Walkaway lock at home ... I don’t want it

[Daniel in SD]

Another benefit of not auto locking in the garage is that you could unplug the charging cable without having to open a door first.

 

[SDKoala]

While I would not have posted it in the tone that OP used, that the ability to disable walk-away lock at home is a feature I've wanted for a very long time. Like others here, when I'm at home, I don't have my wallet or my phone on me.

There have been plenty of times I've started to walk to my garage to get something out of the car only to remember that I have to turn around and grab my phone first. I'm slowly learning, but even after a year of doing this, it's still not a habit. It doesn't help that our other cars don't lock automatically and stay unlocked when at home. (Having the auto-lock feature has actually made me forget to lock our other cars when in a public place plenty of times too.)

 

[jsdugan]

Can you use an old phone connected to wifi and keep it in the garage and set it up to have access to the car? As long as the phone was close enough out in the garage, then it would stay unlocked?

 

[tuoncan]

Get a 2nd cheap phone and leave it charged with bluetooth on in the garage or better yet get a fob or a card key. Problem solved.
Tesla has more important fish to fry. OP seems like a kid whining and expects Tesla to do everything for him and not trying to solve the problem himself. Go try and ask other automakers to implement a new feature after you have purchased their car and see what happen. If Tesla says no new feature will be added after delivery, I guess you won't be here whining after all. Be grateful that you are getting stuff for free.

Writing software is not as easy as you think. There are a lot of corners cases that can introduce by a simple thing. What if the GPS is faulty? What if someone can trick your car to think it's at home by feeding in fake GPS location while it's not and it'll unlock? What if people have multiple homes? What if people move? do they need a way to remove the previous saved home addresses? What if the software can be hacked to add the current location as a home address? The list goes on.

I can't wait for one of these days when I see you create another thread saying my Tesla was stolen while parked unlocked in the garage. Why can't Tesla use the interior camera to do face recognition. It's a simple thing to do.

 

[jrh007]

Even just disabling the honking when locking automatically at home would be nice so as not to disturb neighbors or family members who might be sleeping.

You can do that.

Locks. Lock Confirmation Sound - Off.

Which also makes me wonder, does the OP want “Walk-Away Door Lock” Off? Would that solve her issue?

 

[Daniel in SD]

Which also makes me wonder, does the OP want “Walk-Away Door Lock” Off? Would that solve her issue?

How do you lock the car when you want to then? Wait 30 seconds for the app to connect?

 

[jrh007]

How do you lock the car when you want to then? Wait 30 seconds for the app to connect?

Two options. Tap the key card against the door pillar when you want it locked or buy a key fob and use the buttons.

So sayeth the manual...

 

[Daniel in SD]

Two options. Tap the key card against the door pillar when you want it locked or buy a key fob and use the buttons.

So sayeth the manual...

Other cars with proximity keys solve this problem by having a touch point on the outside of the car to lock it.
Anyway I think the location based auto folding mirrors are great. Seems trivial to add the same functionality to auto lock.

 

[gaswalla]

Ability to lock and unlock the car is always available by bluetooth - you do not need to connect (and wait) via the internet connection

 

[jrh007]

Ability to lock and unlock the car is always available by bluetooth - you do not need to connect (and wait) via the internet connection

Now that you mention it, the Stats App also has a Watch app that lets you lock and unlock from your Apple Watch too.

 

[Incredulocious]

It’s amusing to read the folks outright dismissing this request to have location-based exceptions to the auto-lock. I certainly want it. (I do not carry my phone or my wallet with me around my own house! People do that?! ;-)

This was the one frequent little annoyance that both I and my girlfriend experienced soon after we got our Model 3’s last year. We were both accustomed to Toyota’s fob-based proximity-aware system where you tap on the door handle button to lock only when you want to and just pull on the door handle to unlock.

