Physical connection that can become dislodged.
From this post:
Pelican Technical Article: Boxster Door Lock Mechanism / Boxster Door Handle - 986 / 987
Comments: For future revisions of this you might want to consider showing the backside of the lock cylinder. Mine failed in an interesting way. On the back of the cylinder there's an oar shaped piece that indexes in the electric lock mechanism. This oar shaped piece is held to the cylinder with a roll pin. On my car the roll pin worked its way out and the oar piece fell to the bottom of the door
making it so that the key wouldn't unlock the door but the fob would. I assumed I had a bad door lock mechanism.
October 30, 2014
Followup from the Pelican Staff: Thanks for the additional info and feedback. We appreciate