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Walk away lock still not working properly after 4 years

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I’ve perused other issues like this but mine seems to be the most long-running out there that I can find. This month marks 4 years with my model 3. I’ve had a persistent walk away locking issue since I got the car. It’s intermittent. Seems to correlate somewhat with software updates but not always. Recently it’s back frequently, and I’d say 1/10 times I leave the car, the lights stay on and the doors are unlock.

I’ve pushed Tesla to figure this issue out with every service appointment I’ve had over the last 4 years and have given them multiple timestamps. They are never able to see an issue which leads me to believe something is faulty and given my warranty is ending, I’m not happy about it. One tech told me not to push my foot on the break when I open the door to exit the car, but that doesn’t fix this issue.

Anyone else have a similar long-running issue like this (fwiw, I’ve had multiple iPhones during the last 4 years so it’s not phone specific.)? Any fixes or hardware replacements? Tesla has been very uninterested in fixing this issue but any time your car is unlocked, it’s not cool.
 
The reason Tesla is uninterested is the problem is yours and not theirs.

Can you explain how you have your iPhones set up for Phone Key? I have had my Model 3 for 3.5 years and have used 4 different iPhones between my wife and I. Any time I have had a problem ,which has been very rare, it is always something I have done or not done.
 
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Anyone else have a similar long-running issue like this (fwiw, I’ve had multiple iPhones during the last 4 years so it’s not phone specific.)? Any fixes or hardware replacements? Tesla has been very uninterested in fixing this issue but any time your car is unlocked, it’s not cool.
The trick is probably being able to reproduce it for Tesla. Try turning off WiFi on your phone. Then, try locking/unlocking the car from the outside using the phone app. This should work reliably from different distances up to 20-30 feet. Try at different angles from the car. Do this in a quite parking lot (e.g. a school on a weekend) so you can eliminate external sources of interference (BT shares the same spectrum as WiFi and microwave ovens).

Once you have calibrated manual lock/unlock, try walking away from the car and seeing if/where/when the car unlocks (honk on lock can help with detecting this).
 
I have not had this issue (unlock sometimes is slow but lock always works).

Do you keep the Tesla app running on the phone (background) or do you close it?
Yea, and set to “always allow” on location.
The trick is probably being able to reproduce it for Tesla. Try turning off WiFi on your phone. Then, try locking/unlocking the car from the outside using the phone app. This should work reliably from different distances up to 20-30 feet. Try at different angles from the car. Do this in a quite parking lot (e.g. a school on a weekend) so you can eliminate external sources of interference (BT shares the same spectrum as WiFi and microwave ovens).

Once you have calibrated manual lock/unlock, try walking away from the car and seeing if/where/when the car unlocks (honk on lock can help with detecting this).
This is good advice, and yes, I’ve tried to reproduce it with Tesla service and haven’t had much luck. I’ve even taken video and they don’t seem to think it’s a big deal.
 
Also, if it happens and I notice it before walking always, quickly opening and closing the driver door fixes the issue. That’s what leads me to believe that perhaps an interior sensor (maybe the one that detects if a person is in the driver’s seat) is the culprit and it’s unrelated to Bluetooth.
 
I guess I always thought about this ad a walk away issue but actually, it’s more accurately an issue with the car thinking I’m still in the car after opening the door to exit
Check to be sure you have Background App Refresh selected on the Tesla app. Also on your phone look at Settings->General->Background App Refresh and make sure the Tesla app is the only app turned on. Turn off all of the other apps. The other apps can interfere with the Tesla app and make it intermittent.
 
I’ve perused other issues like this but mine seems to be the most long-running out there that I can find. This month marks 4 years with my model 3. I’ve had a persistent walk away locking issue since I got the car. It’s intermittent. Seems to correlate somewhat with software updates but not always. Recently it’s back frequently, and I’d say 1/10 times I leave the car, the lights stay on and the doors are unlock.
Y
I’ve pushed Tesla to figure this issue out with every service appointment I’ve had over the last 4 years and have given them multiple timestamps. They are never able to see an issue which leads me to believe something is faulty and given my warranty is ending, I’m not happy about it. One tech told me not to push my foot on the break when I open the door to exit the car, but that doesn’t fix this issue.

