Car Locks

[Cole D]

If your car has power locks, does it lock the doors when you put the transmission in gear, or when you get to a certain speed? On mine it locks when you get to I think 15 MPH.
It unlocks the doors when you open the door from inside. Now my old car did the same I think about locking when you got to 15 MPH.

Some cars I've seen, I want to say the Chevy trucks locked when you put it in gear, and unlocked when you put in park. And the Town Car did too in the 90s at least.

However, what I liked better on that one is when you unlocked the car with the remote, it did just the driver's door and then if you pressed unlock a second time,
it did all the doors. Mine just unlocks all the doors instead, I'd prefer it just did the driver's door. Since sometimes you can get carjackings where people get in
on the other side.

If I'm going to be sitting in my car for a few minutes in a parking lot I usually lock the doors just to be sure.

If I had manual door locks I'd probably just leave them locked all the time except the driver's door to get in and out.

[Parkman]

I’ve heard it’s safer to have them lock during an accident

My Tacoma does not do it I would like it to but you can’t send it (2015)

My S10 has manual locks (2003)

My wife’s Sportage automatically locks (2022)

[fancollector12]

All of ours come from the factory set to lock automatically, although there is an option to disable that in the settings on either the overhead console, or the touchscreen. I believe my Chevy pickup truck locks automatically with NO option to disable it. Our vehicles are:

* Chevrolet K1500 GMT400 Extended Cab (1997) (NO Option to Disable)
* Jeep Grand Cherokee WJ (2002) (Can Enable/Disable through Electronic Vehicle Information Center (EVIC) in Overhead Console)
* BMW 525xi Sedan E60 (2006) (Can Enable/Disable through iDrive Screen (Infotainment System))
* Jeep Grand Cherokee WK2 (2014) (Can Enable/Disable through U Connect Touchscreen (Infotainment System))
* BMW X5 F15 (2018) (Can Enable/Disable through iDrive Touchscreen (Infotainment System))

[Cole D]

Jun 18, 2022 8:23:33 GMT -5 Parkman said:

I’ve heard it’s safer to have them lock during an accident

My Tacoma does not do it I would like it to but you can’t send it (2015)

My S10 has manual locks (2003)

My wife’s Sportage automatically locks (2022)

Now that I think about it, I don't recall any of my friends who had Toyotas having the automatic locking. So it could just be something Toyota doesn't do for some reason. I too have heard it's supposed to keep the doors from coming open in a crash, and some cars at least, unlock the doors if there is a crash detected (not sure if it's when an airbag goes off or a rollover or what makes it do it unlock though).

[Cole D]

Jun 19, 2022 3:10:54 GMT -5 fancollector12 said:

All of ours come from the factory set to lock automatically, although there is an option to disable that in the settings on either the overhead console, or the touchscreen. I believe my Chevy pickup truck locks automatically with NO option to disable it. Our vehicles are:

* Chevrolet K1500 GMT400 Extended Cab (1997) (NO Option to Disable)
* Jeep Grand Cherokee WJ (2002) (Can Enable/Disable through Electronic Vehicle Information Center (EVIC) in Overhead Console)
* BMW 525xi Sedan E60 (2006) (Can Enable/Disable through iDrive Screen (Infotainment System))
* Jeep Grand Cherokee WK2 (2014) (Can Enable/Disable through U Connect Touchscreen (Infotainment System))
* BMW X5 F15 (2018) (Can Enable/Disable through iDrive Touchscreen (Infotainment System))

Do they do it as soon as the transmission is put in gear, or when you get over a certain speed? Some seem to lock when put in and out of gear while others you have to get to 15 MPH.

[Parkman]

Jun 19, 2022 17:18:28 GMT -5 Cole D said:

Jun 18, 2022 8:23:33 GMT -5 Parkman said:

I’ve heard it’s safer to have them lock during an accident

My Tacoma does not do it I would like it to but you can’t send it (2015)

My S10 has manual locks (2003)

My wife’s Sportage automatically locks (2022)

Now that I think about it, I don't recall any of my friends who had Toyotas having the automatic locking. So it could just be something Toyota doesn't do for some reason. I too have heard it's supposed to keep the doors from coming open in a crash, and some cars at least, unlock the doors if there is a crash detected (not sure if it's when an airbag goes off or a rollover or what makes it do it unlock though).

My grandmoms Avalon and now her Camry both locked.  I've never been with a Tacoma that does it.  

To answer your other question, the Mrs' Sportage and her previous Hyundai both locked when shifted out of park.  The Hyundai I feel like automatically did it where the Sportage has to be actually in DRIVE instead of reverse. 

[The Center of Fans]

Jun 19, 2022 21:03:22 GMT -5 Parkman said:

Jun 19, 2022 17:18:28 GMT -5 Cole D said:

Now that I think about it, I don't recall any of my friends who had Toyotas having the automatic locking. So it could just be something Toyota doesn't do for some reason. I too have heard it's supposed to keep the doors from coming open in a crash, and some cars at least, unlock the doors if there is a crash detected (not sure if it's when an airbag goes off or a rollover or what makes it do it unlock though).

