Bit of bother last night....

[V8MoneyPit]

Our Freelander is in the garage for a couple of fixes and we were given a Micra courtesey car. It has only 2000 miles on it.

Last night we went to leave work, started the car to warm the screen and shut the door to start scraping the ice off....... it then proceeded to lock the doors  :shock:

So there we were, keys in the ignition, engine running, heater blowing, even the radio was on..... and we were outside!!! Sarah has recovery cover with her insurance, but the details were in her bag..... yes, you've guessed.... in the car  :lol:

Fortunately, the chap who works with her was still there and called out the AA for us. I know it wasn't strictly correct, but what the hell. He pays enough for it! The AA man arrived within 40 minutes and 5 minutes later the car was open  :shock: No damage. Absolutely amazing! The AA get a lot of stick, but in this case they were fantastic.

It was nice and warm inside the car and fully de-iced too  :lol:

[TDi90]

It was nice and warm inside the car and fully de-iced too  :lol:

i bet it was!!

you must have been FREEZING it was sooo cold last night!

[V8MoneyPit]

you must have been FREEZING it was sooo cold last night!

We were still at my wifes work.... she sells cast iron stoves, so we were fine while inside  :D But, yes, it was a tad chilly last night!

[Range Rover Red]

My windscreen was frozen on the INSIDE this morning :shock:

[j99mud]

you must have been FREEZING it was sooo cold last night!

We were still at my wifes work.... she sells cast iron stoves, so we were fine while inside  :D But, yes, it was a tad chilly last night!

Hmm thats interesting, ive just bought a cast iron stove for my boat :D mine is a morso squirrel

[Lucy1978]

My dad works at a BMW dealership, they had a customers car in the workshop with teh engine running and shut the door, they locked, the spare key is with the customer however many miles away, Doh!

[V8MoneyPit]

Hmm thats interesting, ive just bought a cast iron stove for my boat :D mine is a morso squirrel

Wow! That's an expensive one! They obviously pay you too much at work  :lol:

My dad works at a BMW dealership, they had a customers car in the workshop with teh engine running and shut the door, they locked, the spare key is with the customer however many miles away, Doh!

The AA man said he'd been out to a Megane the day before with exactly the same problem  :shock: Seems it is quite common.

When Sarah took the car back to the garage this morning and explained, he said she should have put a brick through the window  :shock:  :lol:
It turns out it had only just come back from Nissan having had the central locking 'fixed'..... Yes, well.

[tomarse]

When Sarah took the car back to the garage this morning and explained, he said she should have put a brick through the window  :shock:  :lol:

That is probably what i would have done!. I would have rung the garage first! ;) Quicker and easier than the AA especially if it is only a courtesy car!

[V8MoneyPit]

When Sarah took the car back to the garage this morning and explained, he said she should have put a brick through the window  :shock:  :lol:

That is probably what i would have done!. I would have rung the garage first! ;) Quicker and easier than the AA especially if it is only a courtesy car!

Trouble was, it was 7pm and the garage was well and truly shut!

[Lee_D]

We had this last week.... with a Merc Sprinter Van.... Painted in Yellow... With Blue lamps on top.... with a cage in the back for horrid drunks... which was occupied... Driver slams the cage shut... slams the back door and the central locking locked him out... Blue lamps going but fortunately no sirens... engine ticking over.  :oops:

Fortunately the spare keys were found pronto and given a lift by another patrol.

Funny though as it would have been interesting tring to get in.. windows are polycarbonate on them..... house brick would have been morelikely to damage the tosser,,, so to speak  :lol:

[Rich_P]

This is why I fear modern car technology.  Until they solve these issues, I won't be having one.  

[Evilgoat]

Been bloody careful not to do this with the Audi. It has anti-carjacking which means 30 seconds after the engine starts, the doors lock. Great untill you hit the above scenario. Almost done it so many time, just made a mental note to leave the window partially down or not close the door.

learnt from the Renault, which had a 'random lock' feature when you disconnected the battery. Would have to tap the battery terminal with the clamp a dozen times to make it give up and unlock.

Also funilly enough, I locke myself out the flat last night  :oops: Ali has a spare key and so did my nan (5 doors up) untill I lost my keys and hadnt got another set cut. And yes, it was brassic and foggy and damp last night.

[V8MoneyPit]

Been bloody careful not to do this with the Audi. It has anti-carjacking which means 30 seconds after the engine starts, the doors lock.

Even if you aren't in the car? I can see the logic in having a 'security' device that locks the doors once the car is occupied. It would be a selling feature to the type of people who buy Micra's..... not that I would ever stereotype, of course! But in this case it should surely have pressure sensors on the seat to ensure it is occupied before locking.

In our case, it locked the moment the door was shut!

But overall, I have to go along with Rich_P. I hate cars that I can't understand.

[bezzabsa]

the New C4 has a similar thing, as soon as the vehicle reaches 5mph all the doors lock - very unnatural  :?

[Lee_D]

the New C4 has a similar thing, as soon as the vehicle reaches 5mph all the doors lock - very unnatural  :?