Anyone else have a similar long-running issue like this (fwiw, I’ve had multiple iPhones during the last 4 years so it’s not phone specific.)? Any fixes or hardware replacements? Tesla has been very uninterested in fixing this issue but any time your car is unlocked, it’s not cool.
My 2019 has been doing the same thing for about the last 9 months now. It never did it during the first 2 years. Mine is quite bad and occurs about 60% of the time when I exit the car. Headlights stay on and door is unlocked. I did a few test scenarios after I exited the car too. The most important one was to see if the gear shifter would engage and the car able to drive off. Luckily it wouldn’t in most cases. I tested this by walking away with the lights still on and then leaving my phone key far away (in 2nd floor office) and then walking back to the car. i was able to enter the car and then sit down. 1 out of 10 times I was able to drive away. But the more frustrating part was how to lock the car with the phone key still on me. Standing close by the car and using phone app to lock would not work. The only way was to get back in the car and actually drive a few feet forward or in reverse, press stalk button to park and then exit the car again. I googled and found only a one to two others who have this issue. One person mentioned that brake sensor was the issue and recommended to press the brake as hard as possible when in park Before exiting car. I did find that helped 20% of the time without having to drive forward or reverse. Getting back into the car and shifting the car to drive mode wasn’t enough to ever work. I had to drive forward or reverse, park, exit to make the headlights shut off immediately and walk away lock to work.

But then about 3 months ago and 2 software updates since then, the issue still happens about 50% of the time I exit but there is now a much quicker fix. As soon as I close my driver door and I see the headlights still on, I just have to open the driver door again and the headlights turn off immediately. I then close the driver door and the walk away lock functions normally. I conditioned myself to check front headlight every time I exit the car. If it is on then I know the car won’t auto lock and I immediately open and close my driver door And I can see the headlight shutoff immediately and know walk away lock will work. I did create a ticket with Tesla but can’t get to the appointment time as it is usually during work hours. Good luck with your issue and let me keep me up to date if you were able to get an answer from Tesla.
 
I’ve perused other issues like this but mine seems to be the most long-running out there that I can find. This month marks 4 years with my model 3. I’ve had a persistent walk away locking issue since I got the car. It’s intermittent. Seems to correlate somewhat with software updates but not always. Recently it’s back frequently, and I’d say 1/10 times I leave the car, the lights stay on and the doors are unlock.

I’ve pushed Tesla to figure this issue out with every service appointment I’ve had over the last 4 years and have given them multiple timestamps. They are never able to see an issue which leads me to believe something is faulty and given my warranty is ending, I’m not happy about it. One tech told me not to push my foot on the break when I open the door to exit the car, but that doesn’t fix this issue.

Anyone else have a similar long-running issue like this (fwiw, I’ve had multiple iPhones during the last 4 years so it’s not phone specific.)? Any fixes or hardware replacements? Tesla has been very uninterested in fixing this issue but any time your car is unlocked, it’s not cool.

Sounds like a bad seat occupancy sensor that it's not detecting when you get out, so the car thinks you're still inside and doesn't turn off or lock.
 
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I have had this exact thing happen, and it was the driver seat sensor. The car thought I was still sitting in it, so lights, AC would stay on after I closed the door. It's obvious that a cell phone moving away from the car would NOT lock it in that situation. Get your seat sensor checked. You should have had it checked 4 years ago :D

EDIT: Oh, and I don't blame Tesla for not finding your problem before. You reported a problem with walk away lock. That's not your problem, your problem is that the car stays "on" when you get out of it. Had you said that, they might have found it earlier.
EDIT2: I don't want to say that in a harsh way, I'm just explaining why they didn't find it as they were not given the most accurate description of the problem.
 
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