I picked up an '05 Passat 2.0TDi sport last September and its been running fine since I got it - FSH etc and all seemed to be great.

In November (and literally for about an hour) the external passenger door handle stopped working. I would double click the key fob and all other doors would unlock, the inside door handle would work fine (on the passenger door) but it would not open from the outside. As it rectified itself so quickly I presumed that my passenger had tried opening the door too soon after or while I was unlocking the car and it had 'confused' the system and thought nothing more of it.

In December the problem came back with the cold weather but continued for about 1 week/10 days until the car went in for a service with a local VAG specialist garage. I mentioned it to them and they ran the diagnostic which said that central locking was working fine and afterwards the door opened without issue ( I think they thought I just didn't know how to open a door)

Now in Feb and in fairly quick succession the same problem has come back, although it began this time with the rear driver side door and is now affecting the passenger door again. Again, I double click the key fob (or press the button on the inside of the drivers door), you can physically hear the mechanism unlocking, but the exterior handles do not work on these doors. When you pull the handle, it is like the door is still locked (i.e. feels like they are not catching or pulling on anything). The other doors open fine and the affected doors open fine from the inside.

Has anyone encountered this problem? I thought at first that it may have been the cold weather causing the issue, especially once a diagnostic scan seemed to solve the problem. Now I am unsure - I've read that people have had issues with water in the electrics or various issues with fuses etc, but is anyone aware of this being an inherent fault with a quick fix? is there a quick fix without forking out for a dealer to take a look?

Cheers