Beeping when turning car off. - GreenHybrid

haroldo · #1 (**permalink**) 01-14-2008, 04:11 AM

I am not sure if this is the expected behavior, or not, but today (and at other times) I noticed that if you turn the car on when the door is open and turn the car off while the door is still opened, the car will beep and continue beeping when you close the door. The work around is to close the door while the car is on, then turn it off and then open the door (if you want to get out).
I don't do this regularly, but sometimes you want to move the car by a few feet.
Is this normal beeping?

Slightly off topic, why don't they use that nice lady (the one who talks to you when you press the phone off hook button) to tell you what you did wrong, instead of the beeping. Instead of hearing "beep...beep" she would say "close the door" or "buckle the seat belts". I know that there probably will be a lawsuit from a non-English speaking consumer if they did that, however.

KTLane · #2 (**permalink**) 01-14-2008, 05:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by haroldo

Slightly off topic, why don't they use that nice lady (the one who talks to you when you press the phone off hook button) to tell you what you did wrong, instead of the beeping. Instead of hearing "beep...beep" she would say "close the door" or "buckle the seat belts". I know that there probably will be a lawsuit from a non-English speaking consumer if they did that, however.

My uncle had a car that did this back in the day... I think it was a (Plymouth??) Laser or something. It used to say "Door is ajar... door is ajar" I imagine it would get pretty irritating if something broke/wore out and the door sensor stopped working...

Does it say anything on the MFD when it's beeping?

haroldo · #3 (**permalink**) 01-14-2008, 05:48 AM

Quote:

Does it say anything on the MFD when it's beeping?

Nope! I hoped that it would have, but it didn't.
The beeps are almost as bad as Window's cryptic error messages. After all, the system knows something is wrong, it would be nice if they communicated the error in an easy to understand fashion.

mikieboyblue · #4 (**permalink**) 01-14-2008, 06:13 AM

Are you moving the car or just door open -> on -> off? I know that if you move the car with the door open it will say "shift to park" on the MFD.

haroldo · #5 (**permalink**) 01-14-2008, 06:19 AM

Here's what I did this morning.
I parked the car and turned it off (I got an EXCELLENT!!!...yippee!)
I realized the car was a few feet too far out, so I opened the door and backed it up (with the door open) put it in park, turned it off (beeping) and closed the door (beeping).
Went back in, (door open) turned the car on and back off (still beeping), then I closed the door, turned it on and then off again, beeping stopped.
I know my actions weren't proper, but nonetheless, it shouldn't have beeped when I turned it off and closed the door.
Should it have? Is the car vindictive and punishing me for driving (three feet) with the door open? (I don't need a second wife!)

mikieboyblue · #6 (**permalink**) 01-14-2008, 06:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by haroldo

Here's what I did this morning.
I parked the car and turned it off (I got an EXCELLENT!!!...yippee!)
I realized the car was a few feet too far out, so I opened the door and backed it up (with the door open) put it in park, turned it off (beeping) and closed the door (beeping).
Went back in, (door open) turned the car on and back off (still beeping), then I closed the door, turned it on and then off again, beeping stopped.
I know my actions weren't proper, but nonetheless, it shouldn't have beeped when I turned it off and closed the door.
Should it have? Is the car vindictive and punishing me for driving (three feet) with the door open? (I don't need a second wife!)

I will have to try it when I leave for a meeting at 12:30 EST. I know for sure that first part (moving with door open) causes the beep and this is intended to let you know the door is open and you are driving away.

That said, if I do that it stops after a few seconds upon shutting the car off or closing the door.

haroldo · #7 (**permalink**) 01-14-2008, 07:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by haroldo

...Went back in, (door open) turned the car on and back off (still beeping), then I closed the door, turned it on and then off again, beeping stopped....

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikieboyblue

... if I do that it stops after a few seconds upon shutting the car off or closing the door.

Mine didn't stop despite the car being off and the door shut. It's as if it got sidetracked (by turning it on and driving with the door open) and didn't realize that I turned it off.

chestr · #8 (**permalink**) 01-14-2008, 08:17 AM

I think it complains for some reason just for opening the door before you turn it off. As in open door, power down, get out, close door, beep beep. I know I keep catching myself sometimes forgetting to shut the car off and opening the door and then remember I have to shut the door to turn it off "cleanly" or something. But yeah no clue what the complaint is for, and haven't done it recently enough (or spent time experimenting) to find out all the detailed conditions for beep starting/stopping.

haroldo · #9 (**permalink**) 01-14-2008, 08:48 AM

Sure, but the beeping should stop when the car is off and the door is shut, no?

chestr · #10 (**permalink**) 01-14-2008, 09:29 AM

Hard to say what it "should do" when we don't even know what it's complaining about, wouldn't you say? Heh.