# Auto unlock fails sometimes



## MRinPDX (Jul 2, 2018)

Sorry if this has been discussed already (I just couldn't find a thread searching the forums). I have noticed a little too frequently that when I approach my Model 3 the door will not unlock and the dashpad will instruct me to use the key card to unlock. It appears often though not always after I have used my iPhone for ApplePay at a store. 

Anyone notice this?

The other interesting thing is that I don't pull out the card but just hold the phone against the panel (I have a cover which holds my CCs and also my key card). The RF(?) causes the phone to open my wallet App when I do this.


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## Ed Woodrick (May 26, 2018)

There have been soo many threads discussing this, that I'm surprised you couldn't find it.

Recommendations

Wake phone up before approaching
Have the Tesla app running
Have the Tesla app in the foreground
Rumors exist of a key fob, but no solid information


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## garsh (Apr 4, 2016)

Ed Woodrick said:


> There have been soo many threads discussing this, that I'm surprised you couldn't find it.


Can you add links to some of those threads here?


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## Ed Woodrick (May 26, 2018)

I just searched for "card key" and got over 10 pages of results.


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## MRinPDX (Jul 2, 2018)

Ed Woodrick said:


> I just searched for "card key" and got over 10 pages of results.


Ed, maybe I wasn't being clear. I wasn't necessarily talking about using the keycard (though I did mention it as my option to enter the car). I was wondering why at times when I approach my car with the phone (either in my hand or pocket) the door unlocks and at other times it doesn't. If I have the phone open and the Tesla app running, I could just as well use it to unlock the door. But that isn't the same as approaching the car with the phone on me and just opening the door. That's the part I am focusing on.


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## babula (Aug 26, 2018)

MRinPDX said:


> Ed, maybe I wasn't being clear. I wasn't necessarily talking about using the keycard (though I did mention it as my option to enter the car). I was wondering why at times when I approach my car with the phone (either in my hand or pocket) the door unlocks and at other times it doesn't. If I have the phone open and the Tesla app running, I could just as well use it to unlock the door. But that isn't the same as approaching the car with the phone on me and just opening the door. That's the part I am focusing on.


Curious to hear if you've figured anything else out now that some time has passed since you originally started this thread.

For me it seems like the best solution is to have the app awake and open. I've also gotten it to work a ton with the app opened but not awake, however there were a few times when doing that didn't unlock for me and I had to use the app.


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## MRinPDX (Jul 2, 2018)

@babula since the phone key connects with the car using Bluetooth, it appears that sometimes when I approach the car, the two BT stacks (in the car and my iPhone) have not yet negotiated their handshake by the time I tug at the door handle. Other times maybe they even may fail in the handshake. If you notice in your settings BT screen on your phone, there are several devices listed with rather cryptic names. It may take a while negotiating with these. The Tesla Model 3 device is for the contacts and the calendar, so I suspect these others (or one or more of them) are used for unlocking. One option is to turn Off and then ON the BT, but that still means you have to take the phone out of your pocket/purse/etc. If I am going to do that I might as well use the app to unlock. [Note that the app connects over LTE/WiFi and probably to the car via the cloud. No idea how that impacts the phone key functionality unless it is doing some syncing in the background through the cloud to the car.]

Here is an interesting discussion about the blue tooth problems I found:

__
https://www.reddit.com/r/path%3D%252Fr%252Fteslamotors%252Fcomments%252F7usrbb%252F


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## theishu (Mar 21, 2017)

I have had this issue as well, a few times. I try the door handles like I always do, and they sometimes do not unlock. The display instructs me to use the keycard instead. Being the lazy ass that I am, I usually try the door handles a couple more times, and it works! I only had to use the keycard once so far, and I only had to manually unlock from the app maybe 3-5 times so far. Had the car for 4 months now.


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## sdbyrd79 (Nov 28, 2017)

theishu said:


> I have had this issue as well, a few times. I try the door handles like I always do, and they sometimes do not unlock. The display instructs me to use the keycard instead. Being the lazy ass that I am, I usually try the door handles a couple more times, and it works! I only had to use the keycard once so far, and I only had to manually unlock from the app maybe 3-5 times so far. Had the car for 4 months now.


@theishu Same thing happens to me more frequently than it has over the past couple of months. I just try a few times and it eventually wakes up and lets me in. Definitely needs to be fixed!


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