[seo68]

I am not a fan of the auto door lock feature. The feature to which I'm referring is the one that, when enabled, will automatically lock the door locks when the vehicle's speed exceeds 12 mph.

The owner's manual says:
"The auto door lock feature can be enabled or disabled by your authorized dealer per written request of the customer. Please see your authorized dealer for service."

Has anyone tried to get the dealer to make that adjustment? If so, what kind of "written request" did you need to provide? I am happy that there is an option to defeat this feature, I am only mildly annoyed that FCA feels I can't be trusted with the authority to exercise it. Now that I know about it, I will have the dealer take care of it whenever I (eventually) pick up my PacHy.

 

[Pacificasteve]

Not positive of the reasoning for why you don’t want this feature engaged but the reason the doors lock has to do with the safety/integrity of the vehicle in certain types of crashes, as well as from a security stand point.

What you likely are signing is some sort of waiver of liability when you authorize CFA to deactivate that feature.

 

[seo68]

I just find it highly annoying to have to unlock a door I never locked. There are far more many instances where the doors are locked when I want them to be unlocked then there are when they are unlocked and and I want them to be locked. If I want the doors locked, I can always lock them - I don't need the car to think it is smarter than I am and it can make decisions for me. I am totally OK with the option, I am not happy with not being able to make my own decisions should I want to.

I doubt having the doors locked makes any difference at all in a crash of any kind. As long as the door is latched, it is as secure as it is going to be. Locking it just prevents the door handle from unlatching it. It is not a situation similar to a deadbolt on a front door, where when that is locked there is additional security provided, a car lock just disables the normal unlatching mechanism, which is highly unlikely to be triggered in a crash. I admit to not having done exhaustive research here, but I imagine if it does ever make a difference, it is in an extreme minority of circumstances.

I do admit it may help prevent a car jacking, and if I lived in a densely populated metropolitan area, and I routinely traveled through less safe parts of town, then I may find that feature desirable. But that situation does not apply to me.

I can certainly understand from the product liability perspective of FCA, but I would think simply setting the default to lock, like they do for lane sense, where the owner has to make a conscious choice to change the setting would be enough to absolve themselves of any liability. Past cars I have owned have it set as a default, but I could always make my own choice.

 

[irpilot]

I am not a fan of the auto door lock feature. The feature to which I'm referring is the one that, when enabled, will automatically lock the door locks when the vehicle's speed exceeds 12 mph.

The owner's manual says:
"The auto door lock feature can be enabled or disabled by your authorized dealer per written request of the customer. Please see your authorized dealer for service."

Has anyone tried to get the dealer to make that adjustment? If so, what kind of "written request" did you need to provide? I am happy that there is an option to defeat this feature, I am only mildly annoyed that FCA feels I can't be trusted with the authority to exercise it. Now that I know about it, I will have the dealer take care of it whenever I (eventually) pick up my PacHy.

I'm confused why it bothers you so much. It's way better than most other vehicles. On my Cadillac, after the door locks, I have to pull the handle once to unlock it and then a second time to open the door. On the Pacifica, one pull and it unlocks and opens the door as if it was unlocked anyways. There is zero benefit that I can think of that would come from disabling this feature. Is this just a freedom of choice thing:grin2:

 

[apnar]

I’m also confused of the use case. I’ve only had my Pac for a couple months but I’ve yet to have one instance where I had to unlock the doors manually.

 

[seo68]

The reality is that I am old and forgetful, but can still get cranky.

I go to the theater, when my wife and I come out it is raining, so I go get the car so that I can pull up and not have her walk out in the rain, but by the time I pull up, the car has locked itself, she walks out and gets rained on while I sit there having forgotten that the door locked, and since I rarely have to unlock it using the button from inside, there is always a delay as I try to find the button.

Similarly, when picking someone up from the airport, and I want to minimize my time at the curb, the car has locked itself and I need to find the button to unlock it before they can get in.

