Is PAAK really good now?

[mkhuffman]

4. When I get in the car, I (try to remember) to put the phone on the wireless charging pad or the space next to it. When there, it always starts.

I call it the the magic charging pad because prior to updating my software modules, this is exactly what I had to do to get the car to reliably detect my PaaK. Since I updated all my modules, my phone is usually in my left jacket pocket (or left front pants pocket) and it works without any issues. You should not need to put it in on the magic charging pad, but if it works for you, great!

Sponsored

 

[SteveRVaught]

PAAK has been a failure onmy First Edition. At the dealer so many times and for overnight sleepovers so that the factory can provide solutions that we both agreed that if they gave me a second fob we will call it even for now.

 

[ChasingCoral]

PAAK has been nearly perfect for me, but I think to a large degree, I've bent to its will. I do all of the following which shouldn't be necessary, but it results in PAAK working almost every time.

1. I keep FordPass running. I'm constantly bringing it up to keep it loaded on my iPhone. If FordPass terminates because it hasn't been touched in a while, PAAK suffers. If it's raining outside, I'll make FordPass the active application on the screen before I head out the door.

2. I keep the phone in my hand as I approach the car or it's in my front pants or jacket pocket. The car should "see" the phone without having my sizable ass in the way.

3. I approach the car at a normal speed. If I run-up on the car, there might not be enough time for the handshake to happen. (This is of course bad in an emergency situation. That's what the gun is for.)

4. When I get in the car, I (try to remember) to put the phone on the wireless charging pad or the space next to it. When there, it always starts. When in my jacket pocket, it usually starts. When in my front pants pocket, it sometimes starts. This usually ends-up with me leaning back hard in the seat after pressing the Power button with one foot on the brake to push myself up enough to get my giant assed phone out of my pocket. (This, I'm also convinced, is what sometimes causes the "half-slide" of the driver's seat into position. I'm putting so much weight against it and bracing my leg to get my phone out that the motor says "nope" before it burns out and just stops trying.)

I realize other people might have absolutely legitimate module problems or there's something up with their phones or there's some other hardware problem. I'm just listing these steps out because they work for me.

I remember an old story about Sylvester Stallone in his prime. He was apparently furious that he had to point the television remote directly at the TV to get it to change channels. He was shouting, "I should be able to point it over here, or over here, and it should be strong enough to change the channel wherever I point it!" He would then make his assistant get fresh batteries to put into it. I just feel reading these PAAK woes that some (not all, not YOU, of course) people are a little like Stallone here. "My phone is in my bag, which is on my shoulder, and yeah, there's a MacBook Pro between the two, but SO WHAT? It's close by. It should know! No, I haven't launched FordPass this week...what the hell for?! It should just work!"

...but like I said, nobody here would ever be like that. Ever.

Good reminder. The only thing I would add is that I wake up the phone (tap the iPhone screen to bring it to life) as I approach the car. If I don't remember to do this, about half the time I have to fish the phone out of my pocket to do this.

 

[Bullitt_&_MME]

Mine has been flawless for me. I’ve taken several hundred mile road trips as well as daily it with no fob. The fob hasn’t left my key rack in months other than for a update at a dealership that they required the fob for. Other than that PaaK has been my only means of driving the car. It’s been wonderful.

Same! Received car on 11/11 and literally NO issues.

 

[Davedough]

It's just not needed in my life. It's a nice feature if its working for people, but my keychain literally consists of my fob and a beer bottle opener. That's it. I don't even have a house key because I come in through the garage. It's not that much of an inconvenience to carry the fob which works flawlessly every time and I don't have to pull it out of my pocket to wake it up.

There, is that a long enough post to satisfy the poll requirement I chose?

 

[zhackwyatt]

I I don't even have a house key because I come in through the garage.

Me too until those few times that my garage door opener broke

I don't have to pull it out of my pocket to wake it up.

I'm beginning to think that may be an iPhone thing as I don't have to do that.

 

[zhackwyatt]

PAAK has been a failure onmy First Edition. At the dealer so many times and for overnight sleepovers so that the factory can provide solutions that we both agreed that if they gave me a second fob we will call it even for now.

Do you have the SW updates installed on the car? That's the key differentiator.

 

[Davedough]

Me too until those few times that my garage door opener broke

I have a clicker in the center console as a backup, I have Homelink setup in my car, my garage has a keypad on the outside and I have a phone app. I've got the garage covered if any one of those malfunction. If they all fail, my house has no power, but my security system has a battery backup that's linked to the smart deadbolts. I know I'm an outlier, but its damn near impossible for me to get locked out.

 

[skiingj]

PAAK has been a failure onmy First Edition. At the dealer so many times and for overnight sleepovers so that the factory can provide solutions that we both agreed that if they gave me a second fob we will call it even for now.

Some people have been able to get Ford Corporate to provide a second fob or they received a $500 gift card for PaaK issues. Good luck.

 

[AzCoronaDog]

In my experience PaaK has always been really good.
(Compared to getting Polio.)

Mine is still pretty flaky, and I think our car is very up to date software wise. It is the wife's commuter, so I don't drive it much, but if I don't get the fob from her, I almost always have to open the App and do something like unlock the doors to get it to play. It has beat me down to the point it has become a Stockholm Syndrome scenario at this point, because the car is pretty great otherwise!

 

[HuntingPudel]

<snip>
I know I'm an outlier, but its damn near impossible for me to get locked out.

It is totally impossible for me to be locked out of my house. I carry my picks (and my keys) everywhere. ??

 

[tjk]

Any tips for keeping the app running on IOS? I keep having to open the app again.

 

[zhackwyatt]

I have a clicker in the center console as a backup, I have Homelink setup in my car, my garage has a keypad on the outside and I have a phone app. I've got the garage covered if any one of those malfunction. If they all fail, my house has no power, but my security system has a battery backup that's linked to the smart deadbolts. I know I'm an outlier, but its damn near impossible for me to get locked out.

I was referring to the opener itself..., gears got stripped one time. Another the main spring broke.

 

[zhackwyatt]

In my experience PaaK has always been really good.
(Compared to getting Polio.)

Mine is still pretty flaky, and I think our car is very up to date software wise. It is the wife's commuter, so I don't drive it much, but if I don't get the fob from her, I almost always have to open the App and do something like unlock the doors to get it to play. It has beat me down to the point it has become a Stockholm Syndrome scenario at this point, because the car is pretty great otherwise!

If you didn't explicitly go to a dealer and get 21P22 then these modules didn't get updated. I don't know when new cars coming from the factory got the update. @DevSecOps Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Logal727]

Almost works too well for me, my car lights up from 30 ft. Away and through walls, have to go to the other side of my house since car is in garage for it to disconnect from BT in FP

Sponsored