Interesting feature. What if the last person leave the door ajar w/o you knowing that.
What happens then? One of your door will be unlocked. And, you walked way already.
I think the autolock feature w/ SmartKey is more reasonable, but it needs to be even smarter than what it is now. (i.e. take seat sensors input to tell if there are passengers inside)
yes, if the last person never closes the door, that last door will not lock (duh, it's open!) and the alarm will not arm. But you'll know the car hasn't locked (no beep). This allows you to get out of your car, initiate the lock from your driver's door (once the passenger(s) have opened their doors) and move away from the door (to help the kids, get stuff from back, etc). You don't have to stand there next to your own door waiting for everyone else to close their doors before locking and then moving away from it.
Remember when you had to reach over and push all the locks down before getting out? (lol2)
I have the smart key but prefer not to have the auto lock engaged. I press the remote to lock and unlock the doors. That way I know when they are locked, and decide when to unlock them for security. What I like about the smart key is that once I unlock the car, I can put the remote back in my pocket and leave it there. No key in the ignition over and over to wear out.
Car technology hasn't been reliable enough for me to just walk away and assume our car will lock itself. Even less so after coming back to the car once and a passenger window was halfway down for no reason.
Not sure why you question the safety/reliability of the smart key locking system:
- safety: I find it more secure, since you have to press a button on the door to initiate the unlock, rather than from a distance when you press the button. In any case, it's not LESS safe.
- reliability: pressing the button on the door, and i) hearing the beep ii) hearing the lock engage iii) watching the lights flash is a pretty reliable indicator that your car has locked. There are many more things in our car with a higher "trust me" factor than that. Note that in no case do you just "walk away and assume the car will lock itself"
- also, convenience: having to press the remote button to lock/unlock eliminates 1/2 the benefit of the smart key. I've had my car two months and have seen my key twice (once when I got it, and one other time to remind myself what it looks like). It just stays in my wallet and I never need to touch it.
Touring9,
Autolock will give a short "beep" to indicate that it WILL lock your car. If you don't hear that, it WILL NOT lock the car. It is that simple. It is not like you are not sure whether it will or not. It has not failed me yet, being using it for almost two years.
With Autolock, I rarely remove my key from my pocket. That is essence of SmartKey technology. In Japan, there is a SmartKey watch for Lexus LS made by Seiko. The only downside is that it lasts not as long due to battery, and it does not come with a metal key in case of battery drain.
+1
I know it beeps, but I find that button press and click more reassuring. I also don't want the car unlocking itself as my wife approaches it in the dark college parking lot until she's ready to unlock the drivers door. 1/3 of the time we have things for the back, so I already have the remote out, anyway. I prefer having the liftgate open by the time we get there, rather than having to press the request button.
The nice think is that we have the option. It's clear that different people have different preferences.
You get the "click" of the locks regardless of whether you initiate the lock from the button on the car door or the remote. Also, in no case does the car unlock automatically as you approach it.
