Many new cars here still have this feature, but I don't know if VW still uses
it. I have experienced it in different 90's Mitsu's, Mercedes's and Peugeot's to
name a few. I know of the safety hazard, but I like this feature very well. I
may see if I can find a latch from the early years, thanks for the tip!

PerL
87 Syncro 112i

Joel Walker wrote:

> somebody mentioned door locks and that got me to thinking that maybe some of
> the 1980 and 1981 folks don't about this:
>
> in the 1980 and 81 models (don't know how late in the 81 model year), the
> passenger's door had a lock mechanism that would allow the door to be opened
> from the inside (by pulling the handle) EVEN if the door button was pushed
> down (locked). this was a bit of a safety hazard, as we found out one
> afternoon when a 4-year old opened the door as i was driving down the
> highway! luckily, he was belted in and the door was pushed back against the
> bus by the wind.
>
> but there is a fix! :) you can get the door lock mechanism from an 82 or
> later, or find some dealer that has some of these laying around  ... it's
> part number 251-837-016A ... it's the A on the end that makes the
> difference.  it is a very very simple replacement: two large phillips-head
> screws. this is NOT the part you put the key into, but the brass-colored
> square box thingie that you can see easily if you open the door. it's on the
> rearmost edge of the door and is the part that latches onto the
> brass-colored part that is bolted to the body. you just undo the two big
> (and i do mean big) screws, wiggle the mechanism loose from the key-related
> part, put the new on onto the key-related part, and put the two screws back
> in. that's it. it hooks onto a little thingie that the key-part turns ...
> and it's easy to see how it fits and put the new one back right. total time?
> maybe five whole minutes. ten minutes if you want to look a lot and can't
> turn the big screwdriver :)  i paid $25 for the part waaaaaaaaay back in
> 1982 when i had an 80 bus, but i'd bet any 1982-1991 bus in a junkyard has
> the same part.
>
> hope it helps. good luck!
> joel