Again, I admit to my annoyance being mild and a function of my caustic personality, but I perceive absolutely no benefit to having the car lock on its own when I am in it, and I find the occasional circumstance where I am annoyed. Even if it only bothered me once every five years, that's one more time than I would be bothered by it not locking (with me in it).

 

[jpelzer]

The reality is that I am old and forgetful, but can still get cranky.

I go to the theater, when my wife and I come out it is raining, so I go get the car so that I can pull up and not have her walk out in the rain, but by the time I pull up, the car has locked itself, she walks out and gets rained on while I sit there having forgotten that the door locked, and since I rarely have to unlock it using the button from inside, there is always a delay as I try to find the button.

Similarly, when picking someone up from the airport, and I want to minimize my time at the curb, the car has locked itself and I need to find the button to unlock it before they can get in.

Again, I admit to my annoyance being mild and a function of my caustic personality, but I perceive absolutely no benefit to having the car lock on its own when I am in it, and I find the occasional circumstance where I am annoyed. Even if it only bothered me once every five years, that's one more time than I would be bothered by it not locking (with me in it).

This is my favorite response ever.

 

[apnar]

The car is just forcing you into better habits . Same thing with lane assist forcing me to start using my turn signal more when switching lanes. The car thinks you should be in park any time someone is entering the car, and it’s not a bad habit to pick up.

 

[ljnelson109]

The car is just forcing you into better habits . Same thing with lane assist forcing me to start using my turn signal more when switching lanes. The car thinks you should be in park any time someone is entering the car, and it’s not a bad habit to pick up.

I disagree. I think that auto lock AND the double press to unlock all doors are great features for people who are scared of where they live and drive. And, for those people, I am happy that manufacturers have added these features. For the rest of us, I think they are both simply a nuisance. I have always disabled them, even when I had no Driver Information Center or similar interface. On early GM products you had to do a song and dance that involved ignition cycles and some other interaction (I can't currently recall) but in the end, the horn would notify you that you have successfully fixed (defeated) this nuisance. My T&C let's me adjust both through the dash display. To think that FCA thinks that this makes any sense on the Pacifica is simply a shame.

Lee

 

[seo68]

The one reason that the double-press to unlock doesn't bother me so much is that most of the time I really do only want to unlock the driver's door and so it saves cycles on the other locks. But at least with the double-press, it is in the user interface to customize. But for the auto-lock, I need to go to the dealer and ask permission to have the car work the way I want it to.

 

[apnar]

The car is just forcing you into better habits . Same thing with lane assist forcing me to start using my turn signal more when switching lanes. The car thinks you should be in park any time someone is entering the car, and it’s not a bad habit to pick up.

So I was wrong, I thought putting it in park was enough to trigger the Auto Unlock but it isn’t. I must just always be the first to open my door which unlocks the doors for others. I can see how this would be annoying any time you’re dropping someone off or picking someone up.

 

[cue003]

So I was wrong, I thought putting it in park was enough to trigger the Auto Unlock but it isn’t. I must just always be the first to open my door which unlocks the doors for others. I can see how this would be annoying any time you’re dropping someone off or picking someone up.

The Unlock Doors Automatically On Exit feature unlocks all of the vehicle doors when any door is opened. This will occur only after the gear selector has been placed into the PARK position, after the vehicle has been driven (the gear selector has been placed out of PARK and all doors closed).

The Unlock Doors Automatically On Exit feature will not operate if there is any manual operation of the door locks (lock or unlock).

 

[shawnee]

I am not a fan of the auto door lock feature. The feature to which I'm referring is the one that, when enabled, will automatically lock the door locks when the vehicle's speed exceeds 12 mph.

The owner's manual says:
"The auto door lock feature can be enabled or disabled by your authorized dealer per written request of the customer. Please see your authorized dealer for service."

Has anyone tried to get the dealer to make that adjustment? If so, what kind of "written request" did you need to provide? I am happy that there is an option to defeat this feature, I am only mildly annoyed that FCA feels I can't be trusted with the authority to exercise it. Now that I know about it, I will have the dealer take care of it whenever I (eventually) pick up my PacHy.

