Hi Folks, question about keyless entry

[nitrous]

Following a recent theft of our Lexus (with keyless entry), we ordered some faraday pouches and decided to test them with my 2016 Model S

With the key in the pouch, I touched the door handle and to my surprise, the door opened.
The key was not detected inside the car, so I was not (fortunately) able to start the care but I decided to do a little test.

Bottom line is, without a key, touching the door handles opens the door. Effectively, my car is unlocked all the time.

Have I inadvertently set an option to leave the car unlocked all the time?
I hadn't noticed it before but honestly, I never checked. I only assumed that the car was secure.

Thanks,
Doug

 

[DerbyDave]

The Tesla Bluetooth is likely connecting to your phone as you approach. You can unlock the car without your keys if you have a phone with service. Try turning your phone off. PS - I have my car not lock at several locations, like home.

 

[nitrous]

The Tesla Bluetooth is likely connecting to your phone as you approach. You can unlock the car without your keys if you have a phone with service. Try turning your phone off. PS - I have my car not lock at several locations, like home.

you might rethink your security if someone takes your car in the middle of the night

But more to the point - no, it isn't a blue tooth phone issue. I just went out, nothing in my pockets.... door handle promptly appears when I touch it. Not good

 

[mswlogo]

you might rethink your security if someone takes your car in the middle of the night

But more to the point - no, it isn't a blue tooth phone issue. I just went out, nothing in my pockets.... door handle promptly appears when I touch it. Not good

Well first of all your car doesn’t have Bluetooth based locking.

Do you have your car set to lock when you walk away? Does the horn beep? Both are options on my Refresh S and Raven X.

There is an option on newer cars to not lock at home.

I don’t know what’s an option on a 2016. You may have a defect if basic locking doesn’t work.

 

[DerbyDave]

With walk away locking...

Note: If Model S detects an authenticated key
for five minutes after you exit the vehicle and
close all doors, Walk-Away Lock disables and
will not lock when you leave with the key. You
will need to manually lock your vehicle until
after your next drive.
Note: If all doors are closed and you use the
key to unlock Model S, walk away locking is
temporarily suspended for one minute. If you
open a door within this minute, it does not relock
until after all the doors are closed and
you have walked away with the key.
Note: If your vehicle was unlocked using the
mobile app, it automatically locks after a short
period of time with all doors closed. If parking
in an area without cellular service, such as an
indoor parking garage, ensure that you have a
functional key fob readily available.

 

[mswlogo]

With walk away locking...

Note: If Model S detects an authenticated key
for five minutes after you exit the vehicle and
close all doors, Walk-Away Lock disables and
will not lock when you leave with the key. You
will need to manually lock your vehicle until
after your next drive.
Note: If all doors are closed and you use the
key to unlock Model S, walk away locking is
temporarily suspended for one minute. If you
open a door within this minute, it does not relock
until after all the doors are closed and
you have walked away with the key.
Note: If your vehicle was unlocked using the
mobile app, it automatically locks after a short
period of time with all doors closed. If parking
in an area without cellular service, such as an
indoor parking garage, ensure that you have a
functional key fob readily available.

Good info. On Refresh (or 3/Y) no Cellular service is needed for walk away locking with your phone. It’s all Bluetooth based and pretty much works like a FOB would.

 

[nitrous]

Well, 20 minutes on the phone with Tesla resolved the issue.

There is an option that must be specifically enabled that "locks the doors when leaving the car with the key fob". mine was not enabled. I did not disable it.

Seems to me that this might not be a "feature" that everyone is aware of. I asked the support agent how you lock and unlock the car door if this 'feature' is disabled and he said "just push the top of the fob once and the car will lock"

The other thing I noticed when I enabled this feature (and left the area with my key fob) was that when the handles retracted, the mirrors also folded back.

Well, problem solved, luckily before my car was stolen. Unfortunately, there seems to be a 60 second delay before the handles retract. Given the current state of affairs with "relay attacks" and car jacking, this might be a "feature" that should be adjustable.

Thanks everyone.

Doug

 

[nitrous]

just an update. Being relatively new to the Tesla Model S (2016 - purchased new! ) I guess this is something everyone knows... but when you push the key fob 'roof' once, the car instantly locks. Ok, now we've got the 30 seconds exit delay solved to reduce the risk of loss of contents of the car when at a shopping mall.

I really think that one of the down sides of such an "automatic" vehicle is that you start to imagine it does everything "the way you think it should". Dangerous to imagine that just because the handles retract, the car is locked. Ugh!

Like switching to the Lexus from the Tesla, you have to pay much more attention to things that the Tesla automatically takes care of. Blind spots... lane centering etc. At least in my '87 Alfa Spider I'm under no illusions about what it will do for me in terms of driver assist.