Discount tire Got in my car without key 😮

[BoogalooShr1mp]

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.

 

[EVRider-FL]

How far were you from the car? Was the employee already in your car when you locked it (after discovering it was unlocked)?

 

[Benito1283]

This would be very easy to test/replicate. Lock the car, move the phone x feet from the car, and try to open it. Move closer or farther to find out what the locking range is.

 

[atvrida92]

Ha I had the exact same thing happen to me, right when I first bought the car. Ever since I have used "Pin to drive". It seems as though these cars could benefit from some kind of calibration option to adjust the distance the car unlocks at. Check out my thread here...

Locking and Driving Question

Hello everyone! New M3P owner here. Hopefully not a dumb question, but I'm a little concerned about something that happened today.. First time driving the car today, went to discount tire to swap my stock summer tires for winter tires. I get out of the car to walk inside and see the mirrors...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[E90alex]

Most likely your phone was close enough to unlock and start the car.

That’s why Tesla’s Bluetooth based keys are not ideal. Range is too long and the key doesn’t need to be inside the car to start it (there’s no way for the car to tell exactly where the key is, only if it’s close enough or not). PIN to drive will help prevent drive away, but it’s an extra inconvenience to make up for the shortcomings of Bluetooth keys.

 

[Leafdriver333]

I have seen on tiktok where this happened at a shopping mall parking lot. The other guy drove the car home.

 

[The_Observer]

This is why I use PIN to drive... if all else fails and you somehow get into my car, you ain't driving my car anyway without the PIN.

 

[BoogalooShr1mp]

That's insane you guys are reporting this happening more "regularly". I know Bluetooth range is crazy long so I'm thinking that's probably what happened?? I am currently "connected" from second floor opposite side of my house lol.

Fyi though I did "test" and I was NOT able to get into my car even though app shows connected, even from within my garage attached laundry room.

We'll see what the service people say or do but inconveniently I think I'm going to disable my Tesla app Bluetooth options if I have to. Pretty shitty if it comes to that.

 

[medphys3]

That's why I listen for the honk when the car auto locks and verify the mirrors are folded in.

 

[Benito1283]

That's insane you guys are reporting this happening more "regularly". I know Bluetooth range is crazy long so I'm thinking that's probably what happened?? I am currently "connected" from second floor opposite side of my house lol.

Fyi though I did "test" and I was NOT able to get into my car even though app shows connected, even from within my garage attached laundry room.

We'll see what the service people say or do but inconveniently I think I'm going to disable my Tesla app Bluetooth options if I have to. Pretty shitty if it comes to that.

I don't believe connected via Bluetooth or "connected" in the Tesla app necessarily means you're close enough to unlock the car. I'm not sure I've ever seen an exact documented distance but it's definitely closer than Bluetooth range.

 

[GtiMart]

I have had this happen to me once. Forgot my cell phone in my bedroom, got in the car in the garage and drove away. The car told me it was missing the key a couple street corners away. Normally this doesn't happen and the car doesn't even unlock if I don't have my phone on my pockets, let alone drive away. But that one time it did... Now, I believe this isn't specifically a Tesla problem, it's a bluetooth problem. Bluetooth isn't great. In theory it can calculate a distance between devices but in practice there are plenty of cases that don't work as planned.

I believe this is what happened to you. You were close enough and in that particular situation the car decided to allow unlocking. This isn't happening more now, it's always been a (sporadic) problem. Three years ago people were already suggesting to turn off bluetooth when staying at a hotel for example. I've been doing it since then, and now I totally understand why people suggest that. I don't believe Tesla will be able to "fix" this. The mitigation strategy will be to stop using phone as key, or to use pin to drive etc.

 

[vogz]

It sounds like the tech might have already been in your car when you locked it from the app. Are you sure it was locked beforehand? I've never had anything like this happen. I need to have my phone within about 5 feet of the car for it to unlock.

