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General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: steven c on January 30, 2018, 05:00:31 PM
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We just bought a 2016 Mazda3 sport 2.0, The only thing I don't like is the push button start, whats the point? I can turn a $4.00 key and you only get one FOB start thing which cost a couple of hundred dollars for a spare. In my 45 years of driving never once did I think turning on a car, boy there most be an easier way.
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yeah. common thing now. stupid.
heck, I think electric seat adjusters are stupid and slow. A person can't lean and push a seat with his feet?
Dumber yet. My Corvette has electric door latches too, seats and a start button. :sad:
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We just bought a 2016 Mazda3 sport 2.0, The only thing I don't like is the push button start, whats the point? I can turn a $4.00 key and you only get one FOB start thing which cost a couple of hundred dollars for a spare. In my 45 years of driving never once did I think turning on a car, boy there most be an easier way.
It only came with one FOB? My VW has pushbutton start, and came with two. Did you buy the Mazda new, or preowned? If preowned, I'm thinking that the original owner lost one of them.
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Reason is simple, and AWESOME!
You just have to carry the damn thing (in a pocket, a bag, wherever), then walk up, open the door, sit down, press a button.
It's fantastic.
I was so pissed to go BACK to a regular key with my Wrangler two years ago.
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Just more crap to go wrong...
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Since the writing is on the wall I took the plunge about a week ago and bought a 2015 Nissan Altima. Everything is tied into one electronic system and has the push button start/stop. We will see. I still remember all the hand wringing and dire predictions when cars started getting electronic ignition. Time will tell.
GliderJohn
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My biggest complaint about fobs is that I can't hang them on a carabiner. I love that I can just walk up to my locked car and open the door without fishing out my fob. I also love that I've now got an everyday use for the watch pocket on my jeans...
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No more messed up ignitions switches. Also makes it harder to steal.
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Haven't E start motorbikes always required pushing a button to start ?
Dusty
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Reason is simple, and AWESOME!
You just have to carry the damn thing (in a pocket, a bag, wherever), then walk up, open the door, sit down, press a button.
It's fantastic.
Mazdas had keyless entry and start prior to push button 'one touch' starting. Instead of pushing a button to command the start sequence via software, you instead turned a knob located where an ignition key would otherwise have been inserted. If your 'thing's' battery was dead, you removed the hidden key from the 'thing' and inserted it in the same place to start the car regardless, in the same way.
With the current system, if your 'thing's battery is dead, you do this instead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAzZZcSQNeY If you forget the procedure, which I'm pretty sure you might after a couple of years, it'd be good if your iPhone has a full charge and your phone connection is good, so you can refresh your memory with the video!
The older system was more intuitive and provided the same benefits, except that a keyed ignition lock costs more money than a push button switch. Which is the reason for the change.
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Haven't E start motorbikes always required pushing a button to start ?
Dusty
Cars, too...back in the day. The M151A1 1/4 ton tactical vehicle (the predecessor of the HUMVEE) had a push button behind the clutch pedal...
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Cars, too...back in the day. The M151A1 1/4 ton tactical vehicle (the predecessor of the HUMVEE) had a push button behind the clutch pedal...
Yep , and some of us remember that most cars had a floor mounted starter switch that required stepping on .
Dusty
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It's just getting you ready for self driving cars, pretty soon you will walk out and the car will say "bugger off, I'm not going there, it's raining out"
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Mazdas had keyless entry and start prior to push button 'one touch' starting. Instead of pushing a button to command the start sequence via software, you instead turned a knob located where an ignition key would otherwise have been inserted. If your 'thing's' battery was dead, you removed the hidden key from the 'thing' and inserted it in the same place to start the car regardless, in the same way.
With the current system, if your 'thing's battery is dead, you do this instead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQkNqu4DCvU If you forget the procedure, which I'm pretty sure you will after a couple of years, it'd be good if your iPhone has a full charge and your phone connection is good, so you can watch the video!
The older system was more intuitive and provided the same benefits, except that a keyed ignition lock costs more money than a push button switch. Which is the reason for the change.
Not sure about Mazda, but on the the Jeep, Nissan, and I think Subaru systems you just hold the fob against the button if the battery on the fob dies.
But they give notice when they are getting weak.
Some of them had hidden keys in the fob to get you in the door in case of a dead battery in the fob...
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Well, with the ECU literally running everything, the engineers have figured out that having it also control starting will allow better control of all the parameters. Nothing really likely to go wrong as far as the actual button.
My current car has the soft-start, but no wireless fob, so I actually insert the key into the dash and push.
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Just more crap to go wrong...
That's exactly what my Grandfather used to say about electric windows!
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My wife is going from her 97 Saab 900 that she has had for 17 years to the Mazda, I think she is in for a learning curve just to find the radio!
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Congratulations on the car Steve! I like the fob with our Altima. As others have said, keep the fob in your pocket push the button on the door to lock or unlock the doors and push the button to start. If I were you I would spurge on another fob though. One for you and Cory. You will have the fob in your pocket head out on the Guzzi and Cory will be stranded!
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That's exactly what my Grandfather used to say about electric windows!
1) He was right.
2) It's still true.
3) My car doesn't have electric windows.
