I have a 2001 Honda Civic and have had it since it was new. It's always done this. Not all the time, but once in a while. I unlock the doors, then in a minute or so it locks them again. I don't dare leave my keys in it.

My DS's 95 Mercury Mistique locks the doors when running if you open then close them. DH found out the hard way at a RR crossing. He had taken it for a test drive and had to stop for a train, so got out to take a look around the car, check lights ect.! Local cops got him back in! Some models are supposed to do that. That's when it's handy to have keyless entry.

Tami

Our Mazda's do this too. Very annoying at times.

MY Endeavor has a WONDERFUL feature. If the car is running, and you are not in the drivers seat; the doors will not lock. If the key is in the ignition when the engine if off, the door will not lock. It will only lock when you put it in gear, or if you are in the car with the door closed and lock it from the inside. Trust me, it was a greatt thing when I found that out!

My 2006 Honda Civic does this all the time. I've learned to keep the key in my pocket at all times.

I was just talking to my husband about this last night. Once when he was working on the engine of his van, the doors automatically locked. He disconnected the battery and then hooked it back up. It caused the alarm system to reset and the doors unlock.

The only problem with this idea is that often you cannot open the hood if you cannot access the hood release.

My Hyundai Elantra does this all the time... It self locks the moment you step out of the car... every time.. I make sure I have the keys in my hand when I exit the car.

God forbid you should leave the keys in the car with the windows open.. that really make the Elantra totaly miffed at you.. and when you reach in and try to unlock it through the window.. it sets the alarm off... alerting everyone within earshot so they can stand and stare at you as if you are a felon...

Darned vehicle anyway...

Carolyn

We had a Toyota Highlander that did this - locked DH out at the gas station. Our Hondas do not do this. I despise cars that lock themselves for you whether you want them to or not. It's a feature that would prevent me from buying the car - which may become a problem since more and more of them seem to do this.

My Toyota Rav4 is set to re-lock the doors if you unlock them, but don't open them within 45 seconds. The timing on that can be changed, however.

The one thing I really love about my explorer is the push button combination locks on the doors.

My 2010 Honda has never done that.

It is a safety feature. Our Buick does it as I found out the hard way just after we bought this model. Then I had to borrow a cell phone from a Sheriffs debuty to call On Star and they did unlock it. Now I automatic take the keys out. Here in the cold you see cars all over the parking lots running, but locked. 4 above and sun out in ND

Our little Civic SUV does this once in a while as well....most often when in the garage. I do worry as often my DH drives, then we switch drivers and I am terrified that we will be both stranded outside it. Maybe it pays to "be a lady" and wait for DH to come around and open the door for me to get out! Unhuh...yeah, right. Nanny

I have to push the little handle to lock my doors of my 2002 Sonata. The lock won't stay locked if my keys are in the ignition.

I have a 2003 Dodge Neon brought it brand new and it has been known to self lock a handful of times..Mostly when the keys are hanging in the ignition and I am in a hurry..

I worry that my dogs are going to lock me out and have a key hidden in case that should happen. But I found out that if the keys are in the ignition and its running you can't lock it from the passenger side or with the remote thingy. 99 Envoy

Omigosh--thank you all for talking about this!

When I was doing some test drives a few months ago (still haven't really found anything I like--I'll wait until winter's over!), I found it comforting that the doors would self-lock after you get in the car; impt, say, if you're driving at night, downtown, heck, even in the burbs!

But I can really see myself getting bit in the butt by this self-locking stuff. Even for something really little--like starting the car and realizing that there's something in the trunk that needs to be up in the passenger seat. Now I just open the door, pop the trunk release and walk back there. I can just imagine that driver's side door close behind me quickly with a gust of wind or if the car's on a slight angle and BANG I'd be in need of a locksmith (and with my cellphone INSIDE the car, too!)

Our former cars locked when they were put into gear. I realized, after we bought our Nissan Rogue 2 years ago, that it does NOT lock automatically. So I have to manually lock when I get in. However, it will sometimes lock if it is running and the door is closed. Too bad we all can't have our cars programmed to lifestyles.

Pammyfay - Worst case, couldn't you climb in through the back and get to the front ;-)

On my older Dodges, the only automatic lock feature was the one that locked all doors after the engine was started, a gear engaged, and the car's speed passed through 15 mph. There was a procedure for turning that feature off if desired.

I am wondering if the "lock outs" are happening because the ignition key is not all the way in. In many cars, the "key in place" switch is not activated until the key is pushed to the last detent (tumbler). Therefore, if the key is moved out a small amount, the system does not know the key is there and acts as though the key has been removed.

Check your owner's manual. There may be a procedure to deactivate this auto-locking feature. It sounds like a real "got you".

Because what happened to me one time, I make a habit of carrying a spare key. I have the usual key on a fob with the remote locker, but inside a key holder is a spare copy. This has saved me twice on trips over the last 10 years. On my car, it is not supposed to lock if the key is in the ignition switch and the driver's door is open. However, it will permit a manual lock if the key is not inserted all the way in. It only has to be moved out 1/8 inch for the system to think the key is out.

