“I put the dogs in the car, tossed the fob to the front seat, and I had just put my purse, etc in also, I then closed the side door, tried to open the driver’s door, but “Christine” decided to lock the dogs in and me out.
here is my question: What would posses electronics designers to decide when it can lock out the driver & put those inside in jeopardy; to lock doors with no regard to safety first and options to lock, or not out of the hands of the operator?
We, the fire department got the dogs out in a timely manner whereas AAA was not easy to get help in the time frame needed. The hot day, hot car and time frame for heat stroke to occur was mounting.
I may have a legal issue on top of the damage caused from having to break in and save the dogs.”
BMWs are particularly famous for having poorly designed and built electronics.
Their engineers seem to have the attitude that customers must operate the machine in a specific method, and they’re not responsible for anticipating any deviation from that specific method.
For example, it’s generally assumed with keyless entry cars that the keys go in your pocket at the beginning of the day, and do not get taken out again until you take your pants off that night. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if it never even occurred to an engineer that someone might, for some reason, carry the thing around in their hand.
I think this has been an issue with BMW and maybe some others. I remember someone getting locked in as a joke by friends and he couldn’t get out and died. I had a loaner Malibu last week and tried to leave the key fob in the car in the garage with the window down. The horn honked at me until I took the fob out again.
I took a test drive in a new Camry to get $50 (yes, I AM a cheapskate ). The gave me one with a fob and pushbuttun start wich they cleverly hid behind the steering wheel. I thought it was truly a stupid idea and one that woukd cause me to buy another make if it was standard across all trim levels.
I appreciate you sharing your experience. I am a big fan of this site and its helpful contributors.
Thank you!
…as is Mercedes-Benz.
How dare the owners of their completely superior creations to question the design parameters of their corporate engineers!
Ve vill decide how you operate the vehicle that ve have deigned to allow you to purchase!
That’s what my boss used to say. We don’t “sell”, we “allow people to buy”. Yeah sure we do.