Did the car auto lock when she went inside Starbucks?


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Nope, she could also not lock it with the door button..but she could start it.

 

Yikes. The spare key is not in the car somewhere is it? Maybe in a location that is borderline close enough to the antenna to detect for starting?

 

Spare key 200 miles away. Car did not auto lock and she could not lock car at Starbucks or the motel (no key).

 

Is it not set to auto lock when you get out and close the doors? I know that can be turned off


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Wow, how weird.

 

Maybe she has a stalker at OnStar?

 

Not possible.

 

Can't remember if yours is A6 or M6, but - How far away from you (with the fob) was the Starbucks?
Theoretical remote start range of the fob is roughly 100 meters with a fresh battery. That would be with the lock & start buttons pushed I presume. Fob buttons will perform all functions from that distance and the vehicle may well maintain that range for a while after shut down.
Unsure what the proximity sensing range of a fob would be when the vehicle is running, but it takes several minutes to an hour for the proximity sensor of a non-running SS to drop to the 20-30 foot range that will "wake up" the BCM to unlock doors with a push of the door handle button.

 

Interesting. I am assuming the car was still running when she moved over to the driver's seat before driving to Starbucks. Always wondered if the car would turn off once out of the range of the key fob. Good to know.

 

My '14 would not restart under this circumsatance.

I will experiment with my '17 in a day or 2 and also see if I can get an answer :hidesbehindsofa:


I do know in both the FOB cannot be in your pocket while you stand outside and reach in to push the start button. It must be fully inside the car to start it.

 

I thought I remember reading on another thread a while back that it is designed to start one additional time in such a circumstance; i.e., starting the car with key, but then driving off without it accidentally and shutting it off.


I've never actually experimented with this but I do remember reading this somewhere with the reasoning being a safety feature to help you get back to your key or home when you realize you just drove off without it.

 

Starbucks was 13 miles from the key in my pocket...and she got that one restart there to go to the motel, then no go from there.

 

That is strange. I have often wondered if something like this was possible, just because I'm absent-minded. The scenario that goes through my head; I go out start the car, and then remember I left something on the counter. I go back inside and drop the keys on the counter. Since the car is still running, I get back in and drive off.

Once I get to where I'm ongoing, I stop the car normally. Since I didn't remember that I left the keys back on the counter, I can't restart the car.

Back on point; is it possible that your wife did something similar?

 

That is strange. I have often wondered if something like this was possible, just because I'm absent-minded. The scenario that goes through my head; I go out start the car, and then remember I left something on the counter. I go back inside and drop the keys on the counter. Since the car is still running, I get back in and drive off.

Once I get to where I'm ongoing, I stop the car normally. Since I didn't remember that I left the keys back on the counter, I can't restart the car.

Back on point:smile; is it possible that your wife did something similar?

Me driving, key in pocket......stopped car, motor running. Wife hopped into drivers seat and drove off with no key and no spare key within 200 miles. When she stopped.... Miles away...car did restart!

 

Coolbeans is correct. It's a safety feature designed it. 1st...The DIC would have been telling her no fob detected while on her way to Starbucks. But it doesn't show on the heads up so she likely never saw it or heard the chimes over the lovely exhaust sounds. 2nd as she shut it off it would have made sounds again to alert to the no fob and flashed on the DIC. It will allow one restart. I'm not sure if there is a certain time frame this needs to be done by however. So please keep that in mind. When I had this same thing happen to me I did the restart immediately and drove back home to get the fob. So I am kinda shocked that your wife was able to go in to Starbucks make a purchase and come out several minutes later and still start it. Maybe our Chevy customer care rep here on the site can answer the time frame question.

 

The car should let you know there is no FOB in the vehicle. I'm surprised she can changed gears.

On a side note, I had a crap panting moment when I was 200 miles away from home and I put my key in in my luggage (computer bag) and put it in the trunk and closed it. Fortunately one of the doors was unlocked so I can get in, I am not sure if hitting the button on the door would have locked me out for good. However, the car did start with the bag in the trunk, so I probably could have unlocked and locked the car from outside as if the key was in the car. Still, when you are 200 miles away it becomes a "what the **** did I just do!" moment.

 

PSA....

Good place here for a reminder that the phone app will give you all the function of the key fob for five years WITHOUT an OnStar subscription.
Only requirement is that during the OnStar trial period you need to acquire the app and use it at least once to unlock, lock, or remote start the SS using the app.
Then you are good to go for five years whether or not you subscribe to OnStar after the trial period.

You're welcome.

 

if you have no real use for the phone app and don't use it very often (qualified as not used since the day I downloaded it and used it once to activate it 14 months ago), be aware that you may be prompted for your onstar account password and PIN in order to use the app.

 

I intended to stipulate that the MyChevrolet app is the one that works best for me.
Yes for an 'unlock' request it will ask for your OnStar PIN

 

Interesting discussion and good information.

My experience which didn't turn out too great was that I left the key in my pocket when I left a parking garage in NYC and the attendants could not move the car. There was no one restart according to them. They were not happy when I got back 3-4 hours later and charged me extra. Also, I discovered when I got home that they had tried to pry the door open and left scratches on my otherwise scratchless car. Not sure what they thought they could do if they could get the door open.

I hope that never happens again.

 

You left it locked with the motor off, no key, and they mentioned "no one restart"?

 

so I just had to try this for myself.

on a 2017 6MT

Dropped my wife of at the door to a store and gave her the key. I drove away from her and immediately got the message "no key fob detected". I went and parked and it took TWO taps on the start button to shut off the car. It chimed again with the attached picture message on the DIC. I restarted and shut it off numerous times. It will NOT let you lock the drivers door no matter what you do.

So in theory, as I left the car to go find my wife with the key so I could lock it, someone could have jumped in the car and took it (provided they knew how to drive a manual)

again, this is on a 6MT, I do not know how an auto would work. I guess if it would start but not let you shift, you could always utilize the transmission interlock override and possibly drive that way.

 

I did a similar test and could restart my car several times, not just once. This must "time out" after some interval, but other than having to bring the key to my wife after an hour or so at the motel, I have not determined just what that time is.

 

You know what the funny thing is? All of this type of stuff would be a non-issue if we could just get back to the "regular" style of key and ignition that we've used for generations. What was wrong with that? I'm personally not a big fan of this new push button start stuff that's becoming the norm. They just add unnecessary complexity to the functionality and practicality and I don't see it as an improvement. Just my opinion though.


P.S. This is my first push button car and it didn't take me very long to come to this opinion after purchase with all the triple honking b.s. my car likes to put me through just doing normal things.

 

You make it sound as if traditional keys weren't without problems. People still lost their keys, locked them in their cars, etc. etc. In the end, it all comes down to the human using the system.

 

When I got my '14 and still had my 2008 Enclave I used copious amounts of foul language when I needed to use the fob/key for the Enclave.

I'd never have a non-keyless vehicle again. Never thought I'd say that until I owned one.

 

I was not aware of this built in feature. A couple of times now our BMW has been without a key due to one of us getting out with the only key and we've had to lock car via passenger door and restart was a no go.
I've just tried my SSVR (manual) and with lots of chiming to tell me about the key, I had to press twice to turn it off, but I could restart multiple times (say 5), including each time after the door was opened and closed (but refused to lock) then, possibly due to a time out, it refused to start the next time I opened the door.
Now having tested this, I still would not turn the car off if I was left with no key. Just in case.....