Keyless Fobs, The High Price Of Convenience
from the worth-it dept
Keyless car entry and ignition using a fob is a great convenience, though it does entail some risks. Anyone who has bought a car employing them is warned about the high replacement costs, sometimes nearing $1000. Another risk, with keyless ignition, is that the car can be driven away without the key in it. A driver recently learned this the hard way when a valet started his car for him, but threw the fob on the hood. As he pulled away, it slipped off, but the car kept running. Had he realized this sooner, it might have made for an amusing Speed-like incident, with the driver forced to keep his car running while looking for the fob on the side of the road. Some mechanism that immediately warns the driver when not in the presence of the fob might be useful, as would a security measure that prevented someone from jumping into the car and driving away with it after driver's unlocked it (admittedly, this could be tough). Other than the risks, shouldn't this technology reduce costs? It seems like reprogramming a key and an engine should be less expensive than hacking open a door, trying to find a VIN, and then chiseling out a new key.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Profit margin$
You're right, it'll take a while before all the strange circumstance bugs are worked out of the technologies. This is true for any new tech. But for the cost, well, that's probably because those who buy the fancy items can afford to pay the big bucks. Plus, original equipment parts are WAY WAY overpriced. If you bought a car piece by piece you'd pay over $100k for a Dodge Neon.
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FOB-to-car-matching
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FOB replacement
My challenge with my keyless FOB is that I can't always find it. It will fall under the seat and though the car runs while it's there, I can't leave it! I never lost my keys in the car when they were in the ignition.
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Written by someone who's never driven a car with k
"As he pulled away, it slipped off, but the car kept running."
Well of course it did. Would an ignition cut-off whenever the car loses contact with the FOB be a good idea? Sounds like a very bad idea to me.
"Some mechanism that immediately warns the driver when not in the presence of the fob might be useful..."
My car has this. If I start the car and get out with the FOB in my pocket the car lets out a series of quick beeps as a warning.
"...as would a security measure that prevented someone from jumping into the car and driving away with it after driver's unlocked it..."
I'm not sure what the author is imagining here. I unlock my door and as I'm opening it the car-jacker jumps in before I have a chance to? Here's the security measure for that one: take a step back away from the car. My car has four FOB sensors: one in the driver's door, one in the passenger's front door, one in the tailgate and one inside the dash. The car will only allow operation of the control that's near the sensor that detects the FOB. If I'm standing by the driver's door I can unlock that door. No one can unlock the passenger door, the tailgate or start the car while I'm standing in that location. If I've already started the car and someone somehow gains control of it that's no different than if I'd started it with a key. But there's the added security that without a key or FOB once the ignition is turned off it can't be re-started.
"Anyone who has bought a car employing them is warned about the high replacement costs..."
Hey, nobody said a word about this to me when I bought my car!
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Dale above has no clue
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$1000 replacement costs?
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I installed keyless for 5 years. Brake shuts off
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Re: I installed keyless for 5 years. Brake shuts
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keyless entry.
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Re: keyless entry.
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Re: Re: keyless entry.
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Re: keyless start
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auto start
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Confusion
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Hilarious.
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Prius does warn about the FOB missing
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After-Market keyless entry and Remote start
Also, Keith Zimmerman is right in that they can be wired to the brake. As soon as I depress the brake pedal to place my vehicle into gear, the engine shuts off if the keys are not in the ignition. It just makes sense this way.
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I hate 'em
Just a solution looking for a problem if you ask me.
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At best, it's hole-less.
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using the key to start 2005 corvette
key to start it
thanks
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Thanks
Lisa
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