Inexplicably phone as a key reset leaving me stranded miles away from home

[TMartz]

I was up visiting my brand new grandbaby yesterday about 50 miles from where I live where my daughter and family were in the hospital with the newborn. Inexplicably I get a notification by email as well as the Ford Pass App that the phone as a key feature reset and that I could only operate the vehicle now with a remote. I have used phone as a key since I purchased the vehicle and have never had such a problem and luck has it it reset my phone as a key a significant distance from home. Completely stranded! I called Ford customer service and to say I got a run around would be a very strong understatement. I ultimately hung up on them in complete exasperation. I had to incur the expense and the inconvenience of getting home some 50 plus miles away! I had to drive back today with my wife (and the remote) and successfully drove the car home. The fact that such an incident like this can happen has created a complete lack of confidence in the phone as a key feature! A hard lesson learned in that is always, and I mean always carry the remote control. Another sour experience with with fordpass! I remain incredulous of the fact that Ford cannot find some consistency in the Ford Pass App!! This would force me to really rethink whether I would purchase another Ford again. Overall I love the vehicle but the Ford Pass App to me is an integral part of vehicle ownership and there is such a level of ineptitude associated with the app!

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[Scarpia]

Sorry to hear, that is a terrible experience.
I'm an outlier, but I was never remotely interested in PAAK and immediately dismissed it as an option. Carrying the fob is no big deal, been doing that for years, and unless PAAK was 100.000% foolproof, it just wasn't worth the risk and inconvenience of it not working.

It became clear very quickly that it isn't 100.000% foolproof.

 

[Maquis]

Keep a fob hidden in the car, either in a faraday bag or with the battery removed. And remember your door code.

 

[Snakebitten]

I'll be impressed if I only have to put the battery in the FOB once in 3 years, but I WILL have it in the vehicle sans battery.
PAAK is awesome. But it's a hard fail if it fails.

 

[TMartz]

The notification I received stated, not only PAAK reset but ALSO backup start up code AND door panel code! I was wiped clean!

 

[Peugfan]

So do you mean that when your PAAK reset it deleted the backup start passcode? You did have a backup pass code setup, right? I'm trying to understand if resetting PAAK is the same as deleting your PAAK.

I do have a door entry code, backup pass code, and a spare FOB in a Faraday bag (hidden) to try to prevent getting stranded.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

The notification I received stated, not only PAAK reset but ALSO backup start up code AND door panel code! I was wiped clean!

I’ve never heard of something quite like this. If you keep a fob and battery somewhere in the car plus keep the factory door code on your phone, you’ll be good to go if this ever happens again.

You should not have to though.

 

[Sikkun]

Sorry to hear, that is a terrible experience.
I'm an outlier, but I was never remotely interested in PAAK and immediately dismissed it as an option. Carrying the fob is no big deal, been doing that for years, and unless PAAK was 100.000% foolproof, it just wasn't worth the risk and inconvenience of it not working.

It became clear very quickly that it isn't 100.000% foolproof.

Would assume fob also not 100% foolproof if that is the criteria.

 

[Scarpia]

Would assume fob also not 100% foolproof if that is the criteria.

Well, I suppose nothing in life is 100% foolproof, but the fob is as close as it gets. One of my spares that I use when the car is in the garage gave me a "Battery low - replace soon" for a couple of weeks until I replaced it. That's the only thing I would seriously worry about if I'm out and about.
And, as others have mentioned, the door code is a great backup. I think that is a VERY underrated feature of Fords.

 

[ChasingCoral]

I was up visiting my brand new grandbaby yesterday about 50 miles from where I live where my daughter and family were in the hospital with the newborn. Inexplicably I get a notification by email as well as the Ford Pass App that the phone as a key feature reset and that I could only operate the vehicle now with a remote. I have used phone as a key since I purchased the vehicle and have never had such a problem and luck has it it reset my phone as a key a significant distance from home. Completely stranded! I called Ford customer service and to say I got a run around would be a very strong understatement. I ultimately hung up on them in complete exasperation. I had to incur the expense and the inconvenience of getting home some 50 plus miles away! I had to drive back today with my wife (and the remote) and successfully drove the car home. The fact that such an incident like this can happen has created a complete lack of confidence in the phone as a key feature! A hard lesson learned in that is always, and I mean always carry the remote control. Another sour experience with with fordpass! I remain incredulous of the fact that Ford cannot find some consistency in the Ford Pass App!! This would force me to really rethink whether I would purchase another Ford again. Overall I love the vehicle but the Ford Pass App to me is an integral part of vehicle ownership and there is such a level of ineptitude associated with the app!

Would the Ford Pass app unlock the car?

 

[MoonRiver]

Didn’t you have a password to start the car? Regardless phone as a key works or not what if your phone runs out of battery? My PAAK failed on me once but I used my password to drive. Never was the end of the world.

 

[TMartz]

See my previous post - ALL CODES were removed. See attached...

 

[TMartz]

Some very good advice above. I'll keep a key in vehicle (I have numerous Faraday pouches). While my programmed door code was also removed, I could have used the factory code (which I did have on the phone). I'm shocked that my call to Ford did not provide that guidance to use the factory code. My call history with Ford has been hit or miss - this was a MAJOR miss. Such little confidence in that call center!

 

[Mike G]

Some very good advice above. I'll keep a key in vehicle (I have numerous Faraday pouches). While my programmed door code was also removed, I could have used the factory code (which I did have on the phone). I'm shocked that my call to Ford did not provide that guidance to use the factory code. My call history with Ford has been hit or miss - this was a MAJOR miss. Such little confidence in that call center!

Saw your post and although my PAAK is still working...I did notice two days ago that when I went to unlock the driver's door using the keypad it refused to let me in. I was using the number combination that I had setup to use with all my vehicles. But no-go.

I'm wondering now if my custom door codes got erased as well as the backup start code. I guess I'll go find out this morning.

Thanks for the post and sorry you had to deal with this.

At the very least, somebody at Ford should be able to explain the genesis of the reset message you received. That sort of thing just shouldn't happen out of the blue without explanation.

I have done a master reset on Sync a few times and that message is the result. But why it would just happen to you like that is very strange.

 

[CameraCarl]

Sorry for your troubles. This is a good warning. Thank you. I'll always carry my key fob along.

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