A bug leaves your car unlocked

RedStallion

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Today I was unloading my car in the garage and while doing it I left the keyfob at home, at least 30 ft away from the car so it definitely could not sense it. I finished unloading within probably 5 minutes. Then pushed the button and trunk closed, as expected.
Then out of curiosity I pushed the door button and the door opened with no key. I thought the car may need some time to lock, so I tested 10 min later, and it opened again. Now after many hours later the car still can be opened without a keyfob or phone present.
I don't know yet if that is reproducible, but if it's a bug or by design then it's a serious flaw that may leave your car unlocked in public place and you wouldn't even know it.
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fob too far away to trigger the lock?
 

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If the car is unlocked it will open without a fob or PaaK. This is the way cars have been since the lock button pop-up thingy next to the window when I was a child.

My 2021 Audi is the same. If I leave it unlocked no key is needed to open it.

A few people here have commented on this before and they say that they have a habit of hitting the lock toggle on the door when exiting the car. I have folding mirrors on so I just walk away and look for the mirrors to be folded.

I'm not sure it's a bug. What do you want the car to do? I know some mfgs have auto-lock but many do not. Audi has 2 buttons on the trunk close, one with a lock and one without.

Lastly, many of us would like better notifications in FP, including the ability to see the vehicle lock status. My previous EV would notify in the app if the vehicle was left unlocked, which was nice, but it also was wrong 50% of the time.
 
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fob too far away to trigger the lock?
I did more experiments today. So basically when the fob goes out of range (about 10ft) and any of the doors (including trunk) are not closed at that moment, the doors remain unlocked indefinitely and no indication is given.
Imagine you left the car first and the other passenger a couple seconds later. By that time you walked away 10 ft from the car. The doors will remain unlocked.
 
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RedStallion

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If the car is unlocked it will open without a fob or PaaK. This is the way cars have been since the lock button pop-up thingy next to the window when I was a child.

My 2021 Audi is the same. If I leave it unlocked no key is needed to open it.

A few people here have commented on this before and they say that they have a habit of hitting the lock toggle on the door when exiting the car. I have folding mirrors on so I just walk away and look for the mirrors to be folded.

I'm not sure it's a bug. What do you want the car to do? I know some mfgs have auto-lock but many do not. Audi has 2 buttons on the trunk close, one with a lock and one without.
The car does have autolock when you leave. I always rely on that. But it won't activate it when the fob is out of range.
 


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The car does have autolock when you leave. I always rely on that. But it won't activate it when the fob is out of range.
Yes that's walk away, but it requires the device to be in range and then leave that range, which is not what happened by your description. Therefore if you opened the vehicle, walked away with the key and returned to close it without a key, walk away will not work.

Also, do not rely on walk away... it's buggy. Make sure it actually works.

Lastly, there's a bug that I proposed where if a door is open the vehicle will act like it's locking and give a lock confirmation while in reality it's not locked. It was specific to FP, but likely applies to all forms of locking.
 
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RedStallion

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Yes that's walk away, but it requires the device to be in range and then leave that range, which is not what happened by your description.

Also, do not rely on walk away... it's buggy. Make sure it actually works.
The problem is that walk away feature doesn't work when any of the doors are open an then closed when the fob is out of range. That presents a possibility of leaving the car indefinitely unlocked. I can't be sure, but my previous cars locked the doors a few seconds after they were all closed unless the fob was in proximity.
 

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The problem is that walk away feature doesn't work when any of the doors are open an then closed when the fob is out of range. That presents a possibility of leaving the car indefinitely unlocked. I can't be sure, but my previous cars locked the doors a few seconds after they were all closed unless the fob was in proximity.
I modified my post to include this example as you were typing your reply. Yes, this is the way the MME works. If the fob or PaaK is not in range it when doors are closed it will not auto-lock. It requires the fob to leave proximity while the doors are closed.

The door lock button on the B-Pillar also requires the key to be in range. Again, this is similar to other mfgs with the touch button on the door handle. Also something I've seen a few people complain about here.
 
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This doesn’t surprise me. Many cars just won’t lock with a door open and then require user action to lock once the door is closed. My Hondas all worked that way. I presumed it was to keep people from locking their keys in the car.
 

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The fob will reach a good distance if the conditions are right. As far as the doors not locking, I mean, do what you have done since you started driving.. Wait till everyone is out of the car then lock it or walk away...

I personally never leave the area of my car till I know everyone is out and its locked. I'm extremely OCD with this though. Even "old" cars if you try to lock the car with a door opened it won't lock. Or if you lock it and a person is still inside, if they unlock it then its going to remain unlocked. Really no difference.
 

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Got news for you, that fob will reach a couple of hundred feet...
That may be the case but that doesn't mean the car should unlock just by sensing the fob nearby. There are nearly a dozen RKE antennas on this car so it knows exactly where the key is. Here are several photos with the fob near the car. Fob near plug...no unlock. Fob in driveway...no unlock. Fob on fender....no unlock. Fob on top of car....no unlock. Fob on door handle....unlock.

It is pretty smart.

20220115_102938.jpg


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20220115_103031.jpg


20220115_103056.jpg


20220115_103123.jpg
 

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Yeah, it's not a bug, it's a feature that allows others to access your car while you walk away blissfully unaware that the car would do that to you.
You love you car, but does your car love you back?
You walked away without locking your car - it’s not the car’s fault.
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