I’m learning things about my wife’s new Ford Explorer almost every day. Today I learned that it has a temper.
It’s one of those where there’s no need for an actual key in most circumstances. Just having the fob in your pocket when you approach is good enough for the doors to unlock when you pull the handle. No need even to press the door unlock button on the fob. This is a bit maddening as I have a long-enduring habit of giving the door handle a tug after locking it to ensure it is in fact locked. The Explorer instead unlocks the door for me. Not much reassurance there.
The good news though is that even if the doors did not get locked, the car will throw a fit if there’s stranger danger. Today I wanted to measure something inside the car and made the mistake of approaching the garaged Explorer without the fob on my person. I opened the unlocked driver’s door and was greeted by a beeping that grew faster with each second. The dash readout said something like: “Vehicle Alarm. Start vehicle to silence.” Of course, had I the fob on my person to be able to start the vehicle, it would not be beeping at me.
Shortly, the beeping ceased and the horn took its place, warning the neighborhood that I had opened the door without the sacred fob nearby. The exterior lights joined in, flashing on and off. I went back into the house and returned with my fob. As I approached, the horn stopped but the lights kept flashing. Whether it was the approaching fob that quieted the horn or it had timed out, I do not know. The lights stopped when I pressed the door unlock button on the fob.
Lesson learned