I'm sure that there are some people that would have a massive panic attack if they saw that the car they were in had a window crank ....
Lannis
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Agreed I hate carrying keys. When I 1st got my 2017 Tacoma I was skeptical. Now its just get in hit the button an go. Impossible to lock your fob in the vehicle and just easier. Biggest thing to remember is like yesterday traveled together. I drove to the destination and had the fob on my pocket. Wifey drove home and was going to drop me off and go to the store. Glad she remembered the fob was in my pocket or she'd have been calling from the store for me to bring her the fob.
Having a key to stick in the ignition and turn is no more reliable than the push button. If the computer(s) and/or electronics aren't working turning a key back and forth is no better than continually hitting the start button.
Ah we each have our own keys to each other's cars. It helps with her's especially since when I approach the driver's door with my fob in the pocket the seat adjusts so I can get in without banging my knee on the steering wheel. That the mirrors and radio presets adjust too is just icing on the cake.
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Nothing really likely to go wrong as far as the actual button.
What do you think happens when you hold up a dead battery remote entry 'thing' to the button, and it recognizes the 'thing' and allows you to start the car? That function can and will go wrong, its not just a momentary contact switch, and its already been a problem on motorcycles: earlier R1200R BMWs (2012) had this problem, until they came up with a fix. Many bikes were stranded just because the RFID receiver broke.
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Having a key to stick in the ignition and turn is no more reliable than the push button. If the computer(s) and/or electronics aren't working turning a key back and forth is no better than continually hitting the start button.
I think there is a substantial difference in complexity between the car having an computerized start sequence triggered by RFID recognition and a momentary contact switch, and manual starting with the electronics energized by the ignition lock. More complexity is not typically the route to more reliability or longevity.
There is also a substantial difference in complexity and reliability between requiring RFID to allow even the backup start sequence (with a dead battery in the remote entry/start 'thing') and allowing backup starting with only a mechanical key/lock, without requiring RFID.
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With the Mazda3 you still need to push the button on the fob to open the door so you still need have it in your hand. We will adapt. You can get the FOB on Amazon for around $60 then you have to get it programed at the dealer go to a lock Smith. Mazda only gives you one.
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Well, with the ECU literally running everything, the engineers have figured out that having it also control starting will allow better control of all the parameters. Nothing really likely to go wrong as far as the actual button.
The starter button was on the floor on old cars, because when you pushed it, a big metal bar actually went across from battery positive to the starter. There wasn't even a relay. For all I know, there might not even have been a solenoid .... !
No "startus interruptus", no batteries failing in remotes ....
Lannis
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I'm sure that there are some people that would have a massive panic attack if they saw that the car they were in had a window crank ....
My 2006 F350 actually has manual crank windows. I hate that I can't open and close all the windows while under way, as the cab is 6' wide, and my arms aren't long enough to reach the passenger side window crank.
Funny story. We took my, at the time, 11 year old niece with us on a camping trip. Not long into the trip she pointed at the windows crank, and asked it it was. :laugh:
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My 2006 F350 actually has manual crank windows. I hate that I can't open and close all the windows while under way, as the cab is 6' wide, and my arms aren't long enough to reach the passenger side window crank.
Funny story. We took my, at the time, 11 year old niece with us on a camping trip. Not long into the trip she pointed at the windows crank, and asked it it was. :laugh:
First electric windows I ever saw were on a crew cab construction pickup. Friend of mine owned a small construction company, and would pick up a crew at the end of a workday and take them back to the shop.
At the end of a long, hot, sweaty day, he didn't want to ask them "Hey, would you mind rolling down your window .... ?"
I don't know about all these gizmos. It's like "My new car is so great; you don't have to go to all the trouble of turning your wrist, you can just push a button"
or "Remember when you had to hold the electric window button down THE WHOLE TIME IT WAS RAISING OR LOWERING? Now you just touch it once and it goes down by itself, oh my God what a relief that is, I can't believe people used to live like that .... "
I would love to see a world where everyone including me had to hand-crank their car to get it started ... I still hand-crank my old Farmall just to keep my hand in ....
Lannis
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I would love to see a world where everyone including me had to hand-crank their car to get it started ... I still hand-crank my old Farmall just to keep my hand in ....
Would a airplane count? :grin:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3zXkVQnVmuo
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My soon to be departed Mazda CX-3, (We hate it, actually we don't, hate would involve an element of passion and there is nothing in the Mazda to evoke anything but snores!) has keyless entry and button start. I just find it tiresome. Luckily the new vehicle is a 'Commercial' so it doesn't have any such niceties! :grin:
Pete
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1) He was right.
2) It's still true.
3) My car doesn't have electric windows.
I'm sure that there are some people that would have a massive panic attack if they saw that the car they were in had a window crank ....
Lannis
When we visited my mother at my hometown last December, I used my mother's car to drive around the town.
The air condition didn't work so I asked my 13 years old son to wind down the window on his side.
He was panic and didn't know what to to with the window crank. I have to show him how I do it and now he is wondering how I can wind the window faster than our own car.
Yes, he also asked me about the manual gear shifting and the third pedal.
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Crank starting my old tractor on a cold morning is not fun, fortunately have not had too for years. Have prop started a Cessna 182 a number of times, makes me very nervous.