So yeah, I did request this ability for Tesla’s auto-lock to not engage in certain locations late last year. Maybe it’ll eventually happen now that sentry mode is getting support for location-based exceptions.

Meanwhile, my workaround has been to get into the habit of unlocking it again after I hear it auto-lock as I walk from the garage into the house, before I set my phone down after coming home. My girlfriend hasn’t got into this habit so I still somewhat amusingly get to hear “damn it!” from her when she goes out to get something from her car.

 

[KenC]

Now that you mention it, the Stats App also has a Watch app that lets you lock and unlock from your Apple Watch too.

Too slow. It's only for emergencies.

 

[tuoncan]

Meanwhile, my workaround has been to get into the habit of unlocking it again after I hear it auto-lock as I walk from the garage into the house, before I set my phone down after coming home.

This is another good option for the OP. I know that the car remains unlocked if you unlocked it from the app.
The other option is to lock the car and use the card key to unlock it right after. The car will remain unlock if you use the card key.

The 3rd option is to put the card key in a ziplock bag and tie it to a string which tie to your garage door that so it will lower down to you from the ceiling automatically when you get home.
If you feel writing software is easy, while you are at it, maybe you can write some code to control a motor to precisely lower the card down to the exact position near the door to keep the car unlock for you. I think it's a important feature which you should get to it right away since you don't have other better/more important things to do as in Tesla's case.

 

[Nelson]

I also want this feature. It's similar to auto fold mirrors at location. Just have a no auto-lock at location feature. It is annoying when my wife or kids get to the garage before me and can't get in the car without waiting for me. I like the auto lock at all other locations...

Exact same situation for me - very annoying that I can’t set it not to lock in my garage.

 

[Stellavator]

Is it too much to ask of Tesla Engineers to allow a modicum of programability to the walkaway lock function on the Tesla App? Tesla didn't give the M3 an option for a smart fob. You straight up have to fish out old school the one you can purchase for $150 and tap a button to lock/unlock. What comes standard is a card or your phone's bluetooth as the key. I can't tell you how many times my neighbors have heard me shout (and I live in a very rural area) "F#%k!" when I go out to my driveway to fetch something from my car but forgot it automatically locked behind me. It's terribly frustrating not being able to get into your own car in your own driveway without having your phone on you.

It should be easy enough to be able to program certain locations as exempt from the walkaway lock function. Or am I missing something obvious?

Agree. If we can have location-based mirror folding, and now location-based Sentry Mode, seems like the option to activate a location-based auto lock is a no-brainer. I would use it.

 

[Nehurd]

Another vote for location-sensitive disabling of auto-locking.

 

[neptunesfinest]

They should just go back to old fashioned steel keys and a keyhole on the door. Then people would stop complaining that they can’t remember that the car locks automatically and keeps everything safe without any input from the user.

 

[groovidad]

After reading the comments on this thread, I would agree that having an option for "location locking" is a great idea, considering the miriad of functionality already present. I would say, learning to drive a car with just a center screen for information, using the right steering stalk to engage D, R, and P, using a phone as a key, a key card to the A pillar AND center console, making adjusments, using autopilot, plugging in for go juice, yadda, yadda, required us ALL to re-learn driving. With that said, the phone key is also a part of that learning curve and I have had to become accustomed to having it with me when I head to the car in my garage. The other thing I've learned to do is unlock using the app and then head to the garage. It is just another piece that must be repeated again and again until your comfort zone is happy. For what it's worth..........

 

[Stellavator]

I just don't get all the people here complaining about someone voicing a feature request. What harm does it do to you that someone thinks a geofenced self locking feature is a good idea? Even if you don't think you personally have a use for the feature, why would you take the time to get all upset that someone else does? It's like saying "it never rains where I live, so you're an idiot for wanting windshield wipers".

 

[brur]

It'd been suggested already and I think it bears repeating, Place a key card in your garage close to whatever door needs to come open. Not everybody but most tesla drivers should have at least one key card they don't use.