My 4Runner has lead a pampered life including warm weather, garage parking at home and at work, short commutes, etc. I recently moved to the bay where my 4Runner's life has been turned upside down. Its cold, I don't have garage parking anymore, and the commute to and from work is long and traffic riddled.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that my 4Runner is lashing out with it's first act of defiance since I've owned it.

Two days ago, I noticed that after a drive > putting the car back in park > shutting off the engine > attempting to get out of my car > the driver door latch and lock would not budge when I pulled on the handle. My car locked me in! I used the auto unlock button to see if I can get the car unlocked and it worked (thankfully), but haven't been able to find any information on how to fix the problem.

So to recap, when I first start my car and shift out of park, my doors automatically lock. Traditionally, when I put my car back into park (after driving) my driver door is still locked but when I pull the latch the door is unlocked and the door opens.

When I researched I saw a lot of people talk about actuators but the referenced it in terms of how their cars would not engage locks or disengage locks when using the remote fob or using auto lock/unlock buttons. All these seem to work fine with my 4Runner. I tried to look up to see if anyone has mentioned it as a fuse problem but I didn't see any mention of it.

Anyone have any thoughts?