GliderJohn
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Have prop started a Cessna 182 a number of times, makes me very nervous.
GliderJohn
Heck, prop-starting a Fox .35 makes ME nervous .... !
Lannis
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Would a airplane count? :grin:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3zXkVQnVmuo
Yeah, baby! What a rare bird. Thanks for that. I've cranked an inertia starter a few times. It'll make a man out of you.. :smiley:
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The starter button was on the floor on old cars, because when you pushed it, a big metal bar actually went across from battery positive to the starter. There wasn't even a relay. For all I know, there might not even have been a solenoid .... !
No "startus interruptus", no batteries failing in remotes ....
Lannis
For GM there was no actual solenoid, all mechanical action hooked to a switch on the starter motor..And then for some cars was a dash mounted starter button like early 50's GM......Hey, nothing more reliable than a kick start bike and many of them don't need a battery, right :thumb:
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For GM there was no actual solenoid, all mechanical action hooked to a switch on the starter motor..And then for some cars was a dash mounted starter button like early 50's GM......Hey, nothing more reliable than a kick start bike and many of them don't need a battery, right :thumb:
Most of my bikes don't have an electric starter. I will admit to having one on my Norton, which is sort of backward; although the 650s and 600s aren't too bad to kick, the 850 is making me show my age.
I've never had much luck with battery-less bikes, that depend on a capacitor storing up charge from the generator or alternator to fire the bike. Batteries definitely make life a little easier.
I know, that's SO 1920's ... !
Lannis
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On the old B52's and KC135's with PW J57's they had a fitting for a starter cartridge which consisted of 5 lbs of black powder to supply high volume, low pressure gas to start them. Used them on alert and if we went to Africa or anywhere else that didn't have a blower unit. Lots of smoke https://youtu.be/WQWz7Svmlj4
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Heck, prop-starting a Fox .35 makes ME nervous .... !
Lannis
Me too! And I've got a scar from a backfire from an old Fox 35 (or .29) I lost a couple of old Fox engines I bought in the mid 1950s (.19 and.35) Still have my 'new' .35, purchased in 1983, and flown on a Sterling profile model (Hellcat.) May have to do a memorial flight one of these times, after a few patches to brittle silkspan.
(http://thumb.ibb.co/gD9N9R/The_Hellcat_Pics_from_July_1983.jpg) (http://ibb.co/gD9N9R)
Older brother, youngest son, and me - 1983
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On the old B52's and KC135's with PW J57's they had a fitting for a starter cartridge which consisted of 5 lbs of black powder to supply high volume, low pressure gas to start them. Used them on alert and if we went to Africa or anywhere else that didn't have a blower unit. Lots of smoke!
The British used that system on some of their WW2 piston engine planes due to lack of materials for electric starters....In the film with Jimmy Stewart where the planes crashed in the desert and the survivors rebuilt it, he uses the last cartridge to start the thing..
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On the old B52's and KC135's with PW J57's they had a fitting for a starter cartridge which consisted of 5 lbs of black powder to supply high volume, low pressure gas to start them. Used them on alert and if we went to Africa or anywhere else that didn't have a blower unit. Lots of smoke!
First time I watched it, the most suspenseful scene in any movie ever ....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IACjOvyx5hs
Can't swear to its technical accuracy, but then, it's a movie, isn't it ... ?
And actually, Jimmy uses the second-to-last of 7 cartridges to start it ....
Lannis
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The British used that system on some of their WW2 piston engine planes due to lack of materials for electric starters....In the film with Jimmy Stewart where the planes crashed in the desert and the survivors rebuilt it, he uses the last cartridge to start the thing..
Yep, the cartridges he used were different and smaller than the ones I'm familiar with which were about 6 inches in diameter . I've not seen one for a piston engine.Inertia starter would have been good there, maybe the reason one was not fitted was weight and it added an element to the plot :huh:
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Reason is simple, and AWESOME!
You just have to carry the damn thing (in a pocket, a bag, wherever), then walk up, open the door, sit down, press a button.
It's fantastic.
I was so pissed to go BACK to a regular key with my Wrangler two years ago.
^^^ :1: ^^^
What I want to know is if You can still wack it with a wrench to get it to turn over? :rolleyes: :wink: :grin:
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Some of my junk has a "touch" start....
https://www.flickr.com/photos/75289626@N08/15262178918/ (https://www.flickr.com/photos/75289626@N08/15262178918/)
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^^^ :1: ^^^
What I want to know is if You can still wack it with a wrench to get it to turn over? :rolleyes: :wink: :grin:
I'm sure that's the case, anyway the jack handle doubles as an engine crank, doesn't it?
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One tangentially related note to the OP: I believe your 2016 Mazda 3 Sport has GPS, whether you know or not. All it needs is the SD data card to work. If it's not already been turned on, buy the latest SD card on E-Bay for $80, stick it in the slot and you'll have working GPS. Or pay the dealer $400 plus an hour of labor do the same thing,,,
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I found that out on one of the Mazda Forums, good deal.
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Just ran into this with a friends Honda.