Yep our 2001 Laguna does that too... though I don't mind as long as it only does it in that situation.

Lee D

[fudge]

Mercs Inc Vans have a system that is user changable, the doors lock at 10kms and stay locked, if an Air Bag or Seatbelt Pre Tensioner is activated the doors unlock, the windows roll down and the hazard lamps are turned on and the brake lamps stay illuminated too!

[redneck]

the New C4 has a similar thing, as soon as the vehicle reaches 5mph all the doors lock - very unnatural  :?

Yep our 2001 Laguna does that too... though I don't mind as long as it only does it in that situation.

Lee D

My Delica also has this feature, it's to stop the scum that open a passenger door when you're stopped at the traffic lights and make off with anything you may have left on the seat  :shock:

[Rich_P]

the New C4 has a similar thing, as soon as the vehicle reaches 5mph all the doors lock - very unnatural  :?

EU law I think now for all new cars.  I know American cars appeared to have this feature before it appeared in the UK.

[Jim-Willy]

the New C4 has a similar thing, as soon as the vehicle reaches 5mph all the doors lock - very unnatural  :?

EU law I think now for all new cars.  I know American cars appeared to have this feature before it appeared in the UK.

Aye my old Jeep locked you in when you started it.  Didn't like the idea i allus unlocked it.

[discomummy]

Hi,

my disco does the same, but it appears it works on the revs as once i was stuck and revving it hard and the doors locked!

i personally like this feature, especially when i am by myself in the car, having known one friend had someone get into her car at traffic lights - very scary, and another had her door opened (again at traffic lights) and her bag taken.  

geoff wanted to disable this, but i have kept it - i also have kids in the disco a lot and i like the way nobody can get in.  

my disco also only unlocks the drivers door first click and second for the rest of the car - again when i am walking to my car, i know someone cannot get in whilst i am.

these are both safety features that we unfortunately need in this day and age.

regards

ela

[Rich_P]

Aha, what about if the system fails and you're stuck in a car on the middle lane of a motorway with nothing operating on the car?

This is what happened to someone with their Ford Focus.  Everything just cut out on the middle lane of the motorway.  They rolled to a stop, and the doors remained locked, no ignition, nothing.  There was high speed traffic flying past on both sides of the vehicle, and the family was stuck there unable to do anything.
I think the cause was a computer failure.  We all should be afraid, very afraid.  :shock:

[Range Rover Blues]

On the noddy car, sorry micra, you can set the central locking up so that it only opens the driver's door unless you double click the remote.  I don't know as much about the keyless ones but I suppose they should prevent this happening if you keep the key in your pocket....

At the end of the day if they shot car thieves then we wouldn't have all this trouble, would we?

I find the Thatcham cattagory PITA alarms to be useless in tis respect too, the only person they inconvenience is the owner.  Julie's locks the doors as soon as it starts, so imagine, it's abig car.  You start it up and roll forewards to let the passenger in......
So it wnds up being unlocked again and staying that way.  I wouldn't mind as much if it waited 'till I was moving.

[Range Rover Red]

I have a deep mistrust of all these gizmos that try to be too clever - self-locking cars, automatic wipers and so on.  I'd rather be in control myself of locking the doors - what's so difficult about pushing a button?

[redneck]

Aha, what about if the system fails and you're stuck in a car on the middle lane of a motorway with nothing operating on the car?

This is what happened to someone with their Ford Focus.  Everything just cut out on the middle lane of the motorway.  They rolled to a stop, and the doors remained locked, no ignition, nothing.  There was high speed traffic flying past on both sides of the vehicle, and the family was stuck there unable to do anything.
I think the cause was a computer failure.  We all should be afraid, very afraid.  :shock:

Surely they could have just unlocked it with the button on the door  :?: does the Focus not have this :?: If the car cannot be opened from inside then it's breaking construction and use regulations is it not  :?:  I know on my Delica even when the doors have auto locked it's a simple matter of unlocking it by using the manual button.

[Littledan]

it sure was cold on tuesday morning riding to work at 5am at -4  :shock:

i was frezzing!!

dan

[Evilgoat]

Aha, what about if the system fails and you're stuck in a car on the middle lane of a motorway with nothing operating on the car?

This is what happened to someone with their Ford Focus.  Everything just cut out on the middle lane of the motorway.  They rolled to a stop, and the doors remained locked, no ignition, nothing.  There was high speed traffic flying past on both sides of the vehicle, and the family was stuck there unable to do anything.
I think the cause was a computer failure.  We all should be afraid, very afraid.  :shock:

Surely they could have just unlocked it with the button on the door  :?: does the Focus not have this :?: If the car cannot be opened from inside then it's breaking construction and use regulations is it not  :?:  I know on my Delica even when the doors have auto locked it's a simple matter of unlocking it by using the manual button.

I was thinking that, certainly the Audi will do that, and pretty much every car I've been inside has had that facility, mostly because it should be a mechanical linkage (tell that to renault though)