shows that on 01/02/2020, the service department specifically looked at the door locks for some issue. They know quite well that I’m correct.