So on my recent road trip, my rear passenger side door became stuck in the locked position. When hitting unlock, the little lock knob thing that pops up will move up slightly then immediately go back down. It never goes all the way up.

If I try to pull it up by hand, I can't get it to budge.

Another symptom is that the actual door handle feels less resistance than normal, like the cable has become unattached.

Normally I would pull the panel off like I've done before and look for the problem but.... what do I do if I can't open the door

Is there anything I can do on my own or should I wait until I do my 100k service (next month or so).

 

faulty actuator

same thing happened to me in my old TL. see video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv64E-lsvGA

to get the door open i rolled down the window, took a pair of vice grips and wrapped the lock knob in a microfiber, pulled up on the lock knob and pulled door handle (outside) open at the same time

 

Yea, its probably the faulty actuator. Looks the same as that vid. I'll try your method sometime.