Went on a trip, I am driving. She gets out and goes in the store. She has the fob, and we don't think about it. I drive away to the parking garage, with a dog in the car. Park, and shut off the car. Oops, now I am screwed. Dog in the car, hot sun, can't roll down the windows, and can't start the car. The car is now a massive piece of anchor. I can't leave the car because the dog is in it. What a pain in the rear. Eventually she finds us. It is my understanding that there are a number of deaths now related to people getting out of a running push button car, and later they die from CO poisoning, with the engine continuing to run in the attached garage.
Just a week ago, the battery in this one year old car died (likely due to the excessively heavy electronic crap overload). She has a fob, but no actual key to open the door and the hood. Eventually, I found that you can pry open the fob and there is a real key buried inside of it. She thought the only recourse was to call and wait on AAA. I simply jump started it and took it to the dealer for a warranty. (those little jump start packs are really handy.)
Next thing you know, they will have transmissions that shift themselves. The dumbing down process. :boozing:
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A car/truck was a luxury item when I was a kid. No more. As cars become viewed as appliances, enthusiast’s features are the first thing to go...
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Some of my junk has a "touch" start....
https://www.flickr.com/photos/75289626@N08/15262178918/ (https://www.flickr.com/photos/75289626@N08/15262178918/)
Nice smooth sounding motor ... although they'll run a surprisingly short time with no coolant circulating .... !
Lannis
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Yup, can't run it too long...More of my touch start junk....This one is 39 Ford V8-60 parts I fabricated into a rear engine thing ....Both vehicles actually belong to my race bike rider...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XS7e-VnBWY (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XS7e-VnBWY)
And a bike
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maClnJXlxTE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maClnJXlxTE)
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^^^ :1: ^^^
What I want to know is if You can still wack it with a wrench to get it to turn over? :rolleyes: :wink: :grin:
Yes, but half the people who brag/complain about probably don't know where to hit it.
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Just ran into this with a friends Honda.
Went on a trip, I am driving. She gets out and goes in the store. She has the fob, and we don't think about it. I drive away to the parking garage, with a dog in the car. Park, and shut off the car. Oops, now I am screwed. Dog in the car, hot sun, can't roll down the windows, and can't start the car. The car is now a massive piece of anchor. I can't leave the car because the dog is in it. What a pain in the rear. Eventually she finds us. It is my understanding that there are a number of deaths now related to people getting out of a running push button car, and later they die from CO poisoning, with the engine continuing to run in the attached garage.
Sounds like a design flaw. All the ones we owned won't let you lock it unless you've got the key and do something like touch the button on the car door.
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My wife's 2017 Lincoln MKC has push button start AND push button gear selection. I still can't get used to the gear selector. The car also has something else that annoys me......Ford's Start-Stop technology. Every time you come to a full stop the car engine shuts off. As soon as you release the brake the engine fires back to life......it is almost instantaneous. The more annoying part is that it cannot be permanently disabled. You can disable the function for the current driving session with a button on the dash but it will reset when you turn the car off then on again. From what I've read, all of Fords new vehicles have this technology, including the trucks. Glad I bought my truck in 2013....pre-aluminum bodies and start-stop insanity.
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My wife's 2017 Lincoln MKC has push button start AND push button gear selection. I still can't get used to the gear selector. The car also has something else that annoys me......Ford's Start-Stop technology. Every time you come to a full stop the car engine shuts off. As soon as you release the brake the engine fires back to life......it is almost instantaneous. The more annoying part is that it cannot be permanently disabled. You can disable the function for the current driving session with a button on the dash but it will reset when you turn the car off then on again. From what I've read, all of Fords new vehicles have this technology, including the trucks. Glad I bought my truck in 2013....pre-aluminum bodies and start-stop insanity.
I traded in a '15 Dodge van on a '17 Chrysler Pacifica and I dislike the Pacifica for stuff like the start-stop and the transmission control. The Dodge had a shift selector that you could put it in any gear and it would stay. it worked very well and I used it a lot. The stinking Pacifica has a rotary knob and its all electronically controlled so it upshifts and lugs the engine all the time. I hate that and there is no sport mode. I talked to the local Dodge garage and came away thinking I better not let those idiots try to program more rpms before it shifts. Ill live with it until I get to a dealer that knows more about it than I. it reminds me of a '48 Dodge with a fluid drive but that worked better. with this thing I might as well have a totally automated pile to just sit in. Good thing for motorbikes!
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Yeah I'm not enamored with some of the tech that is being forced upon us by the unintended consequences of regulations.
Start-Stop programming is the poster child for that right now. It's the result of scraping for every last RCH of mpg for EPA fuel economy ratings/Cafe standards.
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I just bought my wife a vehicle to replace her well worn 97 Cherokee...Looked at a variety of late model stuff and bought a 09 Ranger 4x4 5 speed...It's like our other three vehicles, base model with a clutch pedal so you tell the vehicle when to shift and not the other way around.. :thumb:
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Would seem to me that the stop - start technology would cause premature wear on the starter and related items.
GliderJohn
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On the stop start cars. Is it the starter that re-starts the engine or something to do with the transmission re-starting the engine?
Maybe it's a hybrid that uses the transmission?
Tom
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What could go wrong?
