The number of times I've stood outside my car with my FOB and my PAAK without the doors allowing me in is capital Embarrassing.

[koflo]

Just push the handle?

He mentions that he pushes the handles and they don't do anything "The mirrors don't move, the handles don't move, and I'm just standing there like an idiot pushing a handle that won't do anything.". Assuming he means that he presses them in and they stay compressed in like they do when the key isn't close by. This happens constantly for me at least.

 

[Dsinatore]

Yeah besides my intermittent Bluetooth issue the car unlocking is the primary issue with the software that I have. My garage is connected to my family room. 50% of the time just walking past my garage door the car wakes up. The other 50% I have to wait until it senses my phone. I just started carrying my FOB with me and I don’t think the frequency has changed. So welcome to the club. Another issue my wife and I have is the profile changing to the other driver if we walk up to the car at the same time. My wife now lags behind me when we go to the car but that doesn’t solve the problem 100%. The car has started oddly switching to my profile when she is by herself and I am miles away. Wife is so frustrated that she said she wouldn’t buy another. I not at that point yet.

 

[MacBain00]

The range of the fob and mobile key are embarrassing. Similarly, I cannot open the back doors of the car until I unlock the front doors. I cannot open the trunk from the button on the trunk until I unlock the front doors.

Some things I've done to try and improve my experience:
-Always carry fob and mobile key. You'll get a lot of people saying you shouldn't do this (or shouldn't need to do this), but do what helps your personal non-driving experience.
-I've had to redo my PaaK after the last updates. For whatever reason, it desynced and mobile key stopped working (didn't realize it).
-Force myself to go to driver door to unlock the car regardless of what action I want to perform (unless I use the app. but similar issue since it's so slow to wake the car)
-There's about a 1-2 second lag from pushing the handle to being able to open the door. There is a red light that blinks underneath the left driver side of the console when it successfully reads the fob/key. If I don't see it in that 1-2 second lag, I push the handle again to force it to try again.
-I turned off passive unlock to avoid the random door unlocks while walking around the house with my phone. I have a faraday pouch for the spare key. Forcing myself to use the door handle to open the car instead of using passive unlock made the biggest difference. I would rather have a consistent experience with getting in the car versus the passive unlock of waiting.

None of these are great experiences, but you have to get to acceptance phase of what you got. If the experience is extremely poor, I would recommend to car service and see if there is an issue with the Bluetooth radio inside the car.

 

[Neurio]

There is a red light that blinks underneath the left driver side of the console when it successfully reads the fob/key.

It's actually the orange blind spot light in the side view mirror that blinks. It is reflecting off the front window, which is why it looks like it's coming from inside the car.

 

[MacBain00]

It's actually the orange blind spot light in the side view mirror that blinks. It is reflecting off the front window, which is why it looks like it's coming from inside the car.

Didn't even realize that. I just saw the light in the spot and figured it was inside. Makes more sense that it's a reflection. Thanks

 

[idiot900]

For those whose phones work well as a key - what specific phone do you have? Do you use a phone case?

My iPhone 14 Pro (with a thin plastic case) is just OK, sometimes I have to wait several seconds for the car to notice. The car will aggressively auto-lock, presumably because it lost the phone signal. Planning to upgrade to the newest iPhone Pro this fall - hopefully that will help.

 

[canuck]

Have you checked the voltage of the FOB battery?

The dealer replaced my battery (still low after change), I swapped with another and things are working significantly better.

 

[Unmutual]

For those whose phones work well as a key - what specific phone do you have? Do you use a phone case?

My iPhone 14 Pro (with a thin plastic case) is just OK, sometimes I have to wait several seconds for the car to notice. The car will aggressively auto-lock, presumably because it lost the phone signal. Planning to upgrade to the newest iPhone Pro this fall - hopefully that will help.

16 Pro here. Doesn't work any better than my SE 2nd gen. To the OP's point, the failure-to-quickly-unlock rate for me is closer to 60%, and I curse at the car every time I have to wait.

 

[DeaneG]

It's just easier to carry the fob, and replace the battery every few months.

 

[koflo]

For those whose phones work well as a key - what specific phone do you have? Do you use a phone case?

My iPhone 14 Pro (with a thin plastic case) is just OK, sometimes I have to wait several seconds for the car to notice. The car will aggressively auto-lock, presumably because it lost the phone signal. Planning to upgrade to the newest iPhone Pro this fall - hopefully that will help.

I use a 16 pro max, used 15 pro max before it and I have a pixel 9 pro xl that I’ve tested with. All the same experience. It’s great for about a week after you pair the phone. After that week ends then it’s a dice roll.

My range is pretty poor as well. Yesterday I had to plug the car in so I walk up to the car and it didn’t recognize the key. I go to the driver door handle and press the handles in. Nothing. I pull my phone out and wake the phone, car unlocks. I take two steps to the charger port door and put my phone in my pocket. I press the charger door and the car locked in that short amount of time. So I pull my phone out again, press the handles, and just unlock the charge port from inside the car. yikes.

 

[new owner]

It's just easier to carry the fob, and replace the battery every few months.

Thats what I do and bring both Fob's for long trips
Also use the phone when handy to extend the Fob life which usually works well but if there is a small delay I just overide with the Fob

 

[AirDoll]

For those whose phones work well as a key - what specific phone do you have? Do you use a phone case?

My iPhone 14 Pro (with a thin plastic case) is just OK, sometimes I have to wait several seconds for the car to notice. The car will aggressively auto-lock, presumably because it lost the phone signal. Planning to upgrade to the newest iPhone Pro this fall - hopefully that will help.

13 Pro Max with a thin rubber case. My phone is usually in my hand (but sometimes my pocket) and I just tap the screen to make sure my phone is awake and it works great both ways.

 

[Batteryman]

Get rid of your keyfob and just use your phone as a key...it works much better! Keep theu keycard in your wallet as backup.

 

[Batteryman]

I wish I could trust the car without my FOB. The PAAK has a much higher failure rate.

PAAK works much better for me...almost flawless

 

[JGard18]

I've had the mobile key set up since I got my car last October. I've had issues with the car unlocking when I walk up, especially since I'm mostly walking up to the trunk to put my kids hockey stuff in there. It seems to take forever to unlock. Additionally, my phone app almost never can wake up the car. I've tried turning wifi off and on and neither thing made a difference. Last week I unlinked my mobile key and have gone 100% fob (which I keep in a faraday pouch while I'm home). Not only is walk-up-unlock now working spectacularly, but the mobile app has woken up the car every single time without fail, usually within 30 seconds or so. In the past, the car would only wake up like 25% of the time. The other benefit is that my phone battery isn't getting crushed by the Lucid app while I'm home. Apparently being within like 60 feet of the car at all times is an issue for the mobile app.