Stories from the Sales Frontlines

jmonroe

Sometimes I even started looking for the slot in the dash.

I have a slot for the proximity gizmo in the Genny. Although I always use the ashtray to hold it so I don’t scratch the fake wood on the top of the ashtray cover with my house key that hangs from the key ring. The owner’s manual says if the battery in the gizmo goes bad, you can start the car by inserting it into this slot. Being the inquisitive sort that I am, I peeked into the slot and I can see a piece of plastic that probably actuates a hidden switch when the gizmo is inserted. If you don’t have a slot to override a bad battery in your gizmo how do you get the car started when the battery dies? See below…maybe you just “wave” at it. :surprise:

Yes, you can lock it by waving your hand over the door handle.

You actually “wave” at your car? That must have been invented by the same guy that started voice actuation for the Nav and radio systems in cars today. I also have voice actuation in the Genny. Maybe it’s just me but it’s going to be a cold day in Hawaii when I start talking to my car. :confuse:

One good thing about this, my wife will be less inclined to want to use my car now....hmmm, this might have some advantages.

Believe it or not but Mrs. jmonroe has yet to start the Genny let alone drive it (I got it in March of '09). Her new Subie has the standard key start and she is glad that it does but she doesn't like the idea that to take the key out, after you turn it to shut off the car, you have to push in on the key, and turn a little more counterclockwise, to get it out of the lock cylinder. She does not like anything about cars that is different from what she is used to. That's why she doesn't drive the Genny.

jmonroe

tjc78

If you don’t have a slot to override a bad battery in your gizmo how do you get the car started when the battery dies?

There is probably a "hidden place" somewhere in the car. My new LaCrosse has that place under the cup holders in the center console.

You actually “wave” at your car?

One thing I like about the keyless on the LaCrosse is how the entry is designed. On the Genesis to gain entry to the car you have to push the little button on the handle. The LaCrosse you just pull on the handle and after a momentary delay (1 sec or less) the door lock actuates and the door opens.

I also have voice actuation in the Genny. Maybe it’s just me but it’s going to be a cold day in Hawaii when I start talking to my car.

I have that in my car too, and I've tried it a few times and it never gets the right command. It must be my Jersey accent.

jmonroe

I have that in my car too, and I've tried it a few times and it never gets the right command. It must be my Jersey accent.

Yeah, you Joysey guys would have a problem like that. :P

Guys from the Burgh could have a problem when they say "younz", and "younz's" but since my family never used that word that wouldn't be a problem for me. I ain't never used that word. My English and diction is purfect.

jmonroe

nyccarguy

With 2 kids, a Pilot isn't necessary. In fact, I'd almost call it overkill. There are lots of good choices out there. I'd look at the new CRV & maybe even a 2011 Escape if she's looking for a screaming deal. Mazda CX7 is slick looking & has that nice turbo 4 under the hood. Ford is really on a roll now & the new '12 Escape is already getting good write ups.

explorerx4

You snuck one back in here, and nobody has noticed yet.

explorerx4

Just wait. In a couple of years the Pilot will be too small because 'princess' will want to bring all her stuff with her.

stickguy

Fezo, you know the real answer (get rid of the accord and get something new). But if you aren't going with that option, the kits are iffy but worth a try. Only real fix is new lenses, but on a car that age and miles, might not be worth it.

Plumbing I will do, but only fixtures. I have replaced shower heads (big whoop) and faucets plenty of times, but I draw the line at pipe work.

Ditto for electric. I have put in new switches (dimmers) and replaced just about every light fixture in the house, but I don't do wiring.

stickguy

I think a pilot is bigger than my wife will need but after the odyssey, she may not be able to accept something small like a CR-V or Mazda cx5 (that I like). She tends to pack heavy. Real heavy. So it would be a culture shock trading down.

Key is, don't travel with all 4 of us (by the time we buy, my son will be 1/2 way through senior year of college, so he can transport himself!)

Plus, if I wanted a big gas sucker, I could just keep the van.

explorerx4

Start out using some car wax. If that doesn't work for you, try some rubbing compound. After that, you could be looking at a headlight cleaning kit or replacing the headlights.

oldfarmer50

"...what you do for this?..."

