2nd Lockout Incident 06 Sonata?

Why is she closing the door with the keys still in the car? That's a bad habit to have.

Well - there's lots of times when leaving the keys in the car is perfectly acceptable. It does not lead to habits.

That said, in my wife's Sonata ('04), if you leave the keys in the ignition with the engine shut off, the DRL's stay on. You have to remove the keys to shut them off. You can back them out to a point where the DRL's will shut off, but at that point they fall out of the switch.

Millions of us do it every day. Do you really think it is necessary to take the keys out while getting the mail? Clean a bug off the windshield? Better would be to have it unable to lock with the key in place and not running, as my Buick does. In 45 years, I've never locked my keys in the car. OTOH, I never lock my car either.

There have been past posts regarding the speed sensitive autolock feature on the 06 Sonata's, in that the locks unlock and lock over and over in a period of a few seconds and suddenly stop.

I also own an 06 Sonata. If I leave the keys in the ignition, with the engine running, and the drivers door is locked, - when it is closed it

Sorry for this obvious "everybody and their dog" has probably suggested it. You could always get an extra key cut with the plastic part of the key removed so you can easily store it in a wallet or such. Doesn't have to be a chipped key or anything since it would be used just for unlocking the door. On the other hand... I'm not sure about Hyundai vehicles (newest one in the driveway here is a 96 Accent so it doesn't have the auto door locks) but on my F150 I found a procedure in my service manual that allows me to turn the auto locking on or off with a series of "put the key in this position, hit this button 3 times, turn the key off, hit another button, etc... etc...". It will stay like that until the battery ever gets disconnected. If I ever disconnect the battery the computer will default back to the auto lock again so it would have to be disabled again if desired but the option is there. Maybe someone knows if something similar can be done for you.

Cheers, Lawrence

This occurs frequently in the auto repair business on many different makes and models of cars. Our solution: roll the window down when leaving the keys in the ignition.

There are such things as cars of other makes that you can not lock the driver door when exiting the car if the keys are in the ignition. Scott

I don't have the auto-locks .... perhaps I will have the dealer turn that on at my 7500 mile service next week... but I do have a solution to the problem.

I operate the car with the key and alarm fob alone. In my other pocket, I carry my house/work/etc keys including the valet key. The two keyrings are almost never in the same pocket.

Two different sets of keys reduce the odds of losing "the key" and ending up locked out of the car. At times, I have carried the valet key in my wallet. It is rather unlikely that someone would lose keys AND wallet at the same time.

Bonuses: Using the fob alone to drive also keeps the weight of a heavy keyring away from the ignition -yes, heavy keyrings do cause wear and tear on the tumblers as well as bashing the dash trim and making a lot of stupid noise. Yes, I am talking to you people who carry 50 million keys and never put them in your pockets or handbags because you can't actually stuff them in a pocket or handbag. Time for a key diet. Carry only what you actually use.

More fun: Just to be even more consistent, I swap back and forth between both fobs so each key gets similar wear. From time to time, I also actually use the keys to unlock all the doors and trunk to keeps the lock tumblers in working order.

I'm not arguing that automatic door locks are a good thing, in fact, I can't stand them! If my car had automatic locks I'd find a way to disable them. My girlfriend's Passat has them and they drive me nuts when I have to use her car.

It's not necessary to take the keys out of the car, just leave the door open or roll down a window so you can't lock yourself out. After having locked myself out a few times over the years, I've learned to avoid habits that could cause it to happen.

Great idea. I just put that key (that was in a drawer waiting to get lost over time) onto one of my key sets. I carry two sets of keys most of the time and this will reduce the possibility of a problem in the future.

but you have to hit that automatic down button for at least 2 seconds. way too much trouble.

;-)

I think we all overlooked one thing on the 06 Sonata......when the doors are locked, car running, key in ignition (duh), when you pull on the driver's door handle, the driver's door unlocks and stays unlocked. There is no doubt there are all sorts of little things you can do to prevent a lock out (of course the car can only help you so much). So there might be a little more to the original story, however, give the benefit of the doubt, cars do strange things from time to time in this age of digital technology.....