automatic door locks factoid.

Yesterday I parked my 2012 Base Boxster and I set the parking brake before getting out. I also opened both the front and back trunks by pulling the electric switches next to the driver’s door before exiting the car. I took some equipment from both trunks and I left both trunk lids open - I lowered them but I didn’t push the lids all the way down locking the trunks. When I returned to the car sometime later I found both doors locked! To make the situation more interesting, I had left my keys lying on the passenger seat so I was locked out and could not open the doors. I called my wife and she came to my rescue by driving to meet me with my spare set of keys. It appears to me the car locked the doors sometime after I left both trunks unlocked for a period of time. Is this possible- any thoughts on what happened? Do Boxsters automatically lock the doors when both or either trunks are left open for a period of time? I would appreciate your thoughts. I went through my owner’s manual and I didn’t find anything addressing this issue. Thanks.

JB/SE SoDak
1997 986 - Wolfi
Yankton, SD

"Wisdom is the most perfect knowledge of the most important truths in the right order of emphasis, accompanied by a total, permanent disposition to live accordingly.

-- Br. Francis Maluf, M.I.C.M.

"(School is to be a factory) in which raw products, children, are to be shaped and formed into finished products . . .(m)anufactured like nails, and the specifications for manufacturing will come from government and industry."

-- Elwood P. Cubberley, Dean of School of Education, Stanford University, 1905

"The creatures that want to live a life of their own, we call wild. If wild, then no matter how harmless, we treat them as outlaws, and those of us who are 'specially well brought up shoot them for fun."

-- Clarence Day, This Simian World

Depending on the safety protocol the car is programmed with it will lock itself after a set number of minutes.

Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 312,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

---

Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

I would pull codes to see if anything pops there. If you don't have a reader, you can have it done on most any auto parts store, i.e. O'Reillly, AutoZone, etc. I remember your car is a 2.7, but can't remember year. Pedro mentioned programming the car to lock automatically, but my 97 986 doesn't have that feature, or if it does, it's not in my manual & I've never experienced auto-lock. Check your owner's manual, as it should be covered there, I think.

Also, doesn't make sense to me for a car to be programmed to auto-lock when both trunks are open.

JB/SE SoDak
1997 986 - Wolfi
Yankton, SD

"Wisdom is the most perfect knowledge of the most important truths in the right order of emphasis, accompanied by a total, permanent disposition to live accordingly.

-- Br. Francis Maluf, M.I.C.M.

"(School is to be a factory) in which raw products, children, are to be shaped and formed into finished products . . .(m)anufactured like nails, and the specifications for manufacturing will come from government and industry."

-- Elwood P. Cubberley, Dean of School of Education, Stanford University, 1905

"The creatures that want to live a life of their own, we call wild. If wild, then no matter how harmless, we treat them as outlaws, and those of us who are 'specially well brought up shoot them for fun."

-- Clarence Day, This Simian World



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/13/2023 04:33PM by John Brown of SE SoDak. (view changes)

Did you have your keys in your pocket?
This happened to me with my 987.1, but the opposite. I locked the car and went to the workbench and leaned over .... poof just like magic the car unlocked. These key fob buttons a small and sensitive.
On my 987 if the front or back trunks are open, and you try to lock my car with the key fob it will lock the car, flash the turn signals twice and will honk once.

If that last feature can be disabled, I would do so.

JB/SE SoDak
1997 986 - Wolfi
Yankton, SD

"Wisdom is the most perfect knowledge of the most important truths in the right order of emphasis, accompanied by a total, permanent disposition to live accordingly.

-- Br. Francis Maluf, M.I.C.M.

"(School is to be a factory) in which raw products, children, are to be shaped and formed into finished products . . .(m)anufactured like nails, and the specifications for manufacturing will come from government and industry."

-- Elwood P. Cubberley, Dean of School of Education, Stanford University, 1905

"The creatures that want to live a life of their own, we call wild. If wild, then no matter how harmless, we treat them as outlaws, and those of us who are 'specially well brought up shoot them for fun."

-- Clarence Day, This Simian World

I seem to recall there is a set time after the trunk is opened after which the doors are locked.

Default position for doors while driving in a German car is the unlocked position, whereas in North American cars, ours are locked while driving. When I lived in Germany I asked a couple of German friends about this & they told me their practice is because in the event of an accident, the doors should be unlocked to allow passengers to evacuate the vehicle. I believe we have ours locked to help prevent passengers from being thrown from the vehicle.

JB/SE SoDak
1997 986 - Wolfi
Yankton, SD

"Wisdom is the most perfect knowledge of the most important truths in the right order of emphasis, accompanied by a total, permanent disposition to live accordingly.

-- Br. Francis Maluf, M.I.C.M.

"(School is to be a factory) in which raw products, children, are to be shaped and formed into finished products . . .(m)anufactured like nails, and the specifications for manufacturing will come from government and industry."

-- Elwood P. Cubberley, Dean of School of Education, Stanford University, 1905

"The creatures that want to live a life of their own, we call wild. If wild, then no matter how harmless, we treat them as outlaws, and those of us who are 'specially well brought up shoot them for fun."

-- Clarence Day, This Simian World



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2023 09:45AM by John Brown of SE SoDak. (view changes)

I have heard that automatic locking is to prevent carjacking. I doubt the lock is going to protect passengers if there is an impact if the latch does not do it. The lock is less robust than the main latch. It would add to crash worthiness only minnimally.

I am with the Germans. If there is a crash and I need to get out, the last thing I want is any impediment to do that.
I routinely have the autolock coded OUT of my cars.

My wife keeps it on her cars and comlains that she has to manually lock my cars when she drives them. Apparently "I would not understand." Go figure.

had some sort of a safety locking cone to keep the doors from opening in a crash and ejecting unbelted occupants. I think because it was a safety device, MB didn't patent it.

locking automatically when driving, not when parked. In my wife's 2022 SUV for example, after engaging "Drive" & @ about 5 mph speed, all the doors lock automatically & they remain locked while driving. I agree w/you that having doors locked in an accident does not advance crashworthiness but rather I believe the thought is that doors being locked helps to prevent passengers from being thrown from the vehicles. Assuming passengers are wearing seat belts, I don't see how doors being locked adds to keeping passengers in the vehicle. In fact, it seems to me there is a greater danger that passengers may become trapped in the vehicle following an accident w/the doors locked. I side w/the Germans on this issue.

In my Boxster (97 model year), my doors remain unlocked while driving unless I engage the rocker switch on the dash to manually lock the doors, exactly the opposite of what happens in my wife's American made vehicle.

There are 4 preprogrammed protocols for door locking, where you pick one.
These are not user accessible, because you need a PST-II unit to change them.
If I remember correctly:
1.- Doos and trunk are unlocked unless manually locked using remote or interior switch.
2.- Doors and trunks are automatically locked once the car reaches 3 mph and repair locked until
3.- Doors and locks automatically lock themselves 30 seconds after the engine us shut down and driver's side is closed
4.- Don't remember the fourth option

Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 312,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

---

Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna

Options in the sense that you pick the one you want, but all of the options are programmed in already.

Happy Boxstering,
Pedro

Pedro Bonilla
1998 Boxster 986 - 312,000+ miles: [www.PedrosGarage.com]
PCA National Club Racing Scrutineer - PCA National HPDE Instructor - PCA Technical Committee (Boxster/Cayman)

---

Racecar spelled backwards is Racecar

"Racing is life. Anything before or after is just waiting" ... Steve McQueen as Michael Delaney in "LeMans"

"If you wait, all that happens is that you get older"... Mario Andretti

"Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose" ... Ayrton Senna