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Thread: Keyless ignitions

  1. #1
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    Keyless ignitions

    If a car has a keyless ignition, must you be sitting in the drivers seat to start the car?

    I hope never to own a car with a keyless ignition, but some rental cars have keyless ignitions so I may have to deal with that feature. If I am inside my house with my non-keyless electronic keys in my cluttered pocket, sometimes the keys lock or unlock the car while it is sitting outside in the driveway due to things in my pocket touching the keys. Could the device for a keyless ignition start the car by a similar accident?

  2. #2
    Are you referring to remote start? I have a new Subaru and have keyless start although no remote start. I have to step on brake while touching start button so yes, I have to be in car to start and need proximity fob on me.
    Mac

  3. #3
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    Unless you have remote start, the keyless ignition system requires that the fob be within a certain close distance for it to work. And remote start generally requires multiple presses of the correct button within a defined short time period.

    I personally wouldn't go back to a vehicle without keyless ignition!
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  4. #4
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    No, it can't happen.
    Chris

    Everything I like is either illegal, immoral or fattening

  5. #5
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    My Mazda requires the key to be in the car.

  6. #6
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    My wife's Infiniti requires the key to be within a couple of feet of the ignition, i.e. in her purse on the passenger seat or floor. Same with the door locks - need to be close for them to work.
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  7. #7
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    The car will not start unless you have the brake pedal depressed.
    Lee Schierer
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  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    ...And remote start generally requires multiple presses of the correct button within a defined short time period.
    On my Cherokee the remote start works from a distance, of course, but once I get in the car with the electronic fob I have to press the start button manually before proceeding even though the engine is running.

    We accidentally found out my wife's Murano can be started and driven with the key in the very back of the car, as far as possible from the driver's seat. I wondered if this was because of a separate sensor at the rear of the vehicle to allow unlocking/locking and operating the hatch from outside.

    JKJ

  9. #9
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    Keyless ignition has advantages and disadvantages. I might have preferred a key with my latest truck but it came with other electronics that I really wanted like integration with my iPhone for handsfree texting, etc. It totally pisses me off that I can't start it by reaching in the car and starting it while I proceed to load and unload it for the day's use. You have to be sitting it the driver's seat and hit the brake while you push "start" while having the key in your pocket. OR you can press two keys to start it remote, which then requires a sequence once you are sitting in the drivers seat.
    They have clearly designed certain "safeties" into the system as it wont unlock the door unless I'm standing directly in front of a front door when I reach for the handle. Since I normally unload and then load stuff in the back door this really irritates me.
    I love how I can start it from inside the house and get the A/C going to cool it down while I'm unloading and loading but then WHY do I have to go through a procedure to be able to drive off on a car that is already running ??????
    The lawyers must have gotten involved in this.......

  10. #10
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    Its to make the car harder to steal
    George

    Making sawdust regularly, occasionally a project is completed.

  11. #11
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    My 2015 Honda minivan has keyless ignition. The FOB must be withing a certain distance and you must depress the brake pedal to start the engine. If the vehicle is locked you can open either of the 4 doors or the rear hatch as long as the FOB is with you. My 2012 minivan required a key to start the engine but you still had to depress the brake pedal. I was thinking that was becoming a safety feature on most vehicles.

  12. #12
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    I misplaced the "key" part of my keyless ignition fob.

    I'm looking at a $300 charge when I turn in the leased car unless the stupid thing surfaces.

    For that reason alone, I'd never have one again.(keyless)

    Other than that, I really enjoyed the thing.

    Anyhow - -yeah, the brake pedal has to be depressed so you pretty much have to be seated in the driver's seat.
    My granddad always said, :As one door closes, another opens".
    Wonderful man, terrible cabinet maker...

  13. #13
    My son's car has keyless ignition. I much prefer the key to be in the ignition so I know where it is as I'm always looking for someplace to put in when I'm driving. Here's something maybe one of you can answer..... the other day my wife took the car to pick up her mother. She came back to the house to get me to take them somewhere and drop them off...so I started driving from when we left our house. I dropped them off and as I was about to drive away I remembered she had the key in her pocket. My question is....if I had driven away would the car stop running after a certain distance because I didn't have the key? ...or... if it kept running and I stopped somewhere on the way home and turned it off I guess I would have no way of starting it again without the key....

  14. #14
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    My 2017 Ford you need the "key" on you but really never need to use it unless you want to remote start or unlock/lock/pop the trunk when you aren't at the vehicle. If you have the key on you, when you reach into the door handle it unlocks the doors. There's a spot you can touch on each exterior handle to lock the doors. And there's a release button on the trunk lid where you'd naturally grab to lift it open anyway. All only work if you have the key on you and are right there--won't even work for example if my wife or daughter get there first. Also won't work if I'm inside the car with the key, doors locked, and someone approaches from the outside.

    Starting, key must be in the car (even the trunk works, because I've had it in a bag with workout clothes) and the brake pedal depressed to start, but if the pedal isn't depressed it will power everything up, kind of like just turning the key to "On". Once running, if the key leaves the vehicle it can't be driven but will stay running. And if it was remote started, you must still press the brake pedal and start button to be able to drive.

    It all works out well and is very natural with the exception that you can't grab the door handle and yank, you must give it a split second to unlock. You could almost replace the fob with an RFID card for your wallet. The main issue with that would be that you wouldn't have the emergency key that is used to unlock the door in the event of a dead battery or failure of the electronics.


  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by John K Jordan View Post
    On my Cherokee the remote start works from a distance, of course, but once I get in the car with the electronic fob I have to press the start button manually before proceeding even though the engine is running.

    Yes, this is a normal security feature that insures someone can't break into a vehicle that was remote started and just drive off. The engine may be running, but the car isn't "on" and ready to drive until the "start" button is depressed with the key in proximity. I like how Jeep's version works. I'm not so happy with how the Subaru remote start version kills the engine when you open the door so you have to restart it fully.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

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