Jon C

was in a bit of a rush; dropped my beloved '62 Fender Strat off at my friend/ ace guitar maker/tech's [guitar tech to many famous players, as well as mopes like me] house to be refinished, came out to the car w/ all the parts except the body in the case: put it in the back of the Avant, closed door, and just as the horn "honk" told me it was locked, realized keys were inside !!!!!<p>Called AAA... one hour later locksmith arrives and has a devil of a time popping the door lock... took him a good solid 10-15 mins. [slim jims won't work on these doors) and he said the A4 has one of the smallest spaces he's seen to work in and hook the latch.<p>Finally gave up on the pass. door and tried the driver door; after 5 mins., he got it. He was impressed & so was I (that the A4 was tough to get into that way, and that he was able to do it).<p>Unfortunately the pass. door lock button was disconnected from the mechanism, as I later discovered. Thanks to the A4.org FAQ, though, I got the door panel off in 4 min. and replaced the button linkage in its place easily and all's working well.... How I spent 2 hrs. this afternoon. At least I was at my friend's house and got to watch him work some magic on some nice guitars while I waited.

NIdal

Really? I locked my car up and i called the cops to open it. it took him 30 seconds to open the door. Just a different experience i guess.

GusS

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Nidal

Maybe it was like what happened to me. I locked up tyhe car and forgot the keys in my friends car. lol<p>

britoki (Brian T)

I can't remember the title of the magazine, but in one of this month's european car magazines they had a showdown on how secure the car was from lock picking.<p>They had a guy who works out different methods of lock picking, then once he finds one that works, they time him on how long it takes him to open it using his knowledge of the locking system. (the reason being that thiefs steal cars they know how to break into)<p>I know the Passat's keys are different than A4's, but the Passat won the contest in the sedan range. Took him about 5 minutes to open the door after he already figured out the best way to break into it (they didn't say which method they used to open it).<p>I didn't see an A4, but they did have an A3 in it, but off the top of my head, I don't remember how it fared.

KLHI

You refinished a `62 strat. You could ruin your tone. THe force is strong in you if get the same tone again. please no &quot;take this to the other forum&quot; flameS

GusS

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Gordon Martin

If the car is locked, turn the key once to the left in the trunk. <br>The trunk will unlock.<br>When you finish with the trunk and close it, it will lock immediately (you could have left your keys on the trunk floor).<p>I thought it odd that Audi was so careful about the doors but not about the trunk - but I do like the convenience none the less.

JonC

this one had no finish on it for years... I had the same concern but my research & his experience show that if you use the proper paint technique (allowing each coat to harden fully for a long time between coats to shrink down into the wood), it will sound as good. I've spoken w/ several pros who've had him do theirs and none of them notice the difference..... but in general I'd have the concern with anyone but a true expert refinisher...

Jon C

there are obstacles placed (intentionally I presume) it the door that get in the way of the unlocking tools, so that you can only get to the rod from one direction, in a limited space. Guess the cops below got lucky in 30 secs. (I can see if you know exactly what & where you're going for it could be done quickly), but compared to other lock setups I've seen this is reasonably secure. Nothing's perfect of course.