Went away for a couple of days to Morar in our MINI Cooper (02 model).
Arrived at hotel in pouring rain and as I stopped the car and the doors automatically unlocked, I heard double clickity click from the hatch lock at the rear.
Went round to open the hatch and it was on the emergency catch. Pressing the release switch on the tailgate would not open the hatch. :mad:
Tried locking/unlocking with the key fob, no joy. I firmly shut the hatch and tried again - no joy :disapprove:
Thought I might be able to get my hands down the back of the rear seat to release the seat and allow access, but no.
Ripped up rear seat cushion, no cable release there. Now totally flummoxed.:dead:
Phoned RAC - "Sorry can't help, as car is driveable"
Asked hotel for metal coat hanger to try and hook rear seat catch, but they had just flung out all their old coat hangers and replaced with modern wooden ones.:dead:
Had another go trying to get my hand down back of seat and suddenly hatch sprung open!
Quickly folded seat down. Removed luggage and tried lock again - locked but still would not open. (I also checked the fuses earlier, pictograms difficult to understand, but I could not see any blown.)
To add to all the confusion, the door locking system gets confused and shuts down if you keep on pressing the keyfob - presumably a security measure.
Next morning, it all worked fine.
Anyone had similar problems? - I don't like faults that just clear like that as they generally come back to bite you.
I know later models have an emergency cable release - might try and get one of those fitted.
Reply With Quote
