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2008 SX4 Locked Me Out!

17K views 17 replies 13 participants last post by  LMP 
#1 ·
This morning I went to get in my car and found all of the doors locked. Unfortunately, since it was in my garage, I could see the keys on the passenger seat. Could I have brushed the lock on my way out the night before, sure, regardless I went inside, grabbed the spare set leaned out the door, pushed the unlock button and heard the doors unlock and the lights flash. I put the keys away and went to the car to get in and the doors were locked. What the heck? Got the spares again and ran a test. If you unlock the doors and do not proceed to open a door, they lock back up in 30 seconds. Is this normal?

Now I don't know if my lock out last night was a brush with the driver's manual lock or a messed up locking system.
 
#3 ·
YES! Mine does the same thing--I found out. I got locked out once too! lol! But since then I know what to expect and I know it will automatically relock in 30 seconds or so. I wish they at the dealership would have told me. It's ok, but I would have liked to know ahead of time, not find out the hard way. I guess it's a safety feature.
 
#7 ·
It's funny about men..... they (me too) never read the manual, never read a road map, and when you even suggest it to them, they get all p'd off. Cheeech!

If you have to take off your SX4 battery terminals, (on the SX4 Cross, AWD) like to clean them, (who ever does that?), you will also have to reset your ESP or the light will flash. Drive about a mile at 25mph to reset the ESP. Yeah, I found that in the manual.
It's less embarrassing than calling the dealer and having him tell you "RTFM"!

Cheers Mates!
The Shadow :cool:
 
#8 ·
tragic lockout

There's a tragic tale about this stupid "auto door locking" feature here in rural Idaho.....

A lady in the dead of winter got out of her car (don't recall what kind) with the motor running and closed the door. The car promptly locked her out. Since she was on a deserted rural road, nobody came by until the following morning. They found her frozen to death.

Nice "safety feature" some engineer came up with.

If I was her, I would have searched around for the biggest rock I could lift and broken the passenger's side window to get access to the car.
 
#9 ·
Nice story but it doesn't quite make sense. She got out of the car and the car auto-locked her out? How do they know that? Infinitely more likely is that she locked herself out, which has happened ever since they put locks on cars.

The SX4 just relocks the doors if you unlock them with the remote but don't open a door within 30 seconds. I find it annoying but not a safety feature, good or bad. (No idea about how Keypass works.)
 
#10 · (Edited)
Car designers try as they may, to make a car 'Idiot Proof' but sometimes they fail. Some folks could screw up a brick.:mad:

In 50+ years, I've only locked myself out of my car once.
I yanked the windshield wiper arm off and used it for a slim-jim and in less than two minutes I was back in the car.
I was just so glad that it was a nice day, and not pouring down rain or snowing like crazy!

Although, one night late, I came home in a violent snow storn and dropped my house keys down behind the cement steps, that were frozen to the patio.
Fortunately, my car was still warm and unlocked, so I dove back into the car while I found something to use for a lock pick. Then back to the house door which I picked in less than 30 sec's. I think that was my all-time fastest lock pick ever.
The next week, I installed an electronic lock. with battery backup, and an on-the-door keypad and I've never used a house key since. That was about 30 years ago.

Innovation!

:cool:
 
#11 ·
Car designers try as they may, to make a car 'Idiot Proof' but sometimes they fail. Some folks could screw up a brick.:mad:
My dad has a history of locking his keys in the car, and, I might add - not by accident either - some of the occasions on which I have known it to happen actually took some thought to make it happen.

One of the vehicles was a five door station wagon on which it was not possible to lock the front doors from the outside without the key - so he opened a back door, reached through to the front, locked the front doors from the inside, and then locked the back doors - with the key in the ignition. This was before the advent of power locks & central locking, so it actually required a concious effort to lock all four doors, one by one, and probably a few more attempts to figure out how to get the driver's door locked.

I was the one who would get the phone call saying that he needed to be rescued - and so I became quite adept at opening the car without the keys, in one case with nothing more than a length of string.

His all time best was locking my mother's keys in her car - and neglecting to mention that he'd also left the engine running - fortunately - it was not garaged, otherwise there might have been a different end to that story.
 
#12 ·
I've had a few custoemrs with SX-4s say the car locked itself when it was running. They got out, closed the door and it locked. I can never reproduce the problem, and they never come back either so I wonder if it's something they just did, or a fault of the car??
I know the car will not lok the doors with the switch on the door, or even manually pushing the thing on the door won't work....just pops back to unlock. I know you can lock the doors with the key when the door is shut....but ya...
 
#13 ·
Have had that happen twice, both times on an '88 Mustang GT that had a Viper alarm system. The system was setup to automatically lock the doors & set the alarm after 30 seconds. Unfortunately it would do this even with the keys in the ignition, motor running or not.
Since then, I have carried a spare key in my wallet for every vehicle I've owned.
Never had to use it, but for the cost of a key (doesn't have to be "chipped"), well worth the peace of mind.
 
#14 · (Edited)
On just about any car, there are all sorts of neat little places under the car, behind the grill, etc, where a Magnetic key holder can be hidden.
I don't use one, because when I get out of my car, my keys are always in my hand.
It's just become an automatic reflex, , when I turn off the engine the key comes out of the ignition and goes with me, even if I'm just going a few feet away.
I don't fault the people who don't do that. But it IS a good idea anyway.
And as I walk away from the car, I push the little LOCK button on the Key Fob and listen for the CLICK of the doors locking. That works at up to 100' and even if the keys are already in my pocket. It's a great system!

I had to have that remote LOCK system installed on my 2000 Grand Vitara and it was well worth it, along with the Tinted Glass.

Cheers Mates!
:cool:

PS: It's 100°F outside and I'm working in the yard today, rebuilding my Road Drag.
Tom, are you staying cool, up there in Michigan?
 
#16 ·
PS: It's 100°F outside and I'm working in the yard today, rebuilding my Road Drag.
Tom, are you staying cool, up there in Michigan?
Yup Shadow, it's only going to the mid-80's today. Might put a sweater on :lol:
One other reason for keeping an extra key in your wallet, or using a magnetic key holder on the vehicle (although to be honest don't care for those,,,,,,,,the bad guys know all the hiding places) is in case you lose your key chain while out and about.
At least you can get into the car & drive home, even with an alarm system (there is a way to over-ride the alarm once in the car, at least on mine, which is aftermarket).
 
#18 ·
THe problem is that the car does not.....and at times, it ignores the rules....Happily, a second key set kept outside the car will take control....
 
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