Possible To Remotely Lock Clarity Using Mobile HondaLink App?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Linkmodo
  • Start date Start date
  • Replies Replies 24
  • Views Views 9K
L

Linkmodo

Active Member
Say if you forgot to lock your car and now you are really far from your car... Is there an option to remotely lock the car using the app?

Not talking about the perimeter auto lock feature when you are walking away, but mobile lock using the phone from far far away.

Thanks
 
Unfortunately not... mainly used for remote climate control, start / stop charging, and to locate your vehicle.
 
LOL were your ears burning? I asked the same exact question in this other thread about HondaLink just yesterday:
https://www.insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?threads/questions-on-hondalink.913/page-3

It's just one of a very few ways in which Honda doesn't quite "get" what some people want with this car...and a feature that would be so easy to add, as has been done by other automotive giants such as GM, Ford, Chrysler, BMW, Nissan, Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes...AND ACURA...proving Honda knows how. A simple Google search reveals ALL of these manufacturers provide remote lock/unlock as a standard feature on their phone apps...so I admit I kinda took it for granted before buying this car, expecting it would also have it as my other cars do. The other day I was wondering if I locked the car or not and I checked my phone...surprise...I wasted my time cuz my HondaLink app doesn't even tell me.

Honda, senselessly, does not offer this useful and normally standard feature for most, if not all, of their cars.

And yeah I'm a bit disappointed and will consider it next time I'm car shopping...
 
Last edited:
I wish Honda would allow remote locking as I am pulling the trigger this weekend on a Clarity PHEV.

My current car: Land Rover Discovery has the remote locking feature as well as remote start. Comes in quite handy
 
petteyg359 said:
Why would you disable the walk-away lock and then want to lock the car when you're so far away the fob can't even reach it? Just enable the auto-lock.
Click to expand...
Because having the car lock itself in my garage is a PITA, but being able to lock the car remotely if I forgot to lock it would be rather convenient. It would Lso be convenient to remote unlock it if someone needed to grab something they left in the car when they don’t have the key.
 
RickSE said:
Because having the car lock itself in my garage is a PITA, but being able to lock the car remotely if I forgot to lock it would be rather convenient. It would Lso be convenient to remote unlock it if someone needed to grab something they left in the car when they don’t have the key.
Click to expand...

1. Keep the fob on you. The car unlocks when you touch the handle. Or hang the fob on the wall near the garage door so it's easy to pick up as you walk out.

2. Give the fob to the person who goes to get whatever out of the car. If you're as far away as you're claiming, you might as well have just left it unlocked the whole time, because if somebody was going to get into it and steal stuff, they're going to notice it unlocks while nobody is around and steal whatever they want to steal before whoever "needed to grab something they left" gets to the car.

Lots of people I know don't bother to actually have a PIN or pattern security on their phone. They just swipe to unlock. If I assume the same portion of people I don't know do the same, the app even being able to unlock the car is a more than a small security risk. People are losing or misplacing their phones in public places all the time. Most phones have an address book, so you know exactly the address said phone might have an attached car at. That's just asking to have stuff stolen from their cars if remote-unlock is a common thing among car apps, because that's the first thing any nefarious character who finds the phone is going to do.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: dnb
petteyg359 said:
1. Keep the fob on you. The car unlocks when you touch the handle. Or hang the fob on the wall near the garage door so it's easy to pick up as you walk out.

2. Give the fob to the person who goes to get whatever out of the car. If you're as far away as you're claiming, you might as well have just left it unlocked the whole time, because if somebody was going to get into it and steal stuff, they're going to notice it unlocks while nobody is around and steal whatever they want to steal before whoever "needed to grab something they left" gets to the car.
Click to expand...
Thank you for your suggestions.
 
petteyg359 said:
Lots of people I know don't bother to actually have a PIN or pattern security on their phone. They just swipe to unlock. If I assume the same portion of people I don't know do the same, the app even being able to unlock the car is a more than a small security risk.
Click to expand...
I have zero sympathy for someone who doesn't care enough about what's on their smartphone to enable security. It's tantamount to leaving the keys in the car and then being upset when it's stolen.

I like options. It there's an app that has the capability of unlocking my car, no one is holding a gun to my head and forcing me to use it. I'd rather make my own choice not to use the capability than have some manager at Honda decide that I don't need the option. Same thing with options on how the features of the car work . . . I happen to like the walk-away-lock feature but there are folks who don't, so I can enable it and they can disable it. Options are good.
 
It is on some Honda models,such as Accord with a yearly subscription, but not Clarity since it appears to use the Civic feature set. That feature is not in the Civic.
 
Doubt they would add it, my guess is majority of clarity owners would rarely use it. Remote lock walk away is already good enough for most.
 
MNSteve said:
I have zero sympathy for someone who doesn't care enough about what's on their smartphone to enable security.
Click to expand...

