67 Stang Convertible

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Dealer agreed to get me an extra Fob. Went there and there was some aftermarket van parked in the back. His Van advertised $75 fobs with programming. I was concerned. He hooked up his machine and with in a minute; called his boss. Unhooked his machine and said; sorry can't do it "the software is too new". I went back to the dealer and explained; he finally agreed to pony up for a 2nd Fob. It was ordered, arrived 3 days later and programmed. So now I have 2 Fobs. I am scheduled Monday for the software patch for PAAK. The scariest part is letting my 18 year old daughter drive it to the dealer and back as I'm working Mon - Fri.


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RockwallRick

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Dealer agreed to get me an extra Fob. Went there and there was some aftermarket van parked in the back. His Van advertised $75 fobs with programming. I was concerned. He hooked up his machine and with in a minute; called his boss. Unhooked his machine and said; sorry can't do it "the software is too new". I went back to the dealer and explained; he finally agreed to pony up for a 2nd Fob. It was ordered, arrived 3 days later and programmed. So now I have 2 Fobs. I am scheduled Monday for the software patch for PAAK. The scariest part is letting my 18 year old daughter drive it to the dealer and back as I'm working Mon - Fri.


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Congrats on getting the 2nd FOB!! We are still waiting!
 

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I asked my dealer and they said they had no reports of PaaK issues and weren't providing a second fob. Though they did offer a discount if I wanted to purchase one.
 

67 Stang Convertible

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I asked my dealer and they said they had no reports of PaaK issues and weren't providing a second fob. Though they did offer a discount if I wanted to purchase one.
I'm finding the dealers are either uneducated on this car or just typical "Car Dealers"..... Money over customer service. Probably the later. When the issue came up I received initial resistance. So, I sent my sales rep an email with the link to the forum for PAAK issues thread. BTW why don't you ask the dealer why there is a software patch for a problem that does not exist. :)

I will say it seems my dealer is much better (although I did deal directly with the GM) than what I'm reading about other dealers on the forum around the country.
 

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There's a lot of discussion about the PAAK. Some say it just doesn't work or is not reliable. I say that it just needs to be coaxed into working. To this point I can say that my key fob hasn't left the drawer at home since I got my Mach E in April.

Background: I work in tech. I know that there are many ways to get things to work. I like to tinker and because of that I can get things to work that the rest of my family can't. Actually they could if they were more patient and creative but they know they can just call me for tech support.

Also having been in software development for decades I know that software has bugs. I often tell my staff that any program with more than 3 lines of code in it has bugs, we just haven't encountered them yet. Knowing this allows me to be more tolerant and patient than most.

The PAAK is technology. It requires connectivity between an app on the phone and the car, both of which may be asleep at any time. I'd like walk up to the car with the phone in my pocket the hope is that the two devices wake up and talk to each other then unlock the door. That's the dream. But that doesn't always happen. As a result I have a checklist of ways to get the PAAK to work.

Aside: Ford has a lot of work to do on the FordPass app so that we can avoid all this nonsense. Option 1 should work 100% of the time.

Here's what I do in this order... (Note: My PAAK is a Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra)

  1. If I walk up and see the outside lighting turn on I'm golden. I know the door will unlock. I presume this is what we all expect but this happens less than 50% of the time so I can see where people think the PAAK is a failure.

  2. If the above doesn't work I will approach the car and press on the unlock button. Maybe several times. Often I'll hear relays clicking in the car and eventually the circle will glow. This works pretty often.

  3. Next I'll open and unlock my phone. This alone will sometimes cause the two to connect and unlock the car.

  4. Open the app. The app may have been in deep asleep, my phone may have been recently rebooted (in which case the app isn't running) or have been force closed. In that case the two aren't talking at all. Opening the app will cause them to handshake and the car will unlock. Aside: The FordPass app will force close itself at least 2 or 3 times per day. It's the only app on my phone that does this. Ford needs to fix this.

  5. Force close and re-open the app. If #4 doesn't work it may be because the app is in a state that it just won't connect. Force closing it will restart the app and reset it.

  6. Use the keypad on the outside of the driver's door to gain entry. This will wake up the car. Once inside the car the two devices will talk to each other and proceed as normal.

  7. Reboot the phone. This is the extreme measure and I only had to do this once but the car was less than a week old and I didn't know about the items above. I've never had to do this again.

  8. There may be other things that you have done successfully, please comment below..

  9. Caveat: These two devices talk to each other via bluetooth and wifi. There are a lot of other devices that can screw up this communication depending on where you live. I live in a single family dwelling in the suburbs. If you live in a high density housing area you may have more problems..

