2000 golf keyless door lock gone nutso

My sons Golf has developed a mind of its own. If I leave the car, leaving the key in the ignition, or even laying on the seat, in about 30 seconds the door autolocks. Now the keys are locked inside with no possible easy (or cheap) way to get at them He bought the car used and has only one key. When it's locked inside we're hooped. The remote works 100% fine to lock and unlock, and arm the security. This activity started after a minor collision last year. How do we go about resetting the unit to factory behavior.

While im not to familiar with VW's factory security settings...Does this car have an aftermarket alarm...? On some units...30 seconds after the door shuts...The doors will lock and the alarm arms...! The name given is passive and active arming...This is default on some units...So after the fender-bender...Maybe power was disconnected and the unit went back to default settings...Is the remote a factory remote...? Or...if unsure...Maybe describe the remote...! Or peek under dash...Is there a siren that chirps...Or is it a horn honk...?M.E.C.P & First-Class

Go slow and drink lots of water...Procrastinators' Unite...Tomorrow!

Factory units shouldn't do that, I was doing some audio work on an 02 Mk lV today, left the key on sear and forgot, no problems. 2 answers, if the problem is a factory alarm gone silly, get it reprogrammed by a dealer to remove the passive arming, or go to an alarm specialist to see if there's an after market alarm on the vehicle. Leaving the key in the ignition should over ride factory AND aftermarket alarms if correctly installed. Passive arming is a curse!

Gets you 10% off your insurance...M.E.C.P & First-Class

Go slow and drink lots of water...Procrastinators' Unite...Tomorrow!

And it's still a PITA especially arm and lock.

This is a factory unit. Not a starter system, just lock and alarm. Spoke today with the VW dealer and 2 guys there said it sounds like the driver's door "actuator" has failed. About how much????   Oh around 450 for the part and around 2 hours labour. Cofff, Cofff, CHOKE.   600 bucks sounds like a hard swallow. Anyone else been through this grief. Hey 50 miles per gallon is fantastic but when things go wrong with a VW turbo diesel, be prepared to give them your left gonad. Fantastic engine, in a tinfoil wrapper me thinks!!!!

$450 for the part? Fudge its a bloody 5 wire motor shove in an MES motor for $10! They can't try that trick here we have nationwide motor factors such as Europarts e.g. Waterpump for my Mits stealership, £200 ($300), factor price, £35 ($50), Porsche Cayenne front pads, don't ask, factor price (and Alfred Teves the same make) £50 ($75). Rant aside, the actuator hasn't failed, it's micro switch has, otherwise the lock wouldn't work still. Bet if you cut the two trigger wires or just the lock trigger in the driver's door you will still get the keyless entry from the remote.

But howie if we cut the lock trigger wire were going to lose something. I'm betting we might lose the ability to unlock and lock the door using the arm rest button. No big deal, all the other 3 doors would still work, and the drivers door would open with the handle,,,,right???? At least if we totally screw up the system by cutting that wire, we could just splice it back??? Can you tell I'm guessing?

Yes I'm guessing; did this on a Rover 800 (Rover gone and forgotten except when one comes back to haunt you with electrical problems, and by God did they have em!) But I cut the motor wire to drivers door. The keyless still worked on the other doors. Actually the door button should still work because they are separate circuits. The door button locks unlocks, the key or remote fob activates factory alarm if present and deadlocks the vehicle.

If the drivers door actuator is locking and unlocking the door properly, I am sure it is not bad.  Have you timed it to make sure it is exactly the same amount of time from the time you close the door to the time of the arming of the alarm?  If it is exactly 30 seconds, it sounds as though the alarm reset itself to arm automatically after exit.  This should be able to be changed by programming.  I have no idea how to program a VW alarm.  I bet the dealer knows how, but the 450 dollar actuator, that they will not change sounds to be a more profitable route for them.