I liked the idea when they first came out.
After paying a locksmith a couple of time having locked myself out of the house i changed my mind.
Serious question , is this a real advantage ?
I can understand the use of remote start if you happen to live in the arctic circle but keyless entry ??
OK hands full of shopping but you still have to open the door anyway.
Not this little black duck, I won't ever have a wireless/remote key, not that it matters because I won't ever get a modern car that uses them unless there comes a time when there's no choice.
and my current one is the next model, just a few years younger. I think you get where I'm coming from WRT electronics in cars, despite (or maybe because of) my lifetime designing such gadgets.
Some years ago (when I was working) there was a locksmiths near the office. They had a magazine article under glass on the counter. It recounted several cases where car owners were unable to start their cars because they had parked simewhere with a lot of electromagnetic intereference which overwhelmed the security system.
There were also stories of very expensive replacements when the electronic key system failed.
Keyless ignition is quite nice to have. You walk up to the car, it unlocks when you pull the door handle, you sit down, you press the go button. Never once need to touch the key. I wouldn't make it a buying point but it is pretty slick.
I think all cars have a backup physical key included with the wireless unit.
The physical key is usually in the fob and released by a button. It only lets you in the door. You still need the fob to be able to start the car due to the ID chip in it.
Keyless ignition is quite nice to have. You walk up to the car, it unlocks when you pull the door handle, you sit down, you press the go button. Never once need to touch the key. I wouldn't make it a buying point but it is pretty slick.
It's tough going back, though. Having two most-often-driven cars that were "keyless", we found we really missed it when we got one without it
Great for women - throw the fob in your purse and forget about it.
I've had an occasional embarrassing experience when I let the person with the fob out of the car, though. You can keep driving for as long as you don't turn the car off...
It does up the cost of a lost key to something entirely unreasonable, though.
weedpharma:
The physical key is usually in the fob and released by a button. It only lets you in the door. You still need the fob to be able to start the car due to the ID chip in it.
Weedpharma
There are variants of how they work.
But loose or get something wrong and the remedy can be very very expensive.
You may have a spare , but if its at home and you are travelling abroad make sure you have tow home insurance.
It can be cheaper than a new EMU.
Not me but happened to a mate.
westfw:
Great for women - throw the fob in your purse and forget about it.
a friend with a Honda lost their key (fell into a lake). 300 miles from home where the other key was.
Well he should have had a spare wired under the car somewhere.
Man the horror stories I've heard about people with computers in cars in the outback. Yes electronics is reliable, it's also totally unfixable in the bush, unlike most problems with older vehicles.
As they say in the classics, "You can't fix a computer with a sapling".
I had a mate with $120k worth of MAN 4x4 truck, one day it refused to start because the computer decided that the brake linings were worn, they weren't as it was a new truck at the time, but who gives a toss even if they are, you have to get back "home", I've driven vehicles with no brakes, no clutch, even half the front missing
I wonder what a computer would have made of that, and yet after that accident I drove for another 1500 miles just fine.
It will be a cold day in hell before I have any computers in a vehicle I use in the outback, possibly around town should I ever be unfortunate enough to live in one again
Robin2:
Some years ago (when I was working) there was a locksmiths near the office. They had a magazine article under glass on the counter. It recounted several cases where car owners were unable to start their cars because they had parked simewhere with a lot of electromagnetic intereference which overwhelmed the security system.
There were also stories of very expensive replacements when the electronic key system failed.
...R
http://www.wellingtonpark.org.au/assets/wellingtonpark_electronicinformation.pdf
Official warning if you drive to the top of Mt Wellington in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
The other was BMW first wireless key-less entry, the frequency they worked on was the Amateur Radio Freq of one of their FM repeaters. Used to block any key-less entry. BMW it seems didn't check where the key-less freq were for each country they exported to.
Tom....
I rented one of those keyless vehicles a while back. After a week and got pretty used to it. When I got home I sat in my own car, put my foot on the brake and pressed the cigarette lighter and wondered why my car didn't start?!