I also wonder about all these electronic key fobs. Will the car even start if the battery dies in the key?
No…but you’re given plenty of warning before the battery fails. The warning light came on in my wife’s Lexus over a month before she remembered to tell me about it.
It’s and 07…and so far we’ve only replaced the battery once. Personally I like the key-less entry system.
If I had my druthers I’d have a 70’s model something with a perfect body . The only requirement would be AC . I could easily & probably cheaply fix anything that went wrong with it .
Interesting, 2003-20012, 106 riders killed in school busses, 244 pedestrians killed by school busses!
When you’re ready to buy a new car . . .
I doubt you’ll find a model that doesn’t have several “vin-bricked” modules and/or parts
Call it “egregrious anti-consumer behavior” if you like . . . but it’s very common
I dare say it’s becoming the norm
In the last few years, I can’t think of one single PCM that I installed, for example, that did not have to be “married” to the vehicle. Vin-bricked, if I use your terminology. I’m talking the last 10 years, by the way.
Unlike with human beings, married is forever, as far as that pcm goes. It either works in that car that it’s married to, or it’s a paperweight in all other circumstances
Get this . . . even if you choose to skip the marriage of the pcm and the car, it will marry itself to the car in x amount of ignition cycles
Just out of curiosity’s sake, how would you go about finding this . . . in my opinion elusive . . . new vehicle that didn’t have several vin-bricked modules and/or parts . . . ?
If somebody told you that it doesn’t have any vin-bricked modules, how would you go about confirming this is actually true?
Certain safety features are preferred (3 point harness for one) but I’ve never been one to drive around in mortal fear every day because the vehicle was lacking something.
“Interesting, 2003-20012, 106 riders killed in school busses, 244 pedestrians killed by school busses!”
…which proves the point that school bus travel is MUCH safer than passenger car, on a per-mile basis. Basically, the seatback immediately ahead of you will decelerate you in a non-fatal (though possibly painful) manner…and given the weight discrepancy, you won’t be decelerating all that quickly. Mostly you need to worry about rollover, and possibly getting smacked by a freight train.
I wear my seatbelt pretty religiously as a driver and passenger; I don’t see any need to on a Greyhound or similarly-sized behemoth. 19+ passengers is about my “break-even” point.
This seems awfully complicated–a warning light to tell you to put a new battery in your electronic key. I still think my 1947 Pontiac had it right–you put the key in the ignition switch, turned it to on and depressed the starter pedal. Depressing the starter pedal closed the starter switch and pushed the starter drive gear into the flywheel. There were no solenoids, relays, electronic keys, etc to cause problems. My 1950 Chevrolet pickup had the same system. IMHO simplicity = reliability.
My 1950 Chevrolet pickup had the same system. IMHO simplicity = reliability.
Simplicity = reliability…but NOT convenience. No more fumbling with keys…just touch the door handle and the door unlocks…take a seat…press the brake pedal and then press the start button…then drive away.
So far the system has been extremely reliable…over 170k miles with no issues yet.
As for you 1950 pickup…I’d be extremely surprised if it reached 100k miles.
But @MikeInNH, why must improvements in the drive train reliability and longevity be overwhelmed with costly, problematical technological gadgetry?
@MikeInNH : How is keyless any more convenient?
I mean, you already have the fob in your dominant hand to unlock the door. You either return the key to your pocket, or put it in the ignition. The former is at least as inconvenient as the latter (possibly much more so if you’re the sort to wear “skinny jeans.”)
How is keyless any more convenient?
You can keep the fob in your pocket or purse or backpack…whatever… You don’t need to press any buttons to unlock the door. Just touching the door handle with your hand when you have the fob in your possession unlocks the door.
problematical technological gadgetry?
Yu’re making the assumption it’s less reliable because it’s more complicated. I agree in the KISS methodology (Keep It Simple Stupid). But not always does more complicated make it less unreliable. There way too many other factors to consider.
Wow…really? Yes, I suppose it’d be more convenient that way. I just wonder how long it’d take me to break three decades’ practice. I’d also wonder about “contamination of knowledge” issues when transitioning back to “proven technology.”
Also, wouldn’t you have your keys out anyways, from locking the HOUSE door? (Unless your house also has keyless entry…)
My wife finds it really convenient. After a day of shopping those keys are buried in her purse someplace. Not difficult to get use to.
That is good to know. It sounds like you have to be pretty lazy to allow this to happen. I have replaced a few batteries in these for people and they always seem to be a pretty common battery you can find at any drugstore. So you won’t have to worry about the battery as it gives plenty of warning.
Just be glad your wife wasn’t telling you a month after the low oil light first came on. I have to say I think the level checks are probably a good idea for many people. I don’t think the idea of having the engine cutout when the oil is low is a good idea. Sure, you may ruin an engine but there are times where being able to keep driving may save your life. Also, the story about hard cornering causing all the oil to slosh to one side and killing the engine is a prime example of how this can cause issues.
When the battery in my Mazda keyfob dies you can still start the car by holding the tip of the fob against the “start” button and pressing the button.
Also, wouldn't you have your keys out anyways, from locking the HOUSE door? (Unless your house also has keyless entry...)Or a garage with a closer. I drive out and it closes behind me. Push of a button and it opens when I come back home...we're never locked out as long as you can remember the code for the remote pad on the door jamb...
As long as I can find a rock I’m never locked out. 
@MikeInNH I have no idea how many miles were on my 1950 pickup. I bought the truck in 1972. The speedometer hadn’t worked for years and the sun had faded the digits that were displayed on the odometer when it quit working. The person I bought it from was the brother-in-law of our department secretary. He bought the truck at an auction the year before and had never even started it after he brought it home. We jumped it from a 12 volt battery and it fired right up. I did find out that it came from the northern part of my county. I bought some baled hay from a farmer who said his neighbor had owned the truck for quite a while before he passed away. When I flipped up the seat cushion, I found blue prints of the water lines for the south district in my town. With the tool boxes on the sides and the hitch on the back, I surmised that the truck had once belonged to the water works. The hitch was probably used to tow the jackhammer compressor. For $115 dollars-- the amount I paid for the truck–one doesn’t ask many questions about the truck’s history. It may well have gone more than 100,000 miles. As to the convenience of the starting system–turning on the key and stepping down on the starter pedal was more convenient than hand cranking the 1939 F-12 International Harvester with a sickle bar that I used to mow the field. Anything more advanced than the starting system of the 1950 Chevrolet pickup is just unnecessary fluff for me. In fact, after I had to put a new starter rope in the recoil starter on my mower, I didn’t see any problem with the the notched puley where you wrapped a rope around the pulley and pulled the rope. When the rope wore out, you just cut another length of rope. Modern conveniences are o.k. until they become inconveniences.
I often think about some of my friends who had expensive cars in the late 1950s and early 1960s that got tired of all the provlems, with the modern, troublesome conveniences and swapped these cars for VW Beetles.