I bought a headlight kit at Pep Boys that was mainly very fine grit sandpaper that gave good results after about 30 minutes of sanding.

Cheaper than new headlights.

nyccarguy

Pilot too small for my Princess, huh? That's a good one! Lol! I don't think my wife would ever drive a Suburban.

oldfarmer50

http://www.wpxi.com/news/29891741/detail.html

With a little left over for bribes to keep his Edmunds buddies quiet. :P

nyccarguy

I can't thank all of you enough for your kind & supportive words! They mean a lot!

fezo

Talk is cheap. Where's my cigar? :P

You are in a most excellent moment right now.

Hey, boom! What's happening?

driver100

override a bad battery in your gizmo how do you get the car started when the battery dies?

This year they added a feature. You take the real key out of the big plastic key, and you hold it on the steering column, there's a picture where to do this.

You actually “wave” at your car?


I could have said move your hand along the door handle.

Maybe it’s just me but it’s going to be a cold day in Hawaii when I start talking to my car.

Yeh, I would feel like a total idiot if people saw me talking to my steering wheel. I will say it works pretty well. I can say RADIO, FM, 99.9. She repeats it. I wish she had a nice French accent. I wonder if you can order different voices. I wouldn't like the school marm voice........you moron, you shouldn't be listening to Howard Stern!

driver100

It seems like only a few short months ago our son was born but he already turned two.

Few short months...it seems like it was last week. You have been gone that long....I know, one brief return to check in. How is the little guy doing...he was born right here on this site.

Hope you stick around.

driver100

My English and diction is purfect.

But, your spelling isn't "purfect". :P

[Deleted User]

Is it really doing things on it's own?

In the past it would occasionally self-start without me triggering the remote starter, but the last few days have become quite entertaining. As soon as I shut it down, at random intervals it'll beep, lock the door, and then start up. Other times it'll start locking and unlocking on it's own. The thing is totally unpredictable and I'm now parking it outside so we don't fill the garage with exhaust. Either the vehicle thinks it's receiving signals from the remote, or the remote is damaged and actually sending those signals. Time for another visit to the dealer.

jmonroe

With a little left over for bribes to keep his Edmunds buddies quiet.

Darn, you got me. Route 19 is a little out of the way from where I live but Mrs. jmonroe was out doing a shake down run with the Subie and went a little further than she intended and ended up on that road.

OK, how much you want. I've heard that eye witnesses aren't all that reliable (ask our resident judge) and when they said a heavy set guy driving a red BMW was being sought out, I thought Mrs. jmonroe was in the clear because she's a skinny woman that was driving a silver Subie that grabbed that dough. I thought it was a little odd that all of a sudden she was now relieved about where the money for the bath redo was coming from.

Are you guys really going to rat me out and kill her dream bathroom? :mad:

jmonroe

jmonroe

Either the vehicle thinks it's receiving signals from the remote, or the remote is damaged and actually sending those signals. Time for another visit to the dealer.

This is may be a little simplistic and you've probably thought of this yourself, but couldn't you take the battery out of the remote start gizmo and see if the car starts on it's own when you do that? Or, yank the fuse for the remote start circuit in the van.

jmonroe

[Deleted User]

I think that's a great idea for isolating the key fob.

boomchek

He's good thanks. I changed dealers a couple of times so different roles and responsibilities, as well as more time devoted to my wife and son which kept me away from edmunds.

The fun part though is I get to hand down my toy collection to him that I still have which consists of hundreds of die cast cars which he plays with (didn't give them all at once) and I get to play with again as well.

And he's growing up to be such a car nut like daddy. Always wanting to be in the driver's seat

jmonroe

And he's growing up to be such a car nut like daddy. Always wanting to be in the driver's seat

C'mon now that kid couldn't have a drivers license but he looks good giving it the ole car guy try.

I should know what that car is but I don't. Is it yours or his? :confuse:

Hey Boom, stick around for a while this time. Not too many, if any, salesmen in here now. We lost our Honda sales guy to Kia but he won't admit it. Too busy taking ups.

jmonroe

driver100

I should know what that car is but I don't.

I thought the same...what kind of car is that? My guess is a Masserati.

Hey Boom, are you selling those now?

