Risks of auto lock....

[GlmnAlyAirCar]

Here is my autolock experience:
I was aware of the feature before I took possession of my car in late 2013, but it was not enabled by default and I didn't know to enable it. Also, they gave us two keyfobs and my wife at the time just stuck hers in her purse which she left in the car. We then drove to a football game, parking in a downtown parking lot. The car was free to steal for anyone that night and we had no idea. Just didnt have the instincts down yet.

I'm ashamed to admit I have left the keys in the car a few times. Relying on autolock, I assumed the car locked but unfortunately anyone could have jumped in a driven away. I have been trying to reprogram myself to manually lock but I haven't gotten completely into the habit yet.

 

[mikeash]

It turned out the door was closed but not shut all the way. It was at the first notch. So they walked away and their car remained unlocked.

Heh, were you at the Glen Allen SC around 2PM yesterday?

Anyway, I use auto-lock and it works well for me. I never have a problem with not shutting the door all the way, because it's obvious when you don't. When you close the door properly, there's a very distinctive sound as the window moves up into its slot in the roof. When that sound doesn't happen, the door isn't properly closed. I often fail to use enough force, and I always notice. But that's me, and others may vary.

I have had auto-lock fail a couple of times because I manually unlocked the car, which requires manually re-locking the car. So far I've always remembered within a couple of minutes and locked the car from my phone.

As long as the doors actually close, I'm not too worried about failing to lock the car. The handles still retract after a while, so it looks locked. John Q. Thief doesn't know you can still open the doors in that state. Obviously, we won't be able to rely on this forever if Tesla continues its massive rise in sales.

 

[russman]

No, these were at SC stations around CA. Interesting to see multiple other people have run into this. This is my PSA just to warn people not to overly rely on auto-lock, especially if you have stuff in the car.

For door closing, I find the issue is more about the passenger not closing the door properly, especially on the opposite side of the driver, as I can't see that door. The reason I know, is my kid has done it a couple time and I've only caught it because I manually lock the car or I watch for the car to autolock. When I noticed the car wouldn't lock, I went back and checked. Sure enough door closed but not shut all the way. I believe my other cars can be locked when the door is in this position, I'll have to double check, but I do remember not being able to re-open a door that wasn't shut all the way, so just used my rear to bump it closed all the way. I'd prefer that, but the Tesla doesn't lock.

Heh, were you at the Glen Allen SC around 2PM yesterday?

Anyway, I use auto-lock and it works well for me. I never have a problem with not shutting the door all the way, because it's obvious when you don't. When you close the door properly, there's a very distinctive sound as the window moves up into its slot in the roof. When that sound doesn't happen, the door isn't properly closed. I often fail to use enough force, and I always notice. But that's me, and others may vary.

I have had auto-lock fail a couple of times because I manually unlocked the car, which requires manually re-locking the car. So far I've always remembered within a couple of minutes and locked the car from my phone.

As long as the doors actually close, I'm not too worried about failing to lock the car. The handles still retract after a while, so it looks locked. John Q. Thief doesn't know you can still open the doors in that state. Obviously, we won't be able to rely on this forever if Tesla continues its massive rise in sales.

 

[Rockster]

I manually lock because I'm OCD.

Same here. I manually lock and let it automatically unlock.

 

[nctalkinghead]

Since I have owned my P85 with autopilot for only 10 days I am only a notch above the ignorant level. However, my car is set for auto lock. As soon as I close the door I hear a contact sound that I assume is the door(s) locking. I can't verify this is the lock engaging because I have the fob in my pocket and if I try to open the door I can. The handles retreat and the lights go out after another time interval.

 

[brkaus]

Since I have owned my P85 with autopilot for only 10 days I am only a notch above the ignorant level. However, my car is set for auto lock. As soon as I close the door I hear a contact sound that I assume is the door(s) locking. I can't verify this is the lock engaging because I have the fob in my pocket and if I try to open the door I can. The handles retreat and the lights go out after another time interval.

I believe the sound you are hearing is the window pushing up to make a complete seal. It likely isn't auto locking if your that close.

