The brothers answered a question that a woman borrowing her dads car (a new Malibu) should not have 9 keys on her key ring. I don’t agree. While this was a problem in the 70-90’s, you could wear down a GM key and literally pull it out while the car was running, I don’t believe with todays modern columns and ignition switches, that nine keys are problem. I’ve been working on cars since 1970 and ingnition switches have changed! I have a Acura with 150K and many keys and I have zero problem!
I would think there is plenty of evidence lately that GM has not improved their ignition switches.
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I have one ignition key and one house key on my ring. Fob and four other keys are on a separate ring.
Too many keys might not be a problem but would it not be considered foolish to take a chance and kill yourself or someone else.
I think that too many keys and other stuff on a key ring for any automobile is a problem. Perhaps the best thing about the starter buttons that are all the rage now is that there are no keys to insert and damage the ignition mechanism.
You can carry as many keys in your pocket as it can hold, the “new” Malibu has a keyless ignition.
That conversation in the show may have been 20 years ago.
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I guess the show is all reruns so its not a push start Nevada. JTSanders how are 9 keys on your keychain going to kill you or someone else? I’ve had more than 9 keys on my keychain for the last 20 years…
Well, good for you. There have been incidents where too many keys have actually turned the vehicle off. Just because you have not had a problem does not mean it can’t happen. Basically you are making statements that don’t apply to every vehicle. An inexperienced driver faced with no power and heavy steering and brakes could be a fatal situation. Give up.
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I sure hope so, since Tom died back in 2014.
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…and there are people who drive around with bad brakes and bald tires who haven’t yet killed anyone.
Why take that chance when easy alternatives exist?
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With modern cars, most of the time the key never leaves one’s pocket. Keyless entry now starts about $20K on new cars. That said, in the not too distant past, the GM ignition lock defect killed scores of people. That defect is fixed, but GM spent a lot of dough telling folks not to load up the keyrings anymore on any of their cars and trucks.
You’re simplifying the situation. Its never really happened except the GM situation. So if you drive a foreign car that its never happened to, you should be worried? Seems being way over protective. I guess my riding a motorcycle is way too dangerous?
Over protective? Or Cautious in a way that really doesn’t hurt/hamper/impede anything?
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You don’t have to wear your seatbelt either. Do you care to take a chance without it?
There have been problems with “loading up” key rings on brands besides GM, fortunately none catastrophic. My mother had to have the entire ignition replaced in her VW Golf due to having too many keys on the ring
I think it would be very difficult to engineer a conventional ignition switch worked with a key that could, over a long period of time, reliably handle the weight of 10 or 15 keys. Remember the keys are dangling, pulling down and swinging around on every corner and bump in the road. Probably possible for such an ignition switch to work 5-10 years of use between replacements tho.
To engineer a really reliable one you’d have to make it simple mechanically, and that would be too easy to hack and steal the car. A mechanically simple but electronically complex ignition switch using some form of code security sequence seems to be the way the car engineers are heading.
A heavy set of keys will not wear out an ignition switch. The ignition switch is a separate part driven by the ignition lock cylinder where the key is inserted.
Concur, the keys dangling & swinging around wear out the key/lock mechanism, not the switch contacts. Seems a distinction rather than a difference tho. A faulty lock mechanism can cause the key to turn to “off” on the freeway, or fail to engage the switch contacts correctly.
I’ve driven 5 cars to over 100,000 miles from Dodge’s to Nissan to Acura to Porsche’s (2) and never had a key fail. I think you guys are listening to legend not reality…
90% of the time I use my key to unlock the door. It’s as easy as using the fob for me.