Your son has good taste in cars.

driver100

The thing is totally unpredictable and I'm now parking it outside so we don't fill the garage with exhaust.

A few things come to mind:
*You were wise to leave the car out of the garage, but not every one would have thought of that
*I think Chrysler should get on this immediately...it sounds very dangerous. Every time I start up the 535 I get a big message on the info console about how the screen is just for information and don't take your eyes off the road, etc........reminds me of the 5 page disclaimer they put on ladders to avoid litigation.
*JMs idea about taking the battery out is good. I wonder if it could be a neighbors car or TV remote?

Let us know how it turns out.

tjc78

My guess is a Masserati

Yep its a Maserati Qattroporte

snakeweasel

The thing is totally unpredictable and I'm now parking it outside so we don't fill the garage with exhaust.

Smart move, this is just one reason why I will never have a car with a remote starter. To many stories of cars starting "on their own" (Although I tend to think that many cases are owners accidently hitting the button on their fob).

sterlingdog

It's so nice to hear from you again. I hope that you can stay around for a bit. I can't believe that your son has gone from baby to little boy. Those two years certainly passed quickly.

Richard

sterlingdog

"Too many stories of cars starting 'on their own'."

We have the remote starter on the SRX. I haven't used it because I've heard those same stories. There's no need to ask for bad luck; I've got enough of that as it is.

Richard

driver100

(Although I tend to think that many cases are owners accidently hitting the button on their fob).

It sounds like that wouldn't happen too easily, but it can. I used to carry the cars to my wife's keys with me. I think something would hit my pocket and then click her car locked. I would drive off to work and she would call me at work....I can't get into my car, it's locked.

I'd have to drive back and unlock her car. You might ask why didn't she unlock it with her key? Well, the cars were in the garage, and she leaves her car open with the keys inside on the console.

driver100

Yep its a Maserati Qattroporte

Great! I haven't lost it completely yet!

If you think you know cars from the 50s take the test....I got 2 wrong.
Test Cars 50s

sterlingdog

I can identify with your crazy car. Our last house had a garage door that would go up and down at will. If the neighbors used their TV remote or a driver used their key fob, our garage door would respond to any and all signals. We finally replaced the motor in the opener and the problem was solved. Our neighbors used to laugh when we were out of town. They said that the garage door would go up and down fifty times a day. I'm glad that they saw humor in it; we didn't.

Richard

tjc78

I didn't even know my LaCrosse had it until the salesman mentioned. I'll never use it. I find it a very wasteful thing. Imagine the people that start the car for 10 minutes every morning before leaving. Lots and lots of extra wear on the engine and fuel wasted.

sterlingdog

I also missed two. I got the Henry J and the Willys backward. That's the second time that I've done that!

Richard

sterlingdog

I'll tell you something new that is going on down here. In shopping center parking lots, people are leaving their cars running while they shop so that the car will be cool or heated when they return. Talk about waste! I parked next to one of these drivers about a month ago. We were in the mall for at least an hour and a half. When we returned to our car, the driver next to us had not yet returned. Their car was still running. Engine wear, gas, oil, etc.---makes no sense to me.

Richard

[Deleted User]

I wonder if it could be a neighbors car or TV remote?

When the issue was more isolated I figured the same. Probably an errant signal from some other device with a similar signal, or the button just happening to be pressed twice in rapid succession with the remote in my pocket. There were times it started with both keys stored in our key lock box, though, so that's when I assumed a signal from a different source.

Over the holiday weekend, while traveling in California, the Journey just went nuts. Much more frequent and it would overide me for 10 minutes at a time. Just picture a tall skinny guy fumbling with his remote in a parking lot, cursing at his car while it honked, locked, unlocked, and started itself, over and over and over and over....... I'm sure other people thought it was funny

Then it did it again the next day in Nevada, and again the next day back home in Utah. The last two days have been uneventful, but nevertheless, I don't trust the Journey. I'm waiting for a repeat so I can video record the event and take it to the dealer (after removing the fob battery as jmonroe suggested).

[Deleted User]

people are leaving their cars running while they shop so that the car will be cool or heated when they return.

