Thanks for your input guys! I'm really relieved to hear it's probably just the cap.
Yes, my car has central locking, no lock on the cap. The flap closes fully (it's not like the cap protrudes so much it stops the flap from closing or anything), but be honest I haven't tested if the C/L locks the fuel tank properly.
I tried cleaning the cap and the outside of the filler neck with a paper towel right before creating this thread because it was the only thing I could think of , it looked clean at first sight afterwards but still didn't work, but after reading your replies I gave it another chance. I thought I got most of the grime the first time, so was surprised to find quite a bit more. It seems to be closing better now, like it can actually manage a click before getting stuck, which is a relief.
I need to wait for the weekend to be able to go to a place where I can comfortably clean even more carefully. In case it still feels dodgy, I will try obtaining another cap (I'm currently in continental Europe, so meeting someone from here is probably not an option). I'll update when I can, but it's going to be embarrassing if that's all it was
I know nothing about cars, but I inherited a Mk2. It needed a respray and some work on first areas of rust, and there was no way I could do it myself, so I paid someone else to do it. And they did a bit of a crappy job re-assembling it. With a lot of effort I've already managed to fix some things, but another one came to light that worries me.
I've noticed that after I got my car back, the gas cap doesn't skip & click. It just stops turning at some point without making a single click. Everything I've managed to find online says something along the lines of "some part must be rusted", but as I mentioned my car just had body repairs and I'm really hoping that's not the case... Do you have any advice on what could the problem be, and what I could check/try to fix it on my own? Is it possible with limited tools and facilities (no pit to get under the car) or should I take it somewhere? Could it just be the cap itself or something?
, it looked clean at first sight afterwards but still didn't work, but after reading your replies I gave it another chance. I thought I got most of the grime the first time, so was surprised to find quite a bit more. It seems to be closing better now, like it can actually manage a click before getting stuck, which is a relief.