Well the inevitable has happened. Car lock was frozen this morning and only one lock on the entire vehicle. It boiled down to an extension cord and hair dryer to get the door unlocked. It was a pain to stand outside in the freezing cold jiggling the key. Why not use the remote, you ask? Well that wasn't working either. Tell me, what is the benefit of keyless entry other than it's great for just the driver of the vehicle?
Keyless entry can be used in numerous ways for convenience, simple as that. More advanced cars can be unlocked whenever the key fob is within a few feet of that particular door. This includes the trunk and all other doors. Newer cars start as long as the key fob is somewhere inside the vehicle and won't start with it outside. What else are you expecting from a keyless entry system? It's not that complicated, and it's only supposed to be useful for the driver, and sometimes other passengers when the doors are unlocked before they get to the vehicle.
I get that. I'm sure that there are other situations that have happened were the keyless entry caused some kind of inconvenience to others. Maybe someone else will share there experience as well. I'd like to hear how they were handled for future's sake. Oh and thank you for your response troutski.
In my view keyless entry is just an additional thing to potentially go wrong with a car. It seems that the more features and specifications a vehicle has, the more costly repairs that result. Cars used to be so much simpler to work on before the computer age, now i wouldn't even attempt most car repairs. The latest problem emerging with keyless entry vehicles is that they are being targeted by organised criminal gangs using computers. They are able to re program the keyless entry system and because of this issue some insurers are refusing to cover keyless vehicles. The only appeal to me about keyless cars would be the novelty value, i see no real benefit to them when you consider all the drawbacks.
Keyless entry is like every other form or technology, when it works it's great. The issues come when it stops working. I guess the 2 main reasons keyless entry was introduced are convenience and security. People are always looking for unique features and looking to buy the next big thing just because...well, just because its the next big thing. Most of the time I'd say new technology isn't much better than systems and things that have been in place and worked for years...
Keyless entry systems are electronic in nature and as such are prone to go bad at any time and more often. When they go bad its worse than your battery going dead at any time. I would not by a car that has one at all.
I do think it is a thing of the future, but I prefer the key personally as if the electronics are down you have no back up. It will take more years before it comes foolproof and there is always a danger someone could hack into the system. I know it can immobilize the car, but these days thieves are smart and know how to override systems.
Sometimes I get scared walking to my car alone. I really like that I do not have to fumble with any keys to get to the safety of inside my car. What cracks me up though is when I do not want to look through my purse for the key, I end up taking my purse out to the car just to be able to open the door.
Keyless entries are for convenience. You just press a button instead of needing to insert the key and turn it. Is it necessary? I wouldn't say so, not really. But it is nice! My Fiesta has a regular key and I love keyless, but i'm just fine without it as well!
I think they are a theft deterrent. I have never had one of these cars so I don't know what one would be like. I do have a key fob with my vehicle but I think it needs a battery or something because it doesn't seem to open the doors. I will check how much it would be to replace the battery but it isn't a big deal as I just use the keys. Maybe some day I will have a keyless entry vehicle, but I think they tend to cost more unless I miss my guess.
I think they are for convenience more than anything else. New technology is not always dependable. The keyless systems do cost more money when you purchase your vehicle.. I will stick with the old system of using the key to open the doors and the car.
My car that I bought in 2013 is a keyless car. The starter is a push button and even the door lock is a push button. If the battery of the remote conks out, there is another key that can be used to open the passenger door. Enter the car and place the remote into the charger beside the gear. I think keyless is a cute novelty but not very practical yet.
I have to agree that it is a cute novelty and takes a while to get used to it. We rented a Jeep Cherokee this past summer while on holiday in Vancouver. It took 3 days to get used to not having a key and my husband could not figure out if the car was locked or not. If he got close to the car within 8 feet or so the car would automatically unlock. We didn't figure this out until our second day with the car. Like you said it's all great until it stops working.
There was a demonstration on Youtube how some hackers figured out how to hack keyless entries on various BMW models. Whats even more unnerving is they were able to do it within a matter of minutes. They were caught on surveillance video, which is how the police were able to see how fast they could hack it. Personally I like how keys are these days, a physical key along with a microchip embedded in them - so it's double the protection. Even the newer cars with keypads make me nervous because there are many ways thief can figure those out as well - all they have to do is record you from a distance with a long zoom lens, or even worse - the buttons you are pressing most often will be the most worn out. If they're even more sophisticated, they could shine a thermal camera on your keypad shortly after they see you using it, to see which keys are still warm. When I was younger, we had a walkie talkie set that apparently had the same frequency or security code in it, or whatever, that was the same as a common model of garage door openers - and as we were playing around the neighborhood with them, we realized they were opening and closing people's garages, lol.
Well, it seems like the elderly would benefit massively from the idea, but maybe not. Note, they might lose keys, but they can also forget codes. In that case, perhaps simply making copies of keys and giving them to relatives would be a better option. Nonetheless, you could also give a code to friends and relatives. Does anyone think giving away codes could carry a massive safety risk?