Using the above list I've never had the PAAK fail. But, of course, fail is a relative term. If your expectation is that #1 should work each and every time then for you the PAAK is a failure to you and you should keep that fob in your pocket or purse all the time. But I'm confident that I can get the PAAK to work 100% of the time, every time without fail.
What does it mean when you walk up to the car and it lights up and it still won't unlock? Which step do I go to? Also, after being stranded 100 yards from my driveway and a total fail of Paak, I never leave home without the Ford key in my pocket. But, sometimes the doors don't unlock with the Ford key in my pocket OR with me waving the ford key around in my hand.

I understand software has bugs and has to be worked on continually, but this is the first time I've spent $53,500 to buy into a consumer beta program.
 


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Nice info, my phone is an old LG, which could be some of my issues, but have been playing with PAAK at the house more, still not there to leave home without a FOB, but also we have house keys to take along so leaving the FOB behind really isn't helpful.
 

iam-s-Hon

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PAAK works great for me as well and here's my routine.

iPhone XR. I open the app and leave it showing, car wakes up and entry made. No issues if I do this every time. I don't like the phone in my pocket when sitting so this works for me and has become my standard routine with it.

If the phone is in my pocket, it can be spotty. If the app isn't open and showing on the screen it can also be spotty.

Is this how Ford intended for this to work, I don't know ?‍♂ Could there be an improvement here, probably.

I'm happy with at this point tho
This is about same for me. Sometimes a bit slower than most to recognize me (and iPhone 8) as I approach. Only a handful of times have I needed to use the pillar + backup start code. Most recently, 1) went out for an errand using PAAK, inside the store and in sight of MME for a few minutes and then PAAK did not work when I left. 2) forgot to open app (didn't drive for a day), was in parking garage and PAAK failed & couldn't even use the pillar. Walked outside, restarted FordPass and returned to an OK PAAK. Go figure.
 

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There's a lot of discussion about the PAAK. Some say it just doesn't work or is not reliable. I say that it just needs to be coaxed into working. To this point I can say that my key fob hasn't left the drawer at home since I got my Mach E in April.

Background: I work in tech. I know that there are many ways to get things to work. I like to tinker and because of that I can get things to work that the rest of my family can't. Actually they could if they were more patient and creative but they know they can just call me for tech support.

Also having been in software development for decades I know that software has bugs. I often tell my staff that any program with more than 3 lines of code in it has bugs, we just haven't encountered them yet. Knowing this allows me to be more tolerant and patient than most.

The PAAK is technology. It requires connectivity between an app on the phone and the car, both of which may be asleep at any time. I'd like walk up to the car with the phone in my pocket the hope is that the two devices wake up and talk to each other then unlock the door. That's the dream. But that doesn't always happen. As a result I have a checklist of ways to get the PAAK to work.

Aside: Ford has a lot of work to do on the FordPass app so that we can avoid all this nonsense. Option 1 should work 100% of the time.

Here's what I do in this order... (Note: My PAAK is a Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra)

  1. If I walk up and see the outside lighting turn on I'm golden. I know the door will unlock. I presume this is what we all expect but this happens less than 50% of the time so I can see where people think the PAAK is a failure.

  2. If the above doesn't work I will approach the car and press on the unlock button. Maybe several times. Often I'll hear relays clicking in the car and eventually the circle will glow. This works pretty often.

  3. Next I'll open and unlock my phone. This alone will sometimes cause the two to connect and unlock the car.

  4. Open the app. The app may have been in deep asleep, my phone may have been recently rebooted (in which case the app isn't running) or have been force closed. In that case the two aren't talking at all. Opening the app will cause them to handshake and the car will unlock. Aside: The FordPass app will force close itself at least 2 or 3 times per day. It's the only app on my phone that does this. Ford needs to fix this.

  5. Force close and re-open the app. If #4 doesn't work it may be because the app is in a state that it just won't connect. Force closing it will restart the app and reset it.

  6. Use the keypad on the outside of the driver's door to gain entry. This will wake up the car. Once inside the car the two devices will talk to each other and proceed as normal.

  7. Reboot the phone. This is the extreme measure and I only had to do this once but the car was less than a week old and I didn't know about the items above. I've never had to do this again.

  8. There may be other things that you have done successfully, please comment below..

  9. Caveat: These two devices talk to each other via bluetooth and wifi. There are a lot of other devices that can screw up this communication depending on where you live. I live in a single family dwelling in the suburbs. If you live in a high density housing area you may have more problems..

