Brass door lock tumblers

You have the valet key. It is designed to give to someone when they don't want they to have access to the trunk or glove box. That also explains the odd designations. That lock needs to accommodate both the valet key and the regular key.

Take your problem to your local locksmith, they will be able to help you out.

Someone on another forum provided the answer. My lock with the "76" and "77" tumblers is a "valet" lock, intended so that a valet person cannot use its key to open the trunk or glove box. For complete compatibility with all the car locks, the valet lock would need to be replaced with a standard one. Valet locks seem like a dumb idea to me. If you allow someone who is not trustworthy to have access to you car, a lock won't stop him/her from getting the trunk or glovebox open.

Wouldn't the valet key work in the passenger side door?

GO to your dealer and order a new key or two, you have only the valet key. Which seems strange that you never got the real key....

arrangement.

That depends on the car. Of course it does not work on mine, as my 2002 NB does not have a lock on the passenger door. :-)

Well, not so strange when you consider that the car is 16 years old, has had multiple owners, and was in the restoration process when I got it.

Going to the dealer would be costly (well over $150) because I can't just order a key. I just purchased two brand new left and right door handle assemblies, including keys, for $25 for the two of them ($12.50 each). With these new ones, I will be able to take a look, get the tumbler numbers and tumbler arrangements, and repeat that arrangement on all of my locks except the gas cap and ignition. The gas cap for this car has an entirely different lock design.

That is the norm, not weird. The valet only needs access to the driver door and the ignition. The valet does not need access to the passenger door lock, glove box or trunk.

Go to a locksmith that works on cars. A number of manufacturers have designed this unique system to assure they can make a big profit later, but many of them have been broken and a good locksmith may be able to take care of the whole thing for a lot less than the dealer will.

Note that the valet key will not even go into the slot of the lock it does not fit. I know you knew that. I was pointing that out in case that is Papa's case.

With my current car NO key fits the trunk. :-)

Not true in my case. My valet key will go into all the locks except the gas cap. It just won't work in any of them except the ignition and driver door. The gas cap lock is a totally different lock design, requiring a much different key configuration.

I would love to see someone try to steal "gas" from my NB. I wonder how far they would get until the diesel hit the engine and it stopped. :-)

Having owned many VW's that were pretty used up when I got them I can tell you that you now have all the parts necessary to make the same key fit all. Last fall I threw out a coffee can full of old vw locks. Start with the key that fits the ignition. Then take the door locks out and find the correct slide for each position. With two extra locks you'll have what you need to rekey the doors, glove box and trunk. The A1 cars, Rabbits in the US, used a different lock on the gas cap as you know. Also if you need a shorter tumbler you can easily grind or file one down. The part about a valet key is very simple, it's fatter and won't fit in all the locks.

Joe R

I've decided to bite the bullet and go to a locksmith.

Here is the latest snafu. The new left door and right door locks I just purchased each includes a key that fits only that lock. I figured that it would be easy to match up all of my car lock tumblers except the ignition and gas cap to the tumblers in one of these new locks. I thought that all that would be necessary would be to just take the cylinder out of one of the new locks, write down the tumbler numbers for the 7 tumblers, and which slot they were located in, and then copy that arrangement to all of my other locks - including the other new lock.

Well, as usual, things weren't that easy. On the old lock tumblers (no keys available for them) that were in my car originally, the numbers 1,2,3, or 4 were stamped onto each tumbler. But the tumblers for the new locks had no numbers stamped on them at all. Instead, they each had very hard to see little notches cut into the edges of the tumblers. So I counted the notches for several of the tumblers, only to find out that every tumbler in each of the new locks had exactly the same number of notches - yet there were slight dimensional differences in each tumbler. So there was no way, other than very tedious trial and error, to match up the tumblers.

Aaarggg!!

You could try this place in Michigan 1-248-373-2300

they sell matched lock sets minus the gas capfor around $90 or so. They might be cheaper than a locksmith. Or they mightbe able to help you with yours.

Thanks. I've sent for their catalog, and will be in touch with them by phone as well. Your response was very helpful.