CHICAGO — In January the International Carwash Association (ICA) provided an update on the latest work of ICA’s operator-led working group that focused on issues related to new vehicle technologies, according to an ICA.

The issues highlighted in the update, stated the blog post, included: external door lock keypads that can be accidentally engaged, transmissions that don’t allow vehicles to remain in neutral without the engine running and vehicle sensors which engage the brakes when an object is near.

At this time, Ford Motor Company has provided assistance regarding these issues, the post reported.

Ford explained in its statement in regards to door lock keypads, “We’ve recently implemented a design change that will prevent the keypad from locking the car when the vehicle is in any position other than ‘park,’ which should solve this problem on all future systems.”

Ford continued by reporting on transmission concerns, “Lincoln (2013 to present) and not yet production Ford shift-by-wire applications created a feature called ‘Stay in Neutral mode.’ It is a mode, that when activated, allows the customer to leave the vehicle and/or turn off the vehicle with the vehicle in neutral. The vehicle will remain ‘awake’ and drain the battery during this mode, but it allows a customer to run the vehicle through a carwash without shifting to park. Other OEMs do not have this feature, and require the engine to be running to shift the vehicle. We are in the process of migrating this across Ford brand vehicles.”

In regards to vehicle sensors, Ford noted, “Though this may be an issue for other manufacturers, our system will not activate the brakes below 7 mph, [which is] much faster than any carwash.”

ICA plans to continue to make carwash operators aware of any available updates and thanks Ford for providing information on these issues, informed the blog post.

Read the entire post here.