 

[mikeash]

If you want to check auto-locking, use the app. It shows a little lock icon that's either closed or open depending on the state of the car. The car won't autolock until you walk away and stay away for several seconds, so it's definitely not doing that right as you close the door. I believe "locked" is entirely a software thing in this car, so you won't hear anything. There's no mechanical interlock to engage or disengage like in most cars, it's just a question of whether the handles will present when pushed, and whether the computer will disengage the latch when you pull on them.

 

[MsElectric]

Auto lock is highly reliable, I would say 100% reliable as long as you fully shut the door, which is something that I think everyone can learn to do.
And if someone gets inside the car, they can't drive it anyway. I don't worry about it.

When the Model S has self closing doors shortly the issue of not fully shutting the door accidentally will no longer be an issue

 

[tinm]

99% of the time I manually tap the fob to lock as I walk away, ALWAYS turning to look at the car to verify the blink of lights.

 

[P85DBeast]

I like the auto-lock, but I do wish it was a bit sooner.

I find it odd, when I approach the car it doesn't unlock and extend the handles until I'm about a foot away from the door, but when I walk away it doesn't lock until I'm so far away I can barely tell by looking if the handles and mirrors have retracted. I want both locking and unlocking to happen earlier than they do now.

Your Mirrors retract on auto lock mines don't I have to manually lock the car in order for the mirrors to retract. I also noticed that when I let the car auto-lock and I lock the car the lights flash but the mirrors don't retract unless I manually unlock it then lock it again. I don't see what the problem is I have auto-fold enabled.

 

[jerry33]

Since I have owned my P85 with autopilot for only 10 days I am only a notch above the ignorant level. However, my car is set for auto lock. As soon as I close the door I hear a contact sound that I assume is the door(s) locking.

As Brkaus says, that's the window. The lock happens a bit later. Locking happens when the lights flash and the handles go in.

 

[russman]

My mirrors fold in on auto-lock also, that's what I use as an indicator that the doors have successfully locked. That's also an easy way to notice at a supercharger where cars might not be locked, unless they don't have folding mirrors. That and if you see the green charging light stay on.

You should talk to service, assuming you do have it set to fold in the settings.

Your Mirrors retract on auto lock mines don't I have to manually lock the car in order for the mirrors to retract. I also noticed that when I let the car auto-lock and I lock the car the lights flash but the mirrors don't retract unless I manually unlock it then lock it again. I don't see what the problem is I have auto-fold enabled.

 

[nctalkinghead]

If you want to check auto-locking, use the app. It shows a little lock icon that's either closed or open depending on the state of the car. The car won't autolock until you walk away and stay away for several seconds, so it's definitely not doing that right as you close the door. I believe "locked" is entirely a software thing in this car, so you won't hear anything. There's no mechanical interlock to engage or disengage like in most cars, it's just a question of whether the handles will present when pushed, and whether the computer will disengage the latch when you pull on them.

Well, I guess that I am not as far above ignorant as I thought Now I, too, will develop "is it locked paranoia?"

 

[Gizmotoy]

I don't have much of value in the car so I don't pay too much attention. I mostly rely on VisibleTesla to let me know if something resulted in the car staying unlocked. I just have it set to text me if the car sits unlocked for 10 minutes. It's triggered a few times when I was doing something with the car while it was parked (installing Pete's upgraded brighter LEDs, for example), but it has saved me a few times. It's usually someone didn't close their door all the way. One other time my wife had the car and didn't realize she took both keys and left one in the car. I was happy to have the text about that one and used the app to lock it remotely.

So, yes, it could get you in trouble. We decided the risk was minimal and with the VisibleTesla backup generally don't worry about it.

 

[P85DBeast]

My mirrors fold in on auto-lock also, that's what I use as an indicator that the doors have successfully locked. That's also an easy way to notice at a supercharger where cars might not be locked, unless they don't have folding mirrors. That and if you see the green charging light stay on.

You should talk to service, assuming you do have it set to fold in the settings.

Its been like that even since ive owned the car I thought It was normal. But I will talk to my SC when I take the car in to get my passenger front and passenger rear tires replaced I cant seem to stop running over huge screws and potholes and that's not good especially with the 21'inch wheels.

 

[kevincwelch]

I think it's a matter of location. When I am in my garage or an open parking lot (usually I park miles away from any car) or any other location devoid of people, I usually just walk away. When I'm at a location where there are lots of people roaming about, I typically manually lock the car. Not much of value in my car.