The Acuralink app that I use for my RDX on my iPhone XS Max authenticates with face recognition before allowing remote start or lock/unlock. This is separate from the authentication to unlock the phone, so even those who don’t lock their phones are protected.

This is proof that Honda knows how to do this, and chose not to. One of many such choices made to keep the price down.
 
Tangible said:
The Acuralink app that I use for my RDX on my iPhone XS Max authenticates with face recognition before allowing remote start or lock/unlock. This is separate from the authentication to unlock the phone, so even those who don’t lock their phones are protected.

This is proof that Honda knows how to do this, and chose not to. One of many such choices made to keep the price down.
Click to expand...
I don't think that this function would add anything to the price. The car controller can already lock/unlock the doors based on receiving a signal from the key fob, and it knows how to process commands from HondaLink to do things like start/stop charging. Seems that all of the components already exist; they're just not enabled.
 
Bingo. It would cost Honda probably less than $2 per unit to add this feature across the board. Decision not to is about profit. Pulling t from low end models may encourage some consumers to buy an Acura instead of a Honda. Nearly identical manufacturing cost for equivalent platform cars, but they get THOUSANDS more $$ in profit from the Acura. It’s a marketing/business ploy and every company employs them differently depending on their prediction of maximized profit with various decisions.

Therefore....I personally vote with my pocketbook. I love the feature, use it periodically on my GM vehicle, and desire it. I made a tactical error assuming this Honda had it without realizing it didn’t. Would it have changed my mind on buying the car? To be honest I doubt it. Like most I prioritized the PHEV application in this particular purchase above all, and competition doesn’t really exist at the moment. But as other mfrs emulate/permutate toward electric....next time I’m car shopping and assuming there is a bit more competition in the segment I want, I’ll check out this sort of thing more carefully. Missing desireable feature from mfr A car? No profit for mfr A! I’ll more likely move to mfr B....

That’s capitalism at work. And I love it. I’m only vocalizing my disappointment in the event Honda happens to be listening and desires to earn profit from me in the future. Ball is now in their court...I have never been, and never will be, brand loyal. Companies need to EARN my business every time....
 
Last edited:
I’m pretty brand loyal to Honda based on my past experience with this brand. Just sent my 2002 odyssey to the car graveyard after 17 years of pretty much trouble free driving. About to go on a road trip in my 2006 pilot. Speaking for myself, I’d cut Honda a lot of slack for a few missing features. The Clarity is a ridiculous bargain with all the incentives. Head to head would I get a Touring Accord over a Touring Clarity? Not sure. Would I get a Touring Clarity over a volt or bolt? Yep.
 
I've had good reliability and value from both Honda and Toyota. When these two brands ended up on the shortlist, the similarity between the instrumentation and panel layout between my CRV and the Clarity was a factor in the decision. Not a big factor, but a factor. That's a bit different flavor of brand loyalty. The deciding factor was the mix of plug-in and hybrid operation, and while Honda has this niche right now, it won't stay that way. I continue to be amazed that they're not taking more advantage of the temporary market advantage that they have. It's almost like they have made a decision to minimize their sales of Clarity.
 
MNSteve said:
I've had good reliability and value from both Honda and Toyota. When these two brands ended up on the shortlist, the similarity between the instrumentation and panel layout between my CRV and the Clarity was a factor in the decision. Not a big factor, but a factor. That's a bit different flavor of brand loyalty. The deciding factor was the mix of plug-in and hybrid operation, and while Honda has this niche right now, it won't stay that way. I continue to be amazed that they're not taking more advantage of the temporary market advantage that they have. It's almost like they have made a decision to minimize their sales of Clarity.
Click to expand...
Absolutely agree with you because even a little advertising would go a long way here. Saw a Mitsubishi add for their PHEV suv the other day, but crickets on the Clarity. This car seems more like a paid beta program and perhaps there is no profit margin on the Clarity.
 
RickSE said:
. . . perhaps there is no profit margin on the Clarity.
Click to expand...
Maybe not. But there is an opportunity to build the company's reputation in the area, to build expertise in the dealer network, to learn what customers want and design products to meet those desires, and to reap big positive points in the environmental segment. Profit shouldn't be the only motivation.
 
MNSteve said:
Maybe not. But there is an opportunity to build the company's reputation in the area, to build expertise in the dealer network, to learn what customers want and design products to meet those desires, and to reap big positive points in the environmental segment. Profit shouldn't be the only motivation.
Click to expand...
I live in a ZEV state, which is why Honda is giving these cars away to “earn positive points”. I think those positive points are the profit for Honda because they get credits for selling their cars in those states. Maybe I’m a cynic I my old age but it’s all about profits. Honda must be short-changing advertising for a reason. All they have to do is point the market at this forum to find hundreds of PHEV (and specifically Clarity) fanatics talking up this car. That they don’t do it means they aren’t doing it for a reason that I for one don’t understand.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top