Serious? What a terrible waste of resources. In Salt Lake City those people would add one more expense to that habit, a ticket. We just passed an anti-idling ordinance. There are exemptions for very hot and cold days, but if we idle our cars for more than a couple of minutes the police have the option to issue a fine. I questioned the legislation initially, but I suppose such an ordinance would provide some ammunition to prevent air-polluting habits that you just described.

[Deleted User]

I'm glad that they saw humor in it; we didn't.

A boss of mine, very long ago, had a similar problem which compounded one morning when she received a call from her neighbor. We were in her office editing some training material I had created, and the neighbor called to say her cat was caught under the garage door when it last closed. Squished. Poor thing. But if a cat couldn't manage to move out of the way of a slow moving garage door, I guess it wasn't long for this world.

driver100

. I got the Henry J and the Willys backward. That's the second time that I've done that!

Those were the ones I missed too! Those are really tricky. Most of the others they kind of helped you using process of elimination. That is still really good to remember that many cars from the past. Desotos and Chryslers were difficult as well.

tjc78

Squished. Poor thing

Must have been an old garage door opener. They have had those sensors to prevent that sort of thing for a long time now. I believe just about everywhere it is code.

But if a cat couldn't manage to move out of the way of a slow moving garage door, I guess it wasn't long for this world.

I know its not funny, but I just thought of Randy Quaid from Christmas Vacation: That cat had nine lives, he just spent them all...

roadburner

I know its not funny, but I just thought of Randy Quaid from Christmas Vacation: That cat had nine lives, he just spent them all...

That would be my cat. He has survived the following:

1. Caught under old(non-electric eye) garage door. Survived uninjured.
2. Went to sleep on top of open garage door- caught between door and header when door closed. Survived uninjured.
3. Went to sleep on roof of Jeep. Did not wake up until I drove off. Jumped off when I stopped Jeep to see what was making noise on the roof.
4. Tried to sneak in house when son and I were leaving one early morning. Remained trapped between door and storm door for @8 hours.

sterlingdog

"I'd have to drive back and unlock her car."

I can solve that problem for you, but it only works with cell phones. Using your cell phone, call your wife on her cell phone. Tell her to hold her cell phone three inches from the car door. Then hold your key fob close to your cell phone and click the key fob. Voila! Her car door will unlock. You saved yourself a trip back home.

"I used to carry the cars to my wife's keys with me."

Did you use a transport truck or just chain them together? :P

Richard

fezo

Amazing what cats will do. We used to have one that slept on top of the right front tire on my mom's car. You'd start the car up and the cat would take off like a shot but the next morning she might well be back on top of the tire. She liked the spot and figured it was worth the sudden awakenings.

sterlingdog

"I have that in my car too, and I've tried it a few times and it never gets the right command. It must be my Jersey accent."

That must be my problem as well. I don't think that it understands "Y'all go to channel 99.9."

Richard

sterlingdog

"I hate cigarettes..."

I suppose that means that you won't need my two cars when I go to automotive heaven.

robr2

I can solve that problem for you, but it only works with cell phones. Using your cell phone, call your wife on her cell phone. Tell her to hold her cell phone three inches from the car door. Then hold your key fob close to your cell phone and click the key fob. Voila! Her car door will unlock. You saved yourself a trip back home.

Uhhhm - no. Keyless entries use RF signals which cannot be relayed over cell phones. Further RF and Cell signals transmit on different frequncies.

Try it but make sure you are at least a mile away. It won't work.

sterlingdog

"I love those square Lincoln's that Lincoln Lawyer uses."

His is exactly like the one I owned---'89 Towncar. It will always be my favorite car.

Richard

sterlingdog

Have you tried it?

Richard

robr2

Have you? I have not but most everything I've read about it debunks it as an urban myth.

I'll try it this PM when my wife is home and report back. In fact we should all try it. I'm not the only one that's going to get that LOOK from my wife in the name of science.

boomchek

Yes Maserati Quattroporte I had for a weekend :shades:

I'm still in the car business but I am now a Marketing Manager for a Ferrari and Maserati dealer. It's quite a change of pace from the regular brands in terms of showroom traffic, different types of clients, and just overall different atmosphere. I really enjoy it though and we get to see and drive some really uninque and exclusive cars.

My previous stint was as an Assistant Sales Manager at a Nissan store for about a year, before that at a Chrysler store (when I took a break from Edmunds for a bit).