A 2015 Chevy Tahoe towed to our facility, owner down for hip replacement, truck has been sitting several months, through a particularly cold spell. Won't crank, hell the dash won't even light up. A quick test of the battery (in the yard) reveals a junk/frozen battery. Install a new one, (in the yard), helps only a little, the dash will now light up, and the doors will lock and unlock with the fob, but still won't crank. It's hard to find a laptop in the shop with a decent battery, and the laptop, along with the interface module is the only way to communicate with the car. The laptop stays alive long enough to show there are 28 separate codes in the BCM(body control module), one being an ominous "internal circuit fault".
This is a push button ignition, the only problem is the BCM controls both the solenoid that locks out the shifter, as well as the little electric motor that runs the steering column lock. Knowing from previous experience that if you just pry the cable from the shift lever underneath, the cable is ruined, I disassemble the steering column shroud, gain access to the upper part of the shift cable, slip the cable off the steering column linkage, which enables me to shift the vehicle into neutral. However, there is no way to unlock the steering column, even if I had a working BCM.
By this time I'm plenty tired of walking back and forth, so trans in neutral, front end off the ground with a floor jack, and a large push crew, and we're finally at least out of the weather. After dropping BCM and verifying power and ground, I reload the BCM software, perform a security/key fob relearn, and it runs. During a short road test, warning message comes on "replace fob battery". The final piece of the puzzle.
3.4 hours labor @$109 per. New battery, and key fob battery. Simple, cheap, dependable.
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On the stop start cars. Is it the starter that re-starts the engine or something to do with the transmission re-starting the engine?
Maybe it's a hybrid that uses the transmission?
Tom
I believe it is the main starter.
Would seem to me that the stop - start technology would cause premature wear on the starter and related items.
GliderJohn
That is my thought on the subject. After we got the car I did a little research and Ford claims that the starter and the associated technology have been over engineered to accommodate the constant stopping/starting....including the battery. I'm not convinced. Putting a starter through that many cycles....daily, has got to cause more degradation than if it were to not cycle so many times. We'll see, as we put more miles on the car.
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My wife's 2017 Lincoln MKC has push button start AND push button gear selection. I still can't get used to the gear selector. The car also has something else that annoys me......Ford's Start-Stop technology. Every time you come to a full stop the car engine shuts off. As soon as you release the brake the engine fires back to life......it is almost instantaneous. The more annoying part is that it cannot be permanently disabled. You can disable the function for the current driving session with a button on the dash but it will reset when you turn the car off then on again. From what I've read, all of Fords new vehicles have this technology, including the trucks. Glad I bought my truck in 2013....pre-aluminum bodies and start-stop insanity.
Here's the good thing for folks with these concerns.
MOST people in the country don't care about these things, and just blindly accept every "new thing" that someone thinks up, and they think it has to be that way, even if it moves them farther from control of the car, or makes it possible for whoever is monitoring and controlling the car to do anything they want to/with you AND makes it less and less possible for anyone to even understand their car, much less work on it. That's fine for most people - they don't care and will buy whatever's new, at whatever price.
However, since hundreds of millions of automobiles have been produced over the years, no matter WHAT era you like, no matter WHAT features you like or don't like, there is a very nice car out there for you that, if maintained and cared for, will last most of us the rest of our lives.
You can buy a mint automobile from every decade of the 20th century, each costing less than a new super-zoot car does today. If you like a car with the start button in the floor and a flathead six that you can repair with a spoon and an old emery board, you can get one of them. If you like air-conditioning but no other amenity, you can get that. If you like carburetors but not fuel injection, you have a huge choice of cars. If you like a 1950's Ford but want a shoulder harness, you can easily retrofit that.
And even in this over-regulated world we live in, you can still drive original cars with ZERO safety features on the road legally. Matter of fact, you can drive them cheaper than a new car. If it didn't have a piece of equipment on it when it was sold, then it isn't required to be inspected for it. I don't see that changing.
So I'm really not concerned, personally, with Big Brother cars, unfixable technology, or a car that tries to wipe my arse for me. I just won't ever own one, and I'll continue to drive anywhere I want, in the kind of car I want.
You can too!
Lannis
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Throw in that the younger drivers don't know what a key is and what to do with it. :shocked: How about a can opener? P38? or church key? :grin:
Electronic key fobs are fine till the driver forgets about it and goes swimming in the ocean. :grin: :grin: :grin:
The scene from the original Fight of the Phoenix reminds me of kick starting my HD Recon. You have to know the drill to kick start it. I'll bet the guys that designed the bike don't know how to start it because they've never operated one.
Hand cranked/started TR3 that I helped to restore. Very interesting drill. :tongue:
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Would seem to me that the stop - start technology would cause premature wear on the starter and related items.
GliderJohn
I've only looked at a couple, but at least some use beefed up starter and charging systems.
The new Wrangler will have a 300 HP turbo 4-cyl option they call a mild hybrid as it uses a large combination starter/alternator assembly for the stop/start function.
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For the record, GM start/stop uses a heavy duty alternator, with a serpentine belt dual action self adjuster. When restarting, the generator/starter is spun up, rotating the engine via the belt. There is an external trans fluid pump to keep the clutches engaged, and an extra AGM battery in the trunk to keep the electrics alive .
