A burglary uncured as a result of a software error

[ReelSweet]

I have had walk away sometimes not work with PAAK or with another person getting out after me. I see the former as a bug (but it's gotten a lot better with later RFA updates) but the latter is just how Ford did the compromises in logic with this feature.

I have trained my lizard brain to listen for the horn honk when I walk away from the car and I'm expecting it to be locked. I also have done away with most FordPass notifications on my Android phone (or made them silent) but I have a loud distinctive notification sound for the FordPass walk away notification. These basically have solved these quirks for me, I've not had an instance where my car was left unlocked since then, and I think the tradeoffs of having walkaway locking on are worth it (as I'm more-often than not driving alone).

Sorry this happened OP.

I do exactly what scoopman posted above......horn honk indicator means it's locked. Lizard brain gave me a chuckle.

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[Maquis]

I prefer my burglaries to be “cured.”

 

[RMoore]

Lizard brain gave me a chuckle.

Me too--a common Jack Reacher phrase so maybe @scoopman is a fan.

 

[lbj]

Wow, this sucks and is not how I would expect it to work. Being that I do not use walk away lock and how I was indoctrinated into always locking doors as a child (hyper-paranoid master locksmith for a father), I always manually lock the car before closing the door. Sorry to hear you were burglarized. ??

Sorry to the OP that this happened. I am another luddite that doesn't use walk away lock. One reason is that our other vehicle (2018 F150) doesn't automatically lock, so I want to minimize the different behaviors for different vehicles.

 

[veronicablack]

I have a loud distinctive notification sound for the FordPass walk away notification.

Oh man I wish I could do custom notification noises for certain notifications on iOS.

SIde note, if this actually *is* possible on iOS and I'm just unaware, it'd be much appreciated for someone to give me the heads up.

 

[RyZt]

I don’t think this is a bug. It’s called “walk-away lock” because the car locks when you walk away. If you didn’t take the action of “walk away” after all doors are closed, the car shouldn’t lock itself.

It would have a different name if the car locks itself when all doors are closed and no key is detected inside. I think GM has a feature called “Passive locking” which does this.

There are definitely pros and cons with either approach. You may disagree with Ford’s choice, but it’s not a big.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

My truck will lock itself if it has been parked and left alone for a certain amount of time. It doesn't matter the order in which the doors are closed. It will also lock itself if it is remotely unlocked and no doors are opened within a short amount of time.

I appreciate both features.

I wouldn't mind if the Mustang would lock itself if all doors have been closed and it's been left alone for a short, configurable amount of time.

We turned off PAAK because the Mustang unlocks itself too eagerly, particularly in the scenario of being parked near our motel room.

 

[SnBGC]

This one doesn’t.

If you open the tail gate, walk away lock doesn’t work.

Car probably assumes (and rightfully so) you are loading or unloading the vehicle and don’t want it to keep locking each time you take groceries, bags, kids, etc out of the car.

To clarify....
If you open the liftgate and leave it open then walk away lock will not work. However if you open and then close the liftgate then walk away lock works still.

 

[generaltso]

We turned off PAAK because the Mustang unlocks itself too eagerly, particularly in the scenario of being parked near our motel room.

It doesn’t unlock unless you push a button to open a door. Is it just the approach lighting that you’re seeing?

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

It doesn’t unlock unless you push a button to open a door. Is it just the approach lighting that you’re seeing?

No. I tested it. It both never locked and randomly unlocked when it was parked close to the motel room.

 

[PaulP]

On my previous cars, the doors would lock automatically after a certain time only if I unlocked the doors and didn't open any door. As soon as I opened a door or the trunk, the car would stay unlocked until I locked the doors. I expect the same from my MME. In this case, I think it's not a bug, the walk away feature won't work if someone is using the car.

Let's say I go inside a store with my phone, but my wife is getting a snack for the kids from the trunk, which remains open when I walk away. I expect the MME to keep the doors unlocked when she closes the trunk or she would be locked outside the car with the kids inside the car. I won't leave my phone in the car at all times to prevent this issue. I say it works as expected. There should be a separate setting to lock the cars when it sleeps for more than X minutes.

 

[Mach1E]

On my previous cars, the doors would lock automatically after a certain time only if I unlocked the doors and didn't open any door. As soon as I opened a door or the trunk, the car would stay unlocked until I locked the doors. I expect the same from my MME. In this case, I think it's not a bug, the walk away feature won't work if someone is using the car.

Let's say I go inside a store with my phone, but my wife is getting a snack for the kids from the trunk, which remains open when I walk away. I expect the MME to keep the doors unlocked when she closes the trunk or she would be locked outside the car with the kids inside the car. I won't leave my phone in the car at all times to prevent this issue. I say it works as expected. There should be a separate setting to lock the cars when it sleeps for more than X minutes.

And if it did that (locked after X minutes), how would you ever leave the car unlocked for extended periods of time?

There are currently 6 different ways to lock the doors right now. Is that not enough?

Fob
App
Walk away
Door pad
Lock button inside door
Lock button outside door

 

[jglor]

There are currently 6 different ways to lock the doors right now. Is that not enough?

Fob
App
Walk away
Door pad
Lock button inside door
Lock button outside door

And yet, of all of these, walk-away is the only one that will not actually lock if any of the doors are open. All of the rest will still lock the doors, even if some of them are open.

 

[67 Stang Convertible]

For those of you that still let the car double honk at you every time you leave the car, you are better people than me!!! That, IMO, was the most annoying feature and was overjoyed to find the setting to turn that off. How loud is that horn in a closed garage? It'd wake the dead!!!

I still get the rare double honk when I (PAAK) get in the car, don't have my phone opened; the car turns on normally and I can drive it but the error message "No Key Detected" pops on the screen. And if I leave the car for some reason or get out after my destination, I get the double honk.

***Question: Does your car act "Normally" when using your PAAK if your phone is not actively on? (ie. in screen save mode)

Sorry for the OP. Interesting quandary, I do believe most of the modern cars I've owned would eventually lock after a few min of no activity.

 

[generaltso]

I still get the rare double honk when I (PAAK) get in the car, don't have my phone opened; the car turns on normally and I can drive it but the error message "No Key Detected" pops on the screen. And if I leave the car for some reason or get out after my destination, I get the double honk.

You can turn that off with FORScan.

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