Good points, I will find out when I go to the dealer. My auction guy called Mitsubishi dealer and got the key at his price and I will talk to them about the door does not makes sense and that should be covered by warranty.

 

Sorry i assumed by the price of a new fob that you had the fast key system. A normal fob shouldn't cost anywhere near that price. The other key fob actually has the remote in the head of the key i believe, they're about $150+programming new. $100 refurbished and ready for programming.

You seem like you have the valet key. Can you try locking and unlocking your glove box with the key?

If you leave the dome light on one night, and come out the next morning and the battery is dead, how else are you supposed to open the car, has to be a mechanical latch.

 

OK 2010 XLS with FAST.. Just tried this..

Left fob at desk a block away and took out the metal key part
Went to car tried to open doors the normal FAST way, locked no response...
Put key in, turned to the unlock position, felt click... (this was a slight physical click not a noisy click, there was no electronic sounds at all like you hear when the power doors lock/unlock or when you use the FAST unlock)
Pulled handle door is open, alarm goes off
Tried to turn start **** got "No Key Detected"
Tried with key, would turn but wouldn't actually start...
Locked door from inside with power locks...
Door locked and does not auto-unlock when I touch the handle (as when I have the fob)

So clearly in the 2010 vintage the locks are mechanical... Why they would change this I can't think of a valid reason... I still have my doubts and think something may have fallen off or the key isn't actually fitting right and it's not turning all the way...

I found people complaining about this on their 2008 lancers while other lancer owners of the same vintage are saying it works fine for them... 100% possible something broke, was loose or was damaged in an accident, upgrade or repair... Hard to tell with only 1 door lock but someone will probably have to actually look inside there to find out for sure or the dealer will have to confirm it's 100% electronic and then explain how you are supposed to get a jump in a parking lot with a dead batt :P If you believe what these guys in the forum say (there are at least 5 people claiming the same year cars are different) than it may lead you to believe something wrong.. A dude actually made a video where he disconnected his battery, locked himself out and showed the key worked...

I know this is going to sound dumb but did you try turning it both ways or did you just keep turning it from center to one direction?

 

Thank you so much for putting all this effort in this and or your input.

BTW for my background I am an electronic engineer and mentored an award winning rovbotics team, so I do know electronics and mechanical things, but don't know Mitsubishi new ti it so all your help is appreciated.

First of all there is NO mechanical sound or feel, and yes I turned it both ways many times, even held it there for awhile in case there was some sort of trick to that. Don't feel bad asking the obvious it is always good to do. I will find out what the dealer says when I go tomorrow.

My auction guy is great, he got the local dealer to sell me an keyfob for whole sell price and then he got the auction people to pay for the device showing them that what was said to be a master key wasn't.

So going to dealer to get the key and ask questions let you know how it works out.

 

Neat EEs are cool.. You ever watch Dave Jones on yt? I've learned a lot from him... I'm more into the software side of things but I like to dabble into the world of hardware from time to time :P

If you don't feel or hear a physical linkage when you turn the key it's clearly not connected... Like I said I don't have a '12 to look at but I've had 2 '10's and both of them were mechanical locks.

Internet research can be sketchy sometimes as many people who don't know what they are talking about like to assume things and if it's a common problem it may just encourage a bad assumption. I am sure the dealer/service department can confirm or deny this for sure.

If you want to be a real pain in the *** while it's in their parking lot disconnect the battery and lock yourself out and ask them to get you in :P

I've seen locks with switches built in so it would auto disarm the alarm when you use the key in other cars, and I know the hatch in mine is electronic only but it's stated very clearly in the manual you can't open the hatch if the battery is dead (and it's fairly obvious from feel that the handle is contacting a small tact switch)

One thing that was said in the thread I was reading about the Lancers was that the one dude who couldn't open the door manually with the key ended up saying his key was physically bad and had to be replaced.

 

I just grabbed the '12 manual...

It clearly states "● It is not possible to open the tailgate while the battery is
disconnected. If necessary, use the inside tailgate release." There is nothing similar to this in the section about unlocking the door with the key. It says just stick the key in and turn it to unlock the door."

Also this is in the manual (though I realize you don't have FAST this should apply to the regular key):
Emergency key:
The emergency key is built into the F.A.S.T.-key.
When the F.A.S.T.-key cannot be used, such as when the battery
of the F.A.S.T.-key or the vehicle has run down, the emergency
key can be used to lock and unlock the driver’s door and
to start the engine.

 

Yes I have watched Dave and have bought a couple of his products, that guy has so much energy wish I could port some over. BTW I do love to program.

 

Yeah the dude is like always bouncing off the walls :P plus he has a sweet accent.

Programming is fun, it's even more fun when you can integrate it with a real device and control something physical... That's why I love rolling my own home automation stuff.

What happened at the stealership?

 

We got back last night from the dealers.

They put in the keyfob I don't know anything about Mitsubishi so all this is new to me. The keyfob is one that you walk up to car and push button to unlock doors and they put in a plastic insert in the start key hole and can start the car without ever taking the keyfob out. Is this a FAST system?

On the door that would not open with the other key. The key does have a chip in it. They said the door was broken and needs to be taken a part to tell what is worng. So you were right it is mechanical and broken.

Bad news is that the car was sold with having Bluetooth but it doesn't have it. Only the steering wheel has the symbols and buttons but no bluetooth modules so the auction was fooled.

Thanks again for all of you and your insights, I hope someone else will learn from this.

 

Yes, if there is a plastic **** that you turn to start the car, that's the FAST system. Those fobs are more expensive. It's nice because it never leaves your pocket.

Are you sure it had bluetooth from the factory??? I don't know about 2012 models, but my 2009 has bluetooth steering wheel controls, i think all cars have them. But you still had to buy a module to make it work. The original owner didn't opt for it.