This is interesting. On my Limited, built in March 2016, I have the option to disable the auto door lock directly from the uconnect settings. I disabled the auto door lock because the only option to auto unlock was to open the driver's door. If there was an option to auto unlock when the van was put in park (such as on my Odyssey) I would have kept the auto door lock activated.

 

[seo68]

That is good to know. I don't actually have my PacHy yet, I am only going from what I read in the owner's manual. Perhaps I'm getting all steamed up for no good reason. My wife says I do that all the time...

 

[shawnee]

That is good to know. I don't actually have my PacHy yet, I am only going from what I read in the owner's manual. Perhaps I'm getting all steamed up for no good reason. My wife says I do that all the time...

seo68, sorry but I would not count on it. An old version of the owner's manual shows the settings option for turning off the auto lock. The latest version does not. Not sure why they changed. Maybe it took a while for the lawyers to read the manual. In any event, disabling the auto lock is something you can have the dealer do when taking delivery.

 

[seo68]

Bummer, but thanks for the information. I guess I'll go back to ranting and raving. My wife will be so happy...

 

[SciTchr]

Bummer, but thanks for the information. I guess I'll go back to ranting and raving. My wife will be so happy...

There is another thread "Auto Door Locks" about auto door locks from last year if you are interested. It appears that vehicles manufactured after 9/2016 or so don't allow the owner to change the feature where doors lock automatically at about 15-20 mph using UConnect. Just have the dealer disable it when you pick up your van if you don't want that feature.

This problem has been resolved. My dealer disabled the auto door locks and didn't charge me. It's MUCH better now!

 

[seo68]

Thanks, I just recently found that thread myself. I will definitely address this with the dealer when I pick up the van.

 

[tturkstra]

Wish I had found this thread before I picked up my PacHy. When I bought it, the salesman told me I could shut it off with the U-connect settings. Now I will have to wait until my 1st oil change.

As noted, this so-called feature is very annoying if you drop off and pick up people a lot, something we do and I would immagine lots of Soccer Moms do all the time.

One thing I have noticed is that when you're dropping off kids, if your kids use the upper (by the sunroof) button to open the sliding door to get out, it will actually open the door. But your kids need long arms. And you need to open the doors for the kids with this switch since they can't open if from the outside. Unfortunately, the handy lower switch by the door frame doesn't work. How ironic - one engineer designs a useful switch (I noticed it while looking at the minivan as a much better idea than my Odyssey) and then someone else disables its usefulness by this auto-locking "feature". Combined with the ill-thought-out PRNDL selector that does not convey the setting by it's position like a lever does and you really feel like this is a make-work project picking up kids.

Hey Chrysler - put this option back under the U-connect settings so we can change it ourselves!

 

[SciTchr]

One thing I have noticed is that when you're dropping off kids, if your kids use the upper (by the sunroof) button to open the sliding door to get out, it will actually open the door. But your kids need long arms. And you need to open the doors for the kids with this switch since they can't open if from the outside. Unfortunately, the handy lower switch by the door frame doesn't work. How ironic - one engineer designs a useful switch (I noticed it while looking at the minivan as a much better idea than my Odyssey) and then someone else disables its usefulness by this auto-locking "feature". Combined with the ill-thought-out PRNDL selector that does not convey the setting by it's position like a lever does and you really feel like this is a make-work project picking up kids.

I don't have a hybrid or sunroof, but could it be possible that the power door switch is turned off (blue light on, in the front, by the rear view mirror)? The middle tab between the power door buttons turns the power on/off to the sliding door lower switches. The pillar power door buttons should work even with the auto lock feature enabled.

Another thing to check in the UConnect menu under settings, doors:

The Unlock Doors Automatically On Exit feature unlocks all of the vehicle doors when any door is opened. This will occur only after the gear selector has been placed into the PARK position, after the vehicle has been driven (the gear selector has been placed out of PARK and all doors closed).