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You can buy a mint automobile from every decade of the 20th century, each costing less than a new super-zoot car does today. If you like a car with the start button in the floor and a flathead six that you can repair with a spoon and an old emery board, you can get one of them. If you like air-conditioning but no other amenity, you can get that. If you like carburetors but not fuel injection, you have a huge choice of cars. If you like a 1950's Ford but want a shoulder harness, you can easily retrofit that.
:thumb:
I just bought a very nice '89 Mercedes 190E 2.6 with 78k miles on it for the princely sum of $2500. It has a few things for me to fix, but much less than the '91 Jetta, and all minor. It is the most technically advanced car I've ever owned - there's an air bag and anti-lock brakes - but it's still very "old school" in many respects. I would have liked a 5 spd., but they're very rare. All of them had power windows, central locking and climate control - more stuff I could do without.
Just ordered a set of original style wheels and tires to replace the multi-colored, oversized AMG wheels and 40 series tires that are presently on it.
(http://thumb.ibb.co/mMRBKR/Mercedes_Jetta_021.jpg) (http://ibb.co/mMRBKR)
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Would seem to me that the stop - start technology would cause premature wear on the starter and related items. GliderJohn
I was on a business trip into Switzerland in the 90's. Made a lot of trips over there then. We went to lunch in my contact's private vehicle. The engine turned off at every stop light in the city. He said it was the law -- the car must shut off to reduce the emissions in the city.
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No more messed up ignitions switches. Also makes it harder to steal.
This makes a lot of sense. Management said, "We have a major problem with drivers hanging great weights on the ignition keys. We need to fix it." Engineers said, "It's easy boss. Eliminate the keys".
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Here's the good thing for folks with these concerns.
MOST people in the country don't care about these things, and just blindly accept every "new thing" that someone thinks up, and they think it has to be that way, even if it moves them farther from control of the car, or makes it possible for whoever is monitoring and controlling the car to do anything they want to/with you AND makes it less and less possible for anyone to even understand their car, much less work on it. That's fine for most people - they don't care and will buy whatever's new, at whatever price.
However, since hundreds of millions of automobiles have been produced over the years, no matter WHAT era you like, no matter WHAT features you like or don't like, there is a very nice car out there for you that, if maintained and cared for, will last most of us the rest of our lives.
You can buy a mint automobile from every decade of the 20th century, each costing less than a new super-zoot car does today. If you like a car with the start button in the floor and a flathead six that you can repair with a spoon and an old emery board, you can get one of them. If you like air-conditioning but no other amenity, you can get that. If you like carburetors but not fuel injection, you have a huge choice of cars. If you like a 1950's Ford but want a shoulder harness, you can easily retrofit that.
And even in this over-regulated world we live in, you can still drive original cars with ZERO safety features on the road legally. Matter of fact, you can drive them cheaper than a new car. If it didn't have a piece of equipment on it when it was sold, then it isn't required to be inspected for it. I don't see that changing.
So I'm really not concerned, personally, with Big Brother cars, unfixable technology, or a car that tries to wipe my arse for me. I just won't ever own one, and I'll continue to drive anywhere I want, in the kind of car I want.
You can too!
Lannis
Thanks Lannis.....I didn't realize that. I'll print this out and keep it with me for the next time I'm in the market for another car.
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Thanks Lannis.....I didn't realize that. I'll print this out and keep it with me for the next time I'm in the market for another car.
Glad to be of service! Next up - "How to drive without a GPS without dying horribly and instantly" ....
Lannis
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EZ-GO golf carts with gas engines have used start-stop technology for years. It works, I guess; though it’s irritating. Neither my wife’s ‘14 Honda nor my ‘15 Toyota use this feature, thank goodness. As stated earlier, all the spurious (as well as a few legitimate...) lawsuits aimed at Toyota and Chevrolet brought on the pushbutton starting. It seems that we reap what we sew...none of the accusations against Toyota were even corroborated.
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Here's the good thing for folks with these concerns.
MOST people in the country don't care about these things, and just blindly accept every "new thing" that someone thinks up, and they think it has to be that way, even if it moves them farther from control of the car, or makes it possible for whoever is monitoring and controlling the car to do anything they want to/with you AND makes it less and less possible for anyone to even understand their car, much less work on it. That's fine for most people - they don't care and will buy whatever's new, at whatever price.
However, since hundreds of millions of automobiles have been produced over the years, no matter WHAT era you like, no matter WHAT features you like or don't like, there is a very nice car out there for you that, if maintained and cared for, will last most of us the rest of our lives.
You can buy a mint automobile from every decade of the 20th century, each costing less than a new super-zoot car does today. If you like a car with the start button in the floor and a flathead six that you can repair with a spoon and an old emery board, you can get one of them. If you like air-conditioning but no other amenity, you can get that. If you like carburetors but not fuel injection, you have a huge choice of cars. If you like a 1950's Ford but want a shoulder harness, you can easily retrofit that.
And even in this over-regulated world we live in, you can still drive original cars with ZERO safety features on the road legally. Matter of fact, you can drive them cheaper than a new car. If it didn't have a piece of equipment on it when it was sold, then it isn't required to be inspected for it. I don't see that changing.
So I'm really not concerned, personally, with Big Brother cars, unfixable technology, or a car that tries to wipe my arse for me. I just won't ever own one, and I'll continue to drive anywhere I want, in the kind of car I want.
