After flying home, the car would not unlock. 1999 Saab 9-3. I lubricated the locks, put the key in and many times, tried turning the lock, and after an hour, the lock moved, but it simply would not go further (passenger side). The driver door lock was stuck - it would not move at all. The remote would not unlock the doors. I put in a new battery and pressed the unlock bottom more than 4 times. Nothing.
The deck lid lock was smooth and it turned, but it wouldn't open the deck lid (hatchback). My husband, who has worked at Valmet Automotive for 30 years, put the key into deck lid lock, turned it, and slowly pulled back on the key and turned it again. After a few tries of this, the deck lid unlocked. He said that the length of the door key is not always the right length for the deck lid. This is a quirk with some of the Saab models from earlier years. So, I was able to climb into the car and open the hood release.
Sure enough, the battery was dead. We jumped started the car and the key turned in the ignition just fine.
Some interesting nores:
1. When I was in the car, I was unable to open any of the doors or open the locks by pulling up on the lock tock on the doors. That is really bad. Our 2002 Saab, if you opened the door handle, it would unlock the door and you could get now. Not on this 1999 (whichi s in excellent condition).'
2. After the battery got some juice, I pressed the lock/unlock buttom on the console (it's a toggle switch). The passenger door and the back doors unlocked, but not the driver's door.
3. The remotes worked once the battery charged up and I started the car. The remote could open and close all the locks.
Obviously, we will take a look inside the door panels to find out why the inner door handles do not open the lock. I would never want to be trapped in my car (as much as I love her).
So, despite all the expert advice that you can ONLY get into your Saab using the key in the passenger door or the driver's door, I offer the solution that you should try to get in by unlocking the deck lid. And be sure to put in the key, turn it, then pull back the key a tiny bit, turn it again, etc. until the deck lid latch engages and you can open it.
For lock lube, I got some special lube in a spray can from the auto mechanic. He said this is special for locks. I couldn't find any graphite powder. So, one thing I will do is keep trying to open the locks with my key until they eventually get unstuck. We also inspect the door handles from the inside. Obviously, nothing else is wrong with the basic mechanism because the remote can unlock the doors. And if all else fails, an auto locksmoth can hopefully fix the tumblers in the locks so I can open the car with my keys.
This was a really crappy experience and I'm making this post because maybe this information will be useful. Everything I've read and heard from other people is that you have to unlock the passenger door or the driver's door. For us, that was impossible. However, opening the deck lid was easy, once you know the trick.
