I own a 1998 Volvo V70 that has problems with the door locks. The car will lock but two doors do not unlock when the master or remote switches are activated. One has to manually lift the unlocking knob first. My concern is that in the event of an accident or the need to leave the car quickly, a young child or someone who is infirm may not be able to exit the car and someone from the outside would not be able to unlock the car door either to help them. For the front door, it is easy enough to lean over from the other side and lift the knob to unlock the door but for the rear door, the knob is placed too far back to reach from the front, hence the concern. From opening the lock, it appears that a small (3 mm) piece of red plastic in the lock mechanism has snapped off. From searching the internet, it seems that this is a common problem for my year and model but that the design fault was fixed on later models. Also, apparently the breakage appears to occur when someone tries to open the locked door while someone is trying to unlock it  a normal occurrence. I have contacted Volvo but they tell me this is not a safety issue and simply wear and tear. Thanks for your help.

- Chestnut Hill, MA, USA

Electric door locks in door behind driver and front passenger doors have failed. Both will close normally but will not open with key or remote. In dark parking lot, not being able to open door especially with remote means it takes more time to enter car leaving passengers more vulnerable to assault. (note: Incident date not accurate but website won't let me proceed without an entry.)

- Irvine, CA, USA