Using the above list I've never had the PAAK fail. But, of course, fail is a relative term. If your expectation is that #1 should work each and every time then for you the PAAK is a failure to you and you should keep that fob in your pocket or purse all the time. But I'm confident that I can get the PAAK to work 100% of the time, every time without fail.
I'm sorry, but I think you clearly described that it does not work as intended.
That you have to stand in pouring rain and restart the app, then restart the phone etc. that is a fail to me.
 

leeman

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Honestly I've noticed that with many Ford cars where if the device you want to connect to any electronics whether it be the old or 2017 1819 or 2020 Ford flexes Ford escapes Ford explores etc. it always works better if the phone is closer to the device so it's in your right pocket or next to the Center consul it always works better I find this even with wireless CarPlay in the older models etc. so it's definitely something with the sink system and the way they have their Bluetooth set up. I honestly don't believe the updates will completely fix it they need to actually place better Bluetooth receiver locations.
 

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What does it mean when you walk up to the car and it lights up and it still won't unlock? Which step do I go to? Also, after being stranded 100 yards from my driveway and a total fail of Paak, I never leave home without the Ford key in my pocket. But, sometimes the doors don't unlock with the Ford key in my pocket OR with me waving the ford key around in my hand.

I understand software has bugs and has to be worked on continually, but this is the first time I've spent $53,500 to buy into a consumer beta program.
It has been posited that having the fob and a PaaK on you at the same time can cause conflicts with the MME. With all of the problems you are reporting I would ditch PaaK completely for the time being and just go with the fob. YMMV.
 

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Make sure to vote in my survey in the signature link. Right now the works great or I can deal with it seems to be acceptable to most respondence.
 

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There's a lot of discussion about the PAAK. Some say it just doesn't work or is not reliable. I say that it just needs to be coaxed into working. To this point I can say that my key fob hasn't left the drawer at home since I got my Mach E in April.

... snip
I'm confident that I can get the PAAK to work 100% of the time, every time without fail.
Once I finally coaxed the MME to recognize and accept my (not that old) Samsung Galaxy 7 so I could SET a BackupStartCode; I've left the key fob in the drawer.

*most* of the time PAAK re-connects as I walk up and FP is re-starting, because I have been doing a 'force stop' on FordPass app when I walk away to avoid the App eating my phone battery when I'm parked and not driving.

Sometimes I have to wait for the door to unlock, and sometimes I have to wait 10 seconds or so after I set the phone in the center tray on the inductive charge side, and wait again, or push 'start' again after a short wait. I've settled into the pattern of entry, set phone in tray, buckle up, and then start car to give it time to connect
 

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What does it mean when you walk up to the car and it lights up and it still won't unlock? Which step do I go to? Also, after being stranded 100 yards from my driveway and a total fail of Paak, I never leave home without the Ford key in my pocket. But, sometimes the doors don't unlock with the Ford key in my pocket OR with me waving the ford key around in my hand.

I understand software has bugs and has to be worked on continually, but this is the first time I've spent $53,500 to buy into a consumer beta program.
walking up to it the courtesy lights come on but it won't unlock until you hit the unlock on the key fob, the door or the phone,
 

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my car is at the dealer now second attempt at Paak to work for my S21 Ultra. IMO you should not have to to do any of the routines mentioned at the beginning of this thread for this option to be viable. My wife has a Apple 12 I think and it seems to work almost all the time. I feel like I'm at the point where I need to balance on my head and rub my belly at the same time to get this to work and that is way too much effort!
 

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The FOB always works. Why? We always have a FOB with us.
PAAK/FordPass/Sync4 always entails a battle. It may or may not sometimes work if you are victorious. Why?
No good reason to have to fight anything you have purchased, expecting it to work.
Incredibly, my MME works with a FOB, even though I carry my cellular telephone (I have Apple Music and Spotify for music on the cellular device. I enjoy listening to music). Still have to (often) do battle with FordPass to connect. FordPass freezes my phone and consumes unreasonable amounts of phone battery. FordPass/PAAK has fortunately, up to now , not shut me down completely. No such problem with Bolt - it always works.
Of course Android Auto cannot be used in MME (only Bluetooth works). No such problem with Chevy App.
Yes, I know Ford is not a software company, but how many years are required to get it working?
Once again the refrain,
Here we sit like birds in the wilderness
Birds in the wilderness
Birds in the wilderness
Waiting for our cigars
Bluecruise, anything other than basic cruise control, Active Drive Assist ($100 deposit!!), etc. should obviously not be engaged.
Don't leave home without it (FOB).
My MME works great with a FOB. I know, sacrilegious, but healthy.
Happy days driving in your MMe
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