Explain This One

Ok, all of you electronic sleuths and owner's manual bookworms: Yesterday I stopped for gas and left my passenger door open. I usually take the key and put it in my pocket, this time I left it on the seat. After fueling, I tossed my wallet onto the passenger seat. There was a brief "chirp" noise, like the one you get when locking the car. Since the passenger door was open I didn't pay any attention. I shut the passenger door and walked around to the driver's side and the door was locked! I can't figure this out as I wasn't touching the key, the internal scan alarm shouldn't be activated until both doors are closed and locked. Luckily, I was only about a 1/2 mile from home, and walked in the pouring rain to get my extra key. Any ideas? All I can think of is an electrical fault or radio interference. My CS is a 2007, and has 4000 mi.

If you pressed unlock on the remote, and then left it on the seat, it is possible that the car will relock the doors after a period of time. Did you press any buttons on the remote before getting out?

My sequence, as I remember it: Stopped, turned off engine, removed key from ignition, unlocked door using inside handle. Got out and closed driver's door. Walked around to gas pump and opened gas cap, and passenger door. Tossed wallet through passenger door onto seat, finished fueling, closed passenger door, walked home in the rain.

You usually get the "chirp" noise when you hit the lock button and a door or hatch is open - I suspect that when you tossed your wallet on the front seat, you scored a direct hit on the lock button, so that when you closed the passenger door the car was locked.

I see 2 possibilities here. One, when you tossed your key in, you accidentally hit the lock button, locking the car. The honk you heard was the car telling you that the door is open, but locked. The second possibility is that your car is set to auto lock. I know my car locks itself after about 2 minutes of it being locked and then unlocked and no doors are opened or closed.

My experience is that when the car is unlocked using the key remote you need to insert the key into the ignition within a short amount of time or the car automatically locks itself. Simply opening the doors or front/rear lid doesn't change this sequence. In the first month of ownership, I unlocked the car with the key remove and opened the rear hatch to load grocieries. At some point over the next 1-2 minutes the car relocked itself. After closing the rear hatch, I realized I'd left the keys in the rear trunk. No problem, I thought. I'll just open the driver's door, pop the rear hatch lid, grab the keys and be on my way. Wrong. I'm really carefull now about where my keys are before closing any door or hatch on the car.

You're close; you need to open and close either the driver or passenger door for it to remain unlocked. if you unlock it, open the hatch or front trunk, close the hatch and front trunk and then leave it will automatically lock again and show you a solid turn signal light for 3 seconds to affirm the auto lock feature. TX-kman and others are right, the chirp you heard was a result of you hitting lock on the remote, probably accidentally. The chirp basically tells you that something is open, but the car has gone ahead and locked everything anyways and in the case of a door being open the lock will be set once the doors are closed; and if this happens you will again see the solid turn signal light once the doors are closed to affirm that everything has been locked. - Suneet

Balboa- Sounds like you may have part of this figured out. I wasn't aware that the car car relock itself while a door is open. It's still a bit of a mystery since I unlocked the door with the inside handle, not the remote. Also, if I don't lock my car at night (inside my garage), it is still unlocked in the morning, i.e. I don't think it's set up for automatic locking. Could be a combination of ghost in the machine + human error. Note that I tossed my wallet in, not the key. The key was never touched, and I'm sure I didn't hit the lock button on the dash or key. The solution is simple, always take the key with you when leaving the car (the same mantra I've been preaching to my wife....). Could be months of humility in store for me.

Wow.... I'm sure glad I no longer have to go through the arduous routine of inserting my key into the door to lock/unlock my car.... That used to really piss me off. Now all this electronics stuff has simplified my life so I can concentrate on more concerning issue of the day... Is pot legal?

The Cayman key fob is very sensitive. Sometimes I have locked my car, put the key in the pocket of my tight jeans, and start to walk away, and the car unlocks itself. That fob has a hair trigger! I think it would be very easy to activate it just by hitting the fob with your wallet.

I am unclear, did you leave the key on the drivers seat or on the passenger seat? (in which case the wallet may have activated the locking) With all of the electronic "bugs" this electrical/computerized system has, I have always feared not having my key with me at all times. I have even thought of planting a spare key on the car somewhere, in case of something like this event. Any suggestions on where to plant it?

I woudnt take the risk of planting a spare in the car, but then again, its just me! ________________________ "Sir! We're surrounded!" - "Excellent! We can shoot in any direction!" A good car will get you from point A to point B. A great car... will just get you into trouble!