When my Honda has done this, the key hasn't been in the ignition (thank goodness)! It's usually been when I've unlocked the doors from the outside, then haven't opened the door to get in right away. After about a minute, the door has locked.

Um, I have locked my keys in the car more times than I can count!!, I am a little forgetful. One thing my dad did years ago for me that has saved me is drilled a hole in the spare key, taken out one of the screws for the license plate holder and used a flat headed screw to put it back in. You can use a penny to unscrew the license plate holder and there your key is!! Hope my hint helps, most crooks wouldn't think to look under a license plate for a spare key.

Stacie

I started my car and locked the door to let it warm up but I kept the button thing to unlock it. My house key was on the key ring too. I figured out later after I got snow off and was going back to the house to warm up that the button doesn't unlock doors if the car is running and house key in car. I could get back into house, locked that door too, didn't mean too just automatically do that with out thinking. I had to call my husband to leave work and save me. I felt pretty stupid.

My garage door key pad is battery operated and needed new odd sized one and hadn't gotten around to replacing. I guess it was a perfect storm of events.

"Hope my hint helps, most crooks wouldn't think to look under a license plate for a spare key."
Maybe they will now? :) But you can be sure there's not many "secret" hiding spots a crook won't look. The license plate is a common hiding spot. Sort of the mobile "key under the doormat" (or flower pot) So be aware that you do take your chances if you do that.

I used to keep a spare key on the vehicle. Whenever it had different keys for ignition and door lock I'd only hide the door key outside. Sometimes put a spare ignition key inside though. I haven't been able to get spare keys made for this one. Nobody has the right key blanks for it so I suppose I have to go to a dealer. The one that's supposed to fit it doesn't. Tried it at several different places. One guy who knew quite a bit of what he was doing told me it wasn't right but might fit and that I could try it right away and bring it back if it doesn't work.

Currently I have one with the keyring fob with the remote control. It hit me one day how STUPID it was to use it like that! If you lock your key in the car, you also lock the remote in there! LOL How stupid! That's as dumb as carrying both sets of keys on the same keyring! So I took it off there and use a belt clip to keep the remote fob on me at all times and the keys are on another belt clip.

If you unlock the doors on mine with the remote, you have a certain time frame to open a door or else it relocks. I think that is a good feature. It also will not let you lock the doors with the engine running and a door open. Found that out when I wanted to warm it up one day. I wanted to let it run and lock it like I always do with other vehicles but nope, can't lock the door that way. Nice feature in some ways, but bad feature in others. I'd like it better if it would let me use the fob to lock it but nope, no go. Oh well, stay with it when warming it up or watch it closely.

Mine locks itself once you hit a certain speed while driving. A couple of times I have stopped to get the mail leaving the car running, and locked myself out when I shut the door. I am used to cars with doors that unlock when you open them from the inside, so it doesn't occur to me until it is too late.

DH's new Equinox won't let you open a door if the car is in gear. If he stops to let us out, we can't open the doors until he puts the car in "Park". This makes me panic every time. What if the car flips over and is running in gear, we won't be able to get out! *running around flapping arms in a mad panic*

Dances.

Unlesss keyless entry capability in place ... two keys!

I hardly ever carry a second, but the other day as leaving a library, I dropped the one in a very shallow puddle of water beside the sidewalk, fished for some time, finally found it in some dirt and trash at the edge where it abutted the sidewalk, that was slightly higher.

It was a comfort to know that, were I not to find it, that I had the means to operate the car in my pocket - that day.

ole joyfilled

I don't know if this is quite the same thing, but the auto door locks can be overridden--just check your manual. I've done this with several cars. Unless I'm in an iffy area of town, I like driving with my doors unlocked. My reasoning is that if I'm in an accident I want someone to be able to get me out, pronto!

Actually, it's far more cumbersome to get a person out of a seatbelt than if a door is locked. Like a burgler with a locked door on a house, simply break a window.

I've been hiring a guy to shovel snow for me this year. He was over this week and parked in the end of the driveway and was going to shovel down to his van then move it up and finish the driveway. He's been talking about buying my old vehicle so I was out talking to him about it and he went to move his van and (you guessed it) he started saying How could I be this dumb! Geez that was stupid! Ahhhh, now what? And I smiled and said, well are you feeling lucky? He looked at me and I said by chance is one of the other doors unlocked? As he went around he said, no, I had them all locked and then I saw the side door pop open, he reached in, opened the front door and unlocked it. I said the snow gods are smiling on him that day.

I locked myself inside the car today.

Stopped at the mailbox at the end of the lane to pick up the mail - through the open window.

While pulling it out, I pushed the little plunger down.

Later, when I wanted to exit the car - the door opener wouldn't work, until I pulled the lock plunger up. On many cars with the lock engaged ... when you pull the inside door opener, it snaps the lock plunger up to unlock it. Not this car: it's self-willed, I guess!

O.K., car - I'm warnin' ya - I have a pretty strong will, too! So you better watch out!

ole joyful

I'll never forget that night believe me...a lesson learned under the worst circumstances, snow ,cold and darkness... wheww , spring is coming fast..

Can't lock my car, unless the drivers door is shut. Oh, and it won't lock with the key in the ignition either.

I like those features! Haven't locked my key in my car in a LONG time. :)

Moni