 

[chobra]

Will assume you have walk-away door lock enabled
Will assume you don't have a paired key fob that you left in the car
Will assume you exited the vehicle from the driver side

Maybe a door or trunk was not fully closed?
Maybe you had bluetooth disabled on your phone? Low power mode, etc

If not then this likely happened:
A phone key remains within range for ten minutes
If Model 3 detects an authenticated key for five minutes after you exit the vehicle and close all doors, Walk-Away Lock disables and doors do not lock when you walk away. In this case, you must manually lock your vehicle until after your next drive.

 

[chobra]

Bluetooth range is 30ft. When I’m about 6-10ft away it auto locks. Also locks when I’m getting something from the frunk.

Model 3 Owner's Manual | Tesla

Learn how to pair your phone to your vehicle and customize vehicle settings based on calendar events.

www.tesla.com

Key fob range is 6ft

Model 3 Owner's Manual | Tesla

Learn about the types of keys that your vehicle uses to lock, unlock and drive.

www.tesla.com

 

[BoogalooShr1mp]

All good info thanks everyone for sharing. I have a service request open with Tesla I'll let you know if I learn anything specific.

I really dunno what could have happened and to be honest I don't really remember the details (who really pays that close of attention until something goes wrong...)

All I can say is since I got my car, I've only ever used the "card" on day one of purchase and on occasion when I'm demoing the car to non-tesla owners. For my daily driving it is only cell phone usage. Lock unlock everything is automated, schedules set up for my to/from work, etc .

It's mostly a hands off type experience I don't give it a second thought.

That is what annoys me the most about this is depending on the outcome of Tesla's research - I'm never going to feel comfortable taking advantage of a key perk of Tesla ownership... True keyless experience.

 

[XPsionic]

That is what annoys me the most about this is depending on the outcome of Tesla's research - I'm never going to feel comfortable taking advantage of a key perk of Tesla ownership... True keyless experience.

You could always tap your NFC phone against the pillar to lock it as you walk away, and still use the phone bluetooth as keyless start and entry.

If I were you I'd just add pin to drive and test at different distances to see how it works for your particular phone.

 

[BoogalooShr1mp]

So. Got response back from Tesla and we decided to close my service request. The guy was trying to be helpful but I didn't feel I got anywhere and there was nothing i could do to prove it so I had to move on. He basically kept said an authorized key was used. He confirmed seeing in the logs that I used app to lock and "authorized key" to unlock, repeatedly... But doesn't prove anything happening unless someone cloned my card (which was not my claim to begin with), it had to be my key card.

I gave up.

Sadly I've moved forward with doing what I didn't want to do - give up the Tesla convenience... Added pin to drive, disabled Bluetooth. Will use key card from now on.

Gonna strike up random convos with Tesla owners though and see if I can recreate this issue at another time.

 

[GtiMart]

So that kind of confirms what I was saying: your phone's bluetooth connection worked extremely well that one time, the car detected the phone as key and let the car unlock. Indeed there's not much Tesla can do. But you can still use phone as key. Just we wary on specific situations where you are sitting close to the car. Rest assured that bluetooth doesn't work a mile away...

 

[tm1v2]

What happened there sounds completely expected to me. The BLE key feature does not seem to have a strict range limitation. PIN to drive is essential on these cars, in my opinion.

When we first got our Model 3 and I was using a Pixel 3, the BLE key range seemed perfect. It would lock and stay locked without having to go far. Then I upgraded to a Pixel 6 and the BLE key range is way too much, I have to go way down the block just for it to auto-lock. I usually tap-to-lock on the driver's B pillar. (I wish there was an NFC point on the passenger side too, but there isn't.)

When I'm home with my car parked out front, I disable Bluetooth on my phone to ensure the car stays locked. Otherwise it's too likely it would unlock for anyone who tries to open it. That is clunky and annoying and I wish the BLE key had a stricter range limit. It works okay for me because the Tesla key is the only thing I use Bluetooth for.

I don't worry about anyone stealing the car though because of PIN to drive.

 

[afadeev]

I was at discount tire waiting to swap out my winter tires. [...] and noticed a discount tire employee was in my car.
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.

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.

This is why I use PIN to drive... if all else fails and you somehow get into my car, you ain't driving my car anyway without the PIN.

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 about anyone stealing the car though because of PIN to drive.

I don't worry because I have insurance!

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