2014 ford explorer

[linda420]

I am interested in purchasing a 2014 ford explorer and was wondering about the universal garage remote in the car. Does that only work when the car is on? How safe is that for thieves that are breaking into the car? Can they open the garage door without the car being on?

 

[LukerDooker]

I had the same question since the car control can operate older garage doors as well as newer.

If you get an Ex with Intelligent Access, where the Ford key fob needs to be near or in the car for it to work; lock or unlock, start, alarm, turn on accessory power, etc,
-nothing will work without the key being in or near the car.

So in the case of a break-in:
- the car cant be powered on and the garage door opener will not operate.
- the alarm should sound
- Ford remote access ap can be installed and a text goes to your phone when alarm is tripped.

FYI - As Seen on TV -they had an item called the 'Garage Bull' - a plastic wedge that would block the manual open/close lever of the garage door.

They showed a clip of a burglar opening the g door from the driveway by slipping in a coat hanger through the weather seal at the top of the door,
and if fishing around in the center of the door with the coat hanger, you eventually hit the manual lever on the drive chain, and then pull the lever back and open the door.
Tricky I guess but do it a few times and im sure it gets easy.

It was a $19 item and I just received notice they cant ship and cancelled the order, and now the item isnt on the website anymore. Bummer I ordered in June.

 

[peterk9]

I am interested in purchasing a 2014 ford explorer and was wondering about the universal garage remote in the car. Does that only work when the car is on? How safe is that for thieves that are breaking into the car? Can they open the garage door without the car being on?

Welcome to the Forum linda420.:wavey:
I don't know about the 2014 model but I have a 2011 Limited and I can tell you that the visor buttons do not depend upon the key being within range. As long as the vehicle is unlocked, anyone can press and operate the visor buttons. So unless things have changed with the newer modles, the answer to your question from what I have experienced is YES, your garage door can be opened using the visor buttons without the car being turned ON. I've done it with mine.

Peter

 

[peterk9]

I had the same question since the car control can operate older garage doors as well as newer.

If you get an Ex with Intelligent Access, where the Ford key fob needs to be near or in the car for it to work; lock or unlock, start, alarm, turn on accessory power, etc,
-nothing will work without the key being in or near the car.

Have you verified the above? I have the 2011 Limited with the IA key and as I indicated in my post, as long as the vehicle is unlocked, anyone can press the correct visor button and open the garage door whether the key is nearby or not. This was also true of my previous Highlanders with a regular key ignition. There is constant power to the visor buttons and they are always 'live'. Perhaps it has changed with the more recent Explorer models but I can't comment on that.

Peter

 

[LukerDooker]

...have to say I never tried with the car off and no key, I assumed it needed power to do anything...
Have to try it out...

No mention of power use during operation in the 2013 manual (4th print) except that to program the buttons, the ignition must be on.

 

[WiEx]

Welcome to the Forum linda420.:wavey:
I don't know about the 2014 model but I have a 2011 Limited and I can tell you that the visor buttons do not depend upon the key being within range. As long as the vehicle is unlocked, anyone can press and operate the visor buttons. So unless things have changed with the newer modles, the answer to your question from what I have experienced is YES, your garage door can be opened using the visor buttons without the car being turned ON. I've done it with mine.

Peter

My 2013 works the same way. For example, if the vehicle is unlocked in the driveway, the visor button will open the garage door without an IA fob within range.

 

[linda420]

All I know is that it's a keyless car starter. I can have the keys in my purse and push start the car. I will just ask the ford people when I go order the car and hopefully they can answer that question . Thanks for all the replies!

 

[peterk9]

All I know is that it's a keyless car starter. I can have the keys in my purse and push start the car. I will just ask the ford people when I go order the car and hopefully they can answer that question . Thanks for all the replies!

The answer to your question is YES. If you are parked in the driveway and anyone pushes the visor button with the garage door opener code in it, the garage door will open. You do not need to have keys anywhere within range of the Explorer. The visor buttons are always active. This is true for both the keyed and keyless (push button) start vehicles. All you have to do to verify this is get into an Explorer and press any of the 3 buttons on the visor. You will see that it will light up meaning it is active.

Peter