My wife complained of this, I went out and the door opened fine with the key. I'll have to investigate further when I get home.

Key will not unlock car
 

I have had and currently having this problem. First time this happened I left my lights on and killed the battery. Next morning my faub will not work and the key will not turn in lock. Roadside came to jump car and let me in my car. Chevy said my faub was no good so they replaced both faubs and after that I had no reason to use the key. That was 3 years ago and about a year ago the faub stopped working and again key would not unlock car. This problem only happens every now and then. Because it doesn't consistently happen, chevy can't tell me what is wrong with it. About 4 months ago I had to have roadside come and let me in again. Roadside said to check my battery on the car, my battery was low so I replaced it. About 2 months ago it happened again, chevy said it was my key. A month ago chevy replaced my keys due to recall. I had to call roadside last week again. Called locksmith they said it is a chevy defect. Reading the other posts the latch was discussed. Does anyone know exactly what this problem is?

Does the key EVER work in the door?

If it does, the problem is most likely the linkage inside the door is cattywampus and just needs to be realigned.

Did roadside ever use a "slim jim" to open it?

If so they probably bent the linkage.

A body shop should be able to fix it; I doubt it would be free. I sense that's where this is going. If somebody were to remove the inner door panel and inspect the linkage they could pretty easily fix it. There is a How-To https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/how-...removal-14040/.

Yes the key works most of the time and no slim jim has not been used when roadside has had to open it. I expect to pay for it but I want to pay for the problem to be fixed so far every time chevy looks at it they say it is something and that ends up not being it.

Has anyone pulled the door panel off and actually looked to see where the problem is ?
There's several different parts of the mechanism that could be the source of the issue.
If no one has pulled the door panel and checked, then they're just guessing.

You stated "chevy can't tell me what is wrong with it." Guessing you mean a Chevy dealership. Maybe you should try a different dealer or independent shop.

If the dealership says they can't tell you what's wrong with it is one of two things...

They are bluffing you, and just don't want to deal with your problem right now..

or

It's royally f****ed..

Or, there is the rest of the sentence: "without getting it into the shop so we can take the panel off and look at it."

Pretty obvious that "Chevy" can't wave a magic wand and diagnose things without touching them. Service writers are not mechanics, they are writers. They cannot tell you what is wrong.

Anyway, your question is answered. Somebody needs to remove the door panel and actually touch and see the mechanical parts, then they will be able to tell you what's wrong and how much to fix it.

By the way, ANY technician should be able to do it. There is absolutely NO reason for you to have to go to a GM shop.

2009 HHR Door will not UNLOCK
 

This is ridiculous. This morning my chevy 2009 hhr door lock will not unlock the car. Key fob never did work. WTH did chevy do here? No alternate way to get into my car? I live where it gets cold and demand to know WHY this is never recalled! Seems you have had these problems for years (reading older posts). What are you going to do to fix this? SO now I must pay to have someone come out and jimmy my door to get it open, must keep it unlocked, have to pay a dealer to fix this and IT IS A DESIGN FLAW BY GM!!!!

Welcome!

It was not recalled because:
A: it is not a safety issue
B: it is not common
C: it is probably a case of wear and tear; the wire that operates the latch and lock sometimes breaks.

You could have acquired a remote before. Fobs that include programming modules are available for less than $80 now.

This site has absolutely NO connection with GM, so we are not going to do anything.

You might check with your insurance, my Nationwide policy includes mobile locksmith services, you could take advantage of a 1 month free AAA membership.

After it gets fixed why would you need to keep it unlocked?

Why would you need to pay a dealer for anything? Any mechanically competent person could fix it.

Please define exactly what the "design flaw" is.

Now you got the rant out of the way, give us some background on the car - mileage, model, and when you purchased it.