Out of curiosty, why is there no outside lock on the passenger side. We recently have purchased three 2003 vehicles and they all have no outside locks on the passenger's side. ???? Is it a supposedly "safety feature" or just cutting costs? When the door is locked and you don't have the remote in hand, it can become very frustrating. Around the car I go! But I have to admit, I do laugh when I see it happening to other members of the family. Whats so funny, they actually get angry with the 4runner and their cars do the EXACT same thing! Go figure. If anyone knows what purpose this serves, please let me know. Thanks

 

send toyota an email, theyre pretty good about responding. they might not tell you what you want to hear, but theyll at least give you some reason.

 

Interesting. My '86 was broken into a while back on that side, screwdriver jammed in the lock and twisted to break it out of the door skin. I had the body shop doing the repairs close up the hole instead of replacing the lock. One less security risk, expecially since it was broken into in broad daylight on a very busy street with lots of pedstrian and vehicle traffic. Now the thief would have to go to the other side and risk getting run over.

My bet is they dropped it to save costs as most people use the remote instead. Besides, if you have the key with you to stick in that lock then you most likely have the remote as well.