You can too!
Lannis
:thumb: :thumb: :thumb:
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One tangentially related note to the OP: I believe your 2016 Mazda 3 Sport has GPS, whether you know or not. All it needs is the SD data card to work. If it's not already been turned on, buy the latest SD card on E-Bay for $80, stick it in the slot and you'll have working GPS. Or pay the dealer $400 plus an hour of labor do the same thing,,,
Oh! Does anyone know if VW does anything like this? My 2015 Golf Sportwagon is SE trim and has no nav. SEL came with nav.
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Glad to be of service! Next up - "How to drive without a GPS without dying horribly and instantly" ....
Lannis
I have no problem driving without GPS, but, GPS WITH traffic is a game changer for me. I really enjoy being able to know if there are any major stoppages or congestion ahead on my intended route so I can alter course soon enough to completely avoid it. Life is way to short to waste time sitting in traffic.
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Glad to be of service! Next up - "How to drive without a GPS without dying horribly and instantly" ....
Lannis
:laugh: :laugh:
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I have no problem driving without GPS, but, GPS WITH traffic is a game changer for me. I really enjoy being able to know if there are any major stoppages or congestion ahead on my intended route so I can alter course soon enough to completely avoid it. Life is way to short to waste time sitting in traffic.
That would mainly be a problem on interstate highways where, once on, you can't get off. Since I absolutely minimize the time I spend on interstates, the chances that a device would help me there would be remote .... ! Another way to think about it - "Life is way too short to waste time droning down an interstate highway ...." !
Lannis
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After years of bopping through the woods with an orienteering compass, topo maps, and Ranger beads, I like GPS very much. I can always resort to the old way if need-be, but life is too short to try to read the minuscule fonts on a road atlas. I keep one at home for planning...where I have a lighted magnifying glass handy.
As for interstate highways...I find that they are excellent for linking the really interesting parts of a trip.
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"And even in this over-regulated world we live in, you can still drive original cars with ZERO safety features on the road legally"
I use my 70 el Camino for bringing home large bulky items but not much else. It uses an untold amount of gas, belch's fumes and it runs perfectly fine, doesn't need an ignition key because the tumblers must be gone and is way more dangerous to both the occupants and the car it would impact in a collision.
Thank god it doesn't have a starter button.
PS. We have a Toyota that has a starter button and the fob contains a real key for the door and the fob can be used as a key for the ignition, but you still have to press the button. If my memory is correct, my father had a 55 Ford flatbed truck that had a button start too, but you had to turn a key first then hit the button.
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Engineers often build things that are not needed until they invent a need for them.
That sounds to me like what is going on now. Just to raise the build price of the vehicle.
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I'm not too concerned with start/stop tech. Prius has been doing it forever, and they are rated as "most reliable" cars.
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As we all sit here reading and responding on our over regulated un-needed computers. We should all be writing one another letters on vellum with quill pens.
No "absolutism", now; it's become the bane of civilized public discourse. "Well, if you want X, you must want 1,000,000X! What a b@stard!" :wink:
I get it a lot, as you might imagine. If you don't use the very latest in technology, which comes with a downside as well as upside, and you say so, you hear (over and over) "Well, I guess you want to sit in a cave and knap flints and make bone spears, then, too, huh?".
No, of course not. :cool:
Lannis
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Sounds like a design flaw. All the ones we owned won't let you lock it unless you've got the key and do something like touch the button on the car door.
I did not lock it. Not sure I could. But I was a long way away from the owner with the fob, and no good way to get back to the drop off point. The car should have beeped constantly or something to let me know that the fob was out of range.
Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
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I did not lock it. Not sure I could. But I was a long way away from the owner with the fob, and no good way to get back to the drop off point. The car should have beeped constantly or something to let me know that the fob was out of range.
Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
Oh, that too, I believe all of ours beep at you if the key leaves the car, and maybe illuminate the key light too.
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I did not lock it. Not sure I could. But I was a long way away from the owner with the fob, and no good way to get back to the drop off point. The car should have beeped constantly or something to let me know that the fob was out of range.
Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
My 2016 Odessey “trills” when the fob exits the vehicle. I adore keyless btw, I always hated carrying keys and it’s my primary annoyance with ridding Anni. In addition to the ignition key, I also have disk lock, and top case keys that rattle around, and poke when pocketed. :undecided:
And no, I don’t carry a house key either. :thumb:
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You know it's winter when a starter button discussion goes three pages . . . . :boozing:
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You know it's winter when a starter button discussion goes three pages . . . . :boozing:
That was your first clue ? :shocked:
Dusty
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My daily driver is a 2014 Promaster hi top van. Designed by FIAT and has much in common with a Guzzi. Love the four wheel Brembo disk brakes for instance. Though it may have a USA type motor, V6 gas vice the diesel they use in Europe, It IS very Italian in that it refuses to be hurried. Press a button on the FOB to unlock the front doors and then the you hear the solenoid and the cars lights flash. I you don't wait for the lights to stop flashing before hitting the next unlock button, the car panics and the lights flash in a frenzy and it yells "Domanai! Domanai! Tomorrow, tomorrow!" at you. If you take your time and let the light show stop and THEN press the next unlock button it works fine and you'll hear the other solenoid fire to unlock the cargo hatches. Get in a REAL hurry and press the unlock buttons like a ugly American tourist and you're rewarded by the Canbus system shutting down the van for a while. Union rules, I suppose.
