My wife returned to her parked Q7 from a shopping stint. She decided she wanted the car to cool down while she loaded the shopping into the back, so opened the passenger side front door (it's got a smart key - so she simply pulled the handle; key was in her handbag), stuck the key into the ignition and turned the engine on. She then closed the passenger side door sgain, and realized she was locked out and unable to get back in.

She called me to bring a spare key, which I did. Interestingly I could only open the door by actually sticking the key into the key hole.

I'm very surprised that the car would lock itself w/o being prompted to do so. Any idea how this can be prevented moving forward? I'd like to enable the feature whereby the car only locks itself once it starts moving - as with our old Merc. Is this possible?

Thanks.

 

I have experimented with the smart key with various scenarios, just due to fact that I like to know and reading a few threads where kids/babies accidently locked the doors etc...

1. If the SmartKey is inside the car, you can't locked, no matter how I tried. I even tried locking from another keyfob. This is true (with me) whether or not the engine is running.

2. I also tried started the car, then take the smartkey out of the car. Surprisingly, you can still drive. I drove the car with the smartkey at home for at least a good 5 blocks before turning back. You'll get a smart key missing warning on the center LCD. But car still runs.

3. I also find that locking and closing the door can be done easily and accidentally. Have smartkey in pocket. Goto push button on door handle to lock, but accidentally touch the handle, it locks, then unlocks.

4. I have noticed that on occasions, with the hatch open, it does somehow lock the doors. This I never could figure out. I have hatch open, loading groceries, wife opens passenger door puts her purse inside (smartkey inside purse), closed the door. The side markers blink like the doors were locked remotely, and she's locked out. I have to unlocked from key or from touch. This behavior seems suspect (akin to your situation).

5. I've also seen that if you just leave the car unlocked, for a certain period, the doors are unlocked mind you. I go and touch the door handle, I see the blinkers blink, like it was unlocking, but I don't hear the lock mechanism going off. Seen this happen a few times, and every-time the car was stationary and doors were already unlocked. Also noticed this recently when I was sitting inside, all doors unlocked, I was swapping all the interior lights out with LED bulbs, when I pulled the door open (after a while inside), I see the blinkers flash. So not sure what this is.

Sorry, I know this doesn't answer your question. Just giving you some observations I have with the SmartKey and it's various behaviors.
I also thought the SmartKey that came with the Prestige package was just gimmicky, I didn't have a choice at the time. Only car available on the lot was Prestige. I ordered one without the SmartKey, I went with the S-Line instead of SmartKey for the ordering, but end up with SmartKey and no s-line. Turns out, I really love the convenience of it now. Missed not having SmartKey on my Cayenne. :-(

-ThinkMac-

 

i played around with this as well, just as you stated above but i would like to add, that if you start the car and leave the key in pocket and walk away... the car will lock. it will unlock once you walk up to it again.

 

A similar thing happened to my wife a couple of weeks ago. She was coming back to the car after shopping and opened the door to put her loot inside. She also put her purse on the seat with the advanced key inside(she had touched the door handle to open the car). She closed the door and the car immediately locked. So it can and will lock even with the key inside. I have heard of this happening with the VW Touareg as well. I had to drive out to the lot she was in and open the car for her. The system is far from perfect IMO.

 

One of the reasons I leave a valet key locked inside a HitchSafe.

 

Set my bag in the passenger side and while walking around to the drivers side, it locked. This has happened three times since owning my car 10 months. The first I was 40 miles from home. Audi is telling me, I must keep the keys in my hands at all times. Really?
This seems to be an ongoing issue. Does anyone know a solution? What do I do if I want to use a car wash?

 

You can lock a key inside a purse inside an A6 too. It has never happened in our Q7 but after my wife's experience in the A6 with that with a grandson in a car seat no less, I keep the plastic wallet key in a key box in a hidden place.

 

I was like, "Well that doesn't seem very, oh"