Print edition: 
Dear Tom and Ray:
My 80-year-old father owns an ’03 Saab. About two months ago, the electric locking mechanism on the driver’s door stopped working. Now the door cannot be opened from the inside or the outside. The Saab dealer has had the car for six weeks, with no hopes of getting that part in the near or distant future. So my father can’t open the door, and at his age, he’s not going to be hopping over the passenger seat to get to the driver’s seat. Saab has told him that no other vehicle uses the same part, and there is no solution. Any ideas? — John
Ray: Well, my first idea is that he should go collect his car from the Saab dealership before the bank takes Dad’s car as part of a foreclosure settlement and auctions it off.
Tom: Here’s what I would do if it were my father’s car. I’d rescue the car from the dealership and have it towed to a body shop.
Ray: Then I’d ask the body shop to “get inside the driver’s door” and disable the locking mechanism permanently, so that the door never can be locked again.
Tom: There are three ways they can get in there: They can use a “slim jim” or similar device, like tow-truck drivers use. They can pry off the interior door panel. Or they can take a saw and cut through the door skin on the outside.
Ray: And it’s unlikely to be stolen. First of all, the car’s going on a decade old. And second, even car thieves know it’s almost impossible to get parts for Saabs now.