I love the van and it has been quite reliable for the 2 1/1 years I've had it. Super practical too. If VW had kept building vans for the USA that were powerful and reliable and inexpensive instead of artsy fartsy green, expensive and unreliable, this would have been it. But it does have some idiosyncrasies to deal with. Thankfully my decades of experience with Guzzi's has made me up to that challenge!
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As we all sit here reading and responding on our over regulated un-needed computers. We should all be writing one another letters on vellum with quill pens.
I think we should all do whatever the hell we want :grin:
For me, late 20th century electronic communication is great - how else in 2018 could I buy ultra clean, low mileage 1990s and earlier motorcycles to keep me going for the rest of my life? Number 10 coming up Saturday, a '99 Ducati with a real key, no RFID BS going along with it, no Bosch ABS and no Euro anti theft immobilizer crappola either... Job one after flying to get it without radio use, 1920s style (a friend will fly the 50 year old plane home) and then riding it 400 miles home that afternoon will be to remove the locking gas cap. Can't stand the things, they were introduced in the late 70s so with gas caps I prefer 1960s technology, no key, no nothing.
I feel free to pick and choose what works and is best... for me, with my money, cash payment, $100 bills... which is also very old technology that serves me: I generally buy out of state and with cash payment the amount of the sale is untraceable. Great technology, which serves me. If you want me to get get swept up in useless and self serving manufacturer and government promoted nonsense, you're going to be waiting. A very long time :wink:
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Here's the good thing for folks with these concerns.
MOST people in the country don't care about these things, and just blindly accept every "new thing" that someone thinks up, and they think it has to be that way, even if it moves them farther from control of the car, or makes it possible for whoever is monitoring and controlling the car to do anything they want to/with you AND makes it less and less possible for anyone to even understand their car, much less work on it. That's fine for most people - they don't care and will buy whatever's new, at whatever price.
However, since hundreds of millions of automobiles have been produced over the years, no matter WHAT era you like, no matter WHAT features you like or don't like, there is a very nice car out there for you that, if maintained and cared for, will last most of us the rest of our lives.
You can buy a mint automobile from every decade of the 20th century, each costing less than a new super-zoot car does today. If you like a car with the start button in the floor and a flathead six that you can repair with a spoon and an old emery board, you can get one of them. If you like air-conditioning but no other amenity, you can get that. If you like carburetors but not fuel injection, you have a huge choice of cars. If you like a 1950's Ford but want a shoulder harness, you can easily retrofit that.
And even in this over-regulated world we live in, you can still drive original cars with ZERO safety features on the road legally. Matter of fact, you can drive them cheaper than a new car. If it didn't have a piece of equipment on it when it was sold, then it isn't required to be inspected for it. I don't see that changing.
So I'm really not concerned, personally, with Big Brother cars, unfixable technology, or a car that tries to wipe my arse for me. I just won't ever own one, and I'll continue to drive anywhere I want, in the kind of car I want.
You can too!
Lannis
well you nailed :thumb: (again) as much as I hate to admit it :wink: (again).
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No more messed up ignitions switches. Also makes it harder to steal.
Maybe not.....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/27/mercedes-car-stolen-without-using-key-seconds-relay-theft/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pffcngJJq0
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Why would you buy a car with pushbutton start if you hate it so much?
My Mustang has push button start, and touch access to the interior. It works fine. No fumbling with keys. It is superior to keyed start in my opinion.
And yes, you should have two fobs, if you don't go to the dealer and buy one. And yes, it is expensive. Please refer to my first comment LOL.
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Since the writing is on the wall I took the plunge about a week ago and bought a 2015 Nissan Altima. Everything is tied into one electronic system and has the push button start/stop. We will see. I still remember all the hand wringing and dire predictions when cars started getting electronic ignition. Time will tell.
GliderJohn
I know of too many cars under 15 years old that are in the junk yard because the computer costs $2000+ to replace, and no knew ones are to be found.
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I have no problem driving without GPS, but, GPS WITH traffic is a game changer for me. I really enjoy being able to know if there are any major stoppages or congestion ahead on my intended route so I can alter course soon enough to completely avoid it. Life is way to short to waste time sitting in traffic.
Same here. I drive the same 30 mile route to work every day so I pretty much have it down without needing a map. But I still use nav to watch for traffic tie ups. When I hit a traffic jam I scroll ahead to see if it’s just red or if there is a crash. If there’s a crash I turn off or u-turn before the other drivers figure out we are going to be stuck there a while. I have 4 different navs in my truck- OEM with Sirius Traffic, Apple via CarPlay, Google and Waze via Android Auto. Waze has the best traffic info but Google’s map quality is much better, even though they’re the same company. If I just need directions I prefer the OEM nav.
Not sure if your VW has easily activated Nav or not, but I’m guessing not. I had an A3 loaner the other day when my wife’s car was in for service. It had the Nav button and screen, but no Nav software. That would drive me crazy. I don’t