My nephew has a 99 golf that he lent his dad for the weekend. He told me that if you unlock the passenger side and then try to start the car, it won't as an antitheft feature, which his dad did. Is this true? Secondly, when he tries to get in from the driver's side now the car won't start or respond at all. How can he deactivate this anti theft feature? Or is this an electrical problem?

Sure sounds like an electrical problem. I had a '99 Jetta jls and it never did anythign like that.

Yes it was an electrical problem. The fuse for the interior light was out and a new one solved the mystery. Moral of the story - always check the fuses first.

Glad it was simple. My Jetta did a lot of things it wasn't suppose to but it never did that one.