Welcome to Tesla Motors Club
Discuss Tesla's Model S, Model 3, Model X, Model Y, Cybertruck, Roadster and More.
Register

Discount tire Got in my car without key 😮

This site may earn commission on affiliate links.
Yep - that's the most likely scenario.
BT range can vary from phone to phone, depending on the transmit power of the BT antenna in the phone. Most phones transmit at only 1-2.5 mW and get a sub-30 foot range. But there is nothing stopping them from transmitting at 5-10 mW. At 100 mW, your open-field range would be ~330 feet.

FWIW: I know my iPhone Max has long BT headphone range than my Pixel 7 Pro.
Both have longer BT range than the phones they had replaced last year.



Scr*w that - I'm not typing in a pin every time I get into the car.
Nor wroth it for me, not by a long shot. All for a corner case of someone sneaking it while I'm nearby.
That's what the insurance is for!



I don't worry because I have insurance!

a
I love how people are like Tesla is so innovative and tech forward that I don’t even need a key! So much easier to just get in and drive instead of carrying a key fob and pushing a crusty dusty start button like a dinosaur ICE vehicle!

Except the Bluetooth key system cannot accurately determine location of a key and walk away door lock is not always 100% trustworthy thereby making people enable PIN to drive for extra security and having to push several on screen buttons to start the car. 🙃
 
Getting off on a bit off topic but wanted to comment on other situations where one wouldn't want someone being able to drive our Model 3. I've had our Tesla in a "Show and Shine" car event a few times. Had the car unlocked so people could sit in it while I was nearby answering questions, etc. I had a concern that with Bluetooth active on my phone someone could put the car in gear and have it crash into something. (Something similar might be a concern if young kids were playing in the car.) For the car show scenario, decided to turn off Bluetooth on my phone in that situation and set up the Pin To Drive system.

For normal day to day use, I'll live with having Bluetooth active (and no PIN) for the sake of convenience. The risk seems pretty low (and if someone steals the car I can always track them with the Phone app 🙂 )
 
FWIW, Bluetooth range tops at 100 meters (330 ft) or so per spec. I can stream music from my computer into my backyard deck, which is 40 meters away and one story up no problem. Hopefully, the car has a strength threshold much higher than that to trigger the lock sequence.
 
I think there's some confusion with my last comment.

The "confirmation" I received was that they saw my phone + Bluetooth LOCKING the car. And an "authorized card" UNLOCKING the car.

The only thing this confirms is that the employee was able to get in with a card, and it had nothing to do with Bluetooth range.

The problem for me is that I am 1000000% certain I never gave him my card (even though Tesla insisted it was my authorized card). Even more so, the employee moved over to the other model 3 and also unlocked + drove away with that car.

Soooo... Either I'm crazy, which is what I've accepted at this point... Or somehow my car registered another key card as my own. I dunno I've given up and moved on for now with my new INconceniences for now. But I will test out other key cards any chance I get (to prove to myself I didn't imagine all of this lol)
 
Either I'm crazy, which is what I've accepted at this point... Or somehow my car registered another key card as my own.
Possibilities:
  • You gave them one of your cards to work on the car but forgot that. Presumably you can rule this out. How did they eventually drive the car?
  • The other card is somehow also configured as a key for your car. Check the car's list of keys.
  • The other card somehow matches your card's ID. You'd have to meet up with that driver to test this.
  • The service tech misinterpreted the logs.
  • Or???
 
  • Like
Reactions: XPsionic
For what it's worth, it seems from my discount tire employee experience right when I got the car to now, the sensitivity has turned down and the car seems to lock sooner and unlock later. Does anyone know if there is a calibration in the car that changes the more you use it?
 
Is it possible to purchase, set up and use the car without a bluetooth smartphone? I dont use a smartphone and prefer the simplicity and reliability of a basic keyfob. Always had various issues with Bluetooth with its bad reliability and security. Not sure why some people prefer it. Thanks
 
Is it possible to purchase, set up and use the car without a bluetooth smartphone? I dont use a smartphone and prefer the simplicity and reliability of a basic keyfob. Always had various issues with Bluetooth with its bad reliability and security. Not sure why some people prefer it. Thanks
You can use the included key card or purchase the key fob.
 
Is it possible to purchase, set up and use the car without a bluetooth smartphone? I dont use a smartphone and prefer the simplicity and reliability of a basic keyfob. Always had various issues with Bluetooth with its bad reliability and security. Not sure why some people prefer it. Thanks
Actually I don’t know about purchase. You have accept delivery in the app. You can probably ask the delivery center if it can be done without a smartphone. Or you can install the app on a iPad/tablet if you have one.
 
When i pull my car out of the garage to the driveway to wash it and then leave my phone on the shoe rack on the furthest interior part of the garage, the car will not start. Says key not detected. I'd say it's about 20 feet from back wall of garage to start of driveway. Then the car is another 10 or so feet further down driveway. So 30 feet +/- and my car will not detect phone key.

Also, more times than not, car won't unlock when i have phone in my back jean pocket. I need to take it out and hold it in my hand for the door to unlock. This can get annoying. Note: I use an iphone 14 pro
 
built-in RF blocking tech to protect your wallet\CC in the back pocket

Bedazzled-pockets-on-jeans-800x533.jpg
interesting... although that's a bit more styled/ bedazzled than i'm used to.
 
Is it possible to purchase, set up and use the car without a bluetooth smartphone? I dont use a smartphone and prefer the simplicity and reliability of a basic keyfob. Always had various issues with Bluetooth with its bad reliability and security. Not sure why some people prefer it. Thanks
You can use other keys but without the mobile app you'd have a big challenge interacting with Tesla Service, Roadside Assistance, Superchargers, setup, remote controls, etc. The app should work on a tablet or Chromebook but it'll need Internet access.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tm1v2
When i pull my car out of the garage to the driveway to wash it and then leave my phone on the shoe rack on the furthest interior part of the garage, the car will not start. Says key not detected. I'd say it's about 20 feet from back wall of garage to start of driveway. Then the car is another 10 or so feet further down driveway. So 30 feet +/- and my car will not detect phone key.

Also, more times than not, car won't unlock when i have phone in my back jean pocket. I need to take it out and hold it in my hand for the door to unlock. This can get annoying. Note: I use an iphone 14 pro
Same setup here. It seems to work well with the phone in a front pocket, right side up and facing forward. My Apple Watch with "watchla" app seems to work pretty well also.
 
With a Pixel 6 Pro, I would walk 8ft it would auto lock. But if my phone was withing 16ft of the car, I could get in even if my phone was left in my living room. I now disable Bluetooth whenever I'm home in the evening untill the car is needed the next day at 7ham.

Oh and enable Pin to drive since day one.
 
I haven't had any of the phone as key problems others are posting with a Feb 2022 MSLR and Samsung Galaxy S23 android phone. It is set to lock on walk away. At home also and locks at about 15 ft. It will not unlock until I'm right at the car, at home or in public. Sometimes I have to touch the door handle to unlock. On walk away, the horn always signals the car is locking.
 
So. Weirdest and also scary thing -

I was at discount tire waiting to swap out my winter tires. Then I notice my brake lights are on and was like huh? Checked my app and it was showing car unlocked, and car had climate control on too.

I thought, "weird". Hit the lock button, turned off CC.

Watched light go off. Then within a few seconds light came back on, trunk popped open.

I thought "wtf".

Got outside to investigate and noticed a discount tire employee was in my car. He got out and waved to one of his buddies "hey how do you start this thing".

I asked how he was in my car when I hadn't even given him a key. His buddy pointed out he was in the wrong Tesla (another model 3 was parked a few spots over)


What in the F***?? I scheduled a service with Tesla this weekend... But is this even possible? That is scary as hell.

I'm thinking maybe somehow my phone's Bluetooth was being picked up and auto unlocked the car?? But damn that is some serious range.

His car was just never locked. Like he says the guy was going to another Tesla so he probably jumped in your car soon after you got out. That or you turned off bluetooth or did one of the many other things that keeps it from locking. He says the brake lights and ac were on... so when he attempts to lock the car the guy is already inside. You can't lock someone inside. They can unlock by opening the door etc. When he goes outside the employee says hey how do you start this thing... It's obvious the car was not moving because it did not detect your phone close enough. Teslas are not difficult to figure out how to drive. Just hitting the brake or acceleration literally tells you what to do. For him it was probably saying no key detected.

Not much to this story if you ask me...He was in the car already when he tried to lock it. He couldn't drive it though. Same story but shortened.
 
  • Like
Reactions: XPsionic