My grandmoms Avalon and now her Camry both locked.  I've never been with a Tacoma that does it.  

To answer your other question, the Mrs' Sportage and her previous Hyundai both locked when shifted out of park.  The Hyundai I feel like automatically did it where the Sportage has to be actually in DRIVE instead of reverse. 

When u said “Avalon” it gave me Casablanca Avalon vibes lol

[fancollector12]

Jun 19, 2022 17:19:34 GMT -5 Cole D said:

Jun 19, 2022 3:10:54 GMT -5 fancollector12 said:

All of ours come from the factory set to lock automatically, although there is an option to disable that in the settings on either the overhead console, or the touchscreen. I believe my Chevy pickup truck locks automatically with NO option to disable it. Our vehicles are:

* Chevrolet K1500 GMT400 Extended Cab (1997) (NO Option to Disable)
* Jeep Grand Cherokee WJ (2002) (Can Enable/Disable through Electronic Vehicle Information Center (EVIC) in Overhead Console)
* BMW 525xi Sedan E60 (2006) (Can Enable/Disable through iDrive Screen (Infotainment System))
* Jeep Grand Cherokee WK2 (2014) (Can Enable/Disable through U Connect Touchscreen (Infotainment System))
* BMW X5 F15 (2018) (Can Enable/Disable through iDrive Touchscreen (Infotainment System))

Do they do it as soon as the transmission is put in gear, or when you get over a certain speed? Some seem to lock when put in and out of gear while others you have to get to 15 MPH.

I believe the Chevy K1500 and the older Jeep Grand Cherokee are both speed-sensitive. It's like 5 MPH-10 MPH when they lock, and then they unlock when you put them in 'PARK'. The others, at least I believe, lock the doors when you put them in gear, and unlock them when you put them in 'PARK'. I typically turn that feature off when I first get into ANY vehicle (including a rental car), so I really don't pay attention to it, LOL.

[becausecanadia]

No, both of my vehicles are manuals and one of them doesn't even have power locks.

[Cole D]

On Saturday I went shopping with my mom. We went in her van and I noticed it locks when you shift from Park to Drive or Reverse. However it doesn't unlock again when put in Park.

[fancollector12]

Aug 2, 2022 21:02:01 GMT -5 Cole D said:

On Saturday I went shopping with my mom. We went in her van and I noticed it locks when you shift from Park to Drive or Reverse. However it doesn't unlock again when put in Park.

I guess it depends on the age of the vehicle. I know in your Malibu, you have the option in the settings of the My-Link system to turn those features on or off. Sometimes the owner's manual tells you to do a certain key sequence to program it, or you can ask the dealer to do so for you.

[Cole D]

I got mine reprogrammed now, so when I unlock it, only the driver's door unlocks, and then all the doors unlock if I press unlock on the fob or touch the outside handle a a second time. This is how my old Malibu was, and I prefer this, because then if someone is hiding they can't jump in from the other side of the car when I get in. To do it, I hold down both the lock and unlock buttons on the key for a few seconds until the signals flash 3 times. And then do it again if you want to go back to all the doors unlocking at once.

Plus I have a bad habit of sitting in the car sometimes before I leave the parking lot, and not locking the doors. So in this case, then at least only the driver's door is unlocked if I forget to lock them.

I did keep the locking enabled when it gets to 15 MPH, because I prefer it to do that. However, it also unlocks all the doors automatically if I put it in park and open the driver's door from inside. And I may decide to disable that one, since again, somebody could get in on the other side when I'm parked and getting out.

One thing I learned is that on the older Fords, Lincolns and Mercuries, ONLY the ones with the keyless entry keypad (or later keyless entry keypad and remotes) locked automatically when you put the transmission into gear. The ones with just power locks didn't have that feature. And to disable or enable it you put the code into the keypad and then pressed four numbers.

But Dodge and Chryslers locked when you got to 15 MPH regardless if it had keyless entry or not.

[MrFanMan]

My 2000 Excursion doesn't do anything automatically and is incapable of it. The system used in that year doesn't offer those options. My 2007 F-350 is an absolute base model truck, and the only options it has are the diesel and automatic transmission. I can't even retrofit electronic locks for it without enduring an absolute headache. My 2009 F-250 is fairly lower-end as well (XLT, I think), but at least it has power locks and windows. When I bought it, it wouldn't automatically lock or unlock, but I have an OBDII USB cable and some software specific to Fords, and I used that to reprogram it to lock in Drive and unlock in Park

My last few GM SUVs (2003, 2004, and 2005) had much more control over all of this, and it was user accessible to boot. I always set them to lock with speed and unlock in Park.