Car Keyfobs - hows yours?

[Schumi]

Because i have a 2000, it only has the rear power trunk release, not the front... and I really, really wish it had the front. I know that sounds dumb, and I've never had a car with a key fob until this one, but pulling the cable release lever on the door for the front trunk seems old school compared to the rest of the car.


Milt- what did I miss?

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Schumi

Milt- what did I miss?

The free Tesla give-away!!

[Dantilla]

I usually drive my pick-up. Got tired of bumping the fob while in my pocket, so now I don't use it. Just a regular key, on a regular key ring. The fob is sitting in a drawer somewhere.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by masraum

Let me tell you, it's darn convenient. Remote door and trunk, you don't know what you're missing. Running to your car in the rain with an arm load of crap, hit the button before you get there and it's waiting for you. Pretty darn sweet.

The "trunk" in my El Camino is always open and ready.

My wife's car has all the bells & whistles. It is nice for any passengers to be able to get in at the same time as the driver. With a two seat car it is less important.

I just hate the big blob of a key fob in my pocket.

[stomachmonkey]

I prefer two buttons. Wife's car has one for lock/unlock. Lock is one chirp, unlock is two chirps. Unless something has been screwed with like the alarm set off or a dorr closed after you hit lock then the thing chirps 3 or more times and you have no idea what it's done.

Funny story. My wife calls me. Asks me where my remote for her car is.

"Why, what's up?"

I have to leave the house and I can't get into the car.

"You lost your keys?"

No, the battery is dead on the remote.

"Did you try the key?"

[mthomas58]

Originally Posted by Schumi

So today at work we're having an argument about car key fobs.

My Porsche's sucks. It has two buttons- one to open the rear decklid and one to lock/unlock. I have a 2000 which doesn't have the front bonnet power latch, so no 3rd button.

I think the strange part is the lock/unlock. It has one button that does both. When I'm walking away from the car, I can never tell if I'm locking or unlocking. I frequently think I lock it, but actually unlock, or vice versa. I've taken to getting out of the car and hitting the button and then pulling on the handle to see if it locked just to be sure. The fob battery is dying which exasperates the problem.

Now I don't think it's that huge of a deal, but a guy I work with would seriously not buy a car if it had little irritations like this, and I wonder how normal that is....

How about you guys?

This is along the same lines as my heated seat argument and memory position argument.

I gotta be honest, I'm more concerned with getting my 87 with no-start problems back on the road.

No key fob on an 87 but I added a Black Widow keyless system to the auto-locks.

A little tip for extending your remote lock's range......hold the fob to your forehead (like you are putting a gun to your head) and press. Someone told me this trick last year and it honestly does appear to extend range with any key fob.

[Noah930]

If your co-worker hates a particular keyfob so much, he can always detach it from the keychain and just use the key to lock and unlock the door.

One thing that's a tiny bit irritating (IMO) is the progressive loss of the passenger door keyhole. The only keyhole is now often only on the driver's door. Sometimes not even on the trunk. I suppose that's a nod to the universal use of keyfobs to unlock/lock cars and trunks, instead of keys. So if you approach the car from the passenger side (say because you've got stuff in your arms or you'd like to let your wife in, first), you have to go around to the driver's side. Or, if you help the wife or kids out on the passenger side, you have to then run back around to lock the car on the driver's side. Or just use the keyfob.

[Schumi]

Noah- many new cars no do not physically have a key.

Our company cars- Merc CLS, Merc E550, Porsche Panamera - none have an actual key.

[Noah930]

Sounds like your company perks are better than mine. Got any openings?

My "company car" is an '08 Honda Civic. It still has a key. I'll see if I can "trade" with my partner. He replaced his '07 Maser GT with a '09 CL550. Both vehicles had keys.

[Hads930]

I have a 10 year old Accord that I washed the remote for no less than 6 times. Hole in the plastic case wore through, I re-molded it with JB Weld and drilled a new hole, that lasted probably 5 years. Nobody makes a new case, you have to buy the whole thing, insides and all. The repaired hole broke through about 3 months ago, lost it within a week.