Going Keyless
Edmunds.com
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Going Keyless
It's called push-button keyless start, and as its name suggests, it allows you to fire up your car's engine without the hassle of key insertion.
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Now, some moron has designed a device to emit RF energy that is intended to be kept by men in their pants pockets. It is a totally useless device, accomplishing nothing that an old fashion metal key doesn't. The claims of the marvelous security it offers are only descriptions of how it attempts to fill the security holes it itself creates. I can't help wondering if our misandrist press would adopt the same unquestioning attitude if the potential victims were female.
No doubt the key fob uses RFID and only responds to a RFID reader (the vehicle) but it will activate when it receives a signal from the vehicle ... or any other device on the same frequency (including other cars). It also seems clear that the car has to be broadcasting continuously in order to "know" that the fob is present.
When microwave ovens first appeared, there was a great deal of concern on the integrity of the seals because of possible escaping RF energy. Now we live in the microwave.
Of course, no article on keyless ignition would be complete without the obligatory claim that it helps those so badly afflicted with arthritis that they would find handling a key difficult. Apparently, those same people will have zero trouble properly gripping the steering wheel or operating any of the car's other controls.
There hasn't been a proper investigative journalist on the planet in the past decade; certainly not one with a brain. They mindlessly parrot the sales material provided by greedy corporations intent on selling some useless product or service. Why would one want to buy a $2 key when one could spend $300 on an electronic device to do the same thing???
I do hope that when the health risks of this technology come to light that the corporations and their shills are held fully responsible and made to pay ... and pay ... and pay.
The failure to have some saftey shut off makes the device inherently dangerous.
Call me a dinosaur but I'm car shopping for a physical key ignition start. Do they still exist in 2019?!!!!
As for those having issues with “Key not found” or other similar issues, I’d say to stop buying GM (or other brands that have this common issue), as I’ve seen a lot of GM vehicles have this issue, even before keyless start, back when it was just a coded ignition key. I don’t buy GM anymore for other reasons, t that alone would have me disinterested.
Those who state that someone entered the vehicle and drove away without the fob with them, I’d also say to look at other brands. If the manufacturer isn’t willing to put in place a safeguard for this, then that’s not a manufacturer I’d be interested in giving money to. For instance, I drive a 2017 Kia Niro, which has keyless start. If I start the vehicle and then take the key out of the vehicle, a loud and long beep (heard inside and outside the vehicle) warns me that the key has been taken out of the vehicle. If I were to then get back in the vehicle without the fob, there is a picture of the key fob on the instrument cluster, with the words “Key Not In Vehicle” displayed. Once you move the gear shift out of park, the loud beep returns, while continuing to display the message about the missing key. In short, make sure these safeguards are in place before purchasing.
My only gripe about keyless start on my vehicle is that, because my vehicle is a hybrid, the engine isn’t always running when I put the vehicle in park, and I’ve often sat for a few minutes to check phone messages or whatever and then gotten out of the vehicle and forgotten to stop the engine. However, I have that loud audible tone once I get out of the vehicle with the fob to remind me to turn off the engine. Leaving the fob in the vehicle isn’t an option, either, because I always use the buttons on the door handles to lock the vehicle, and it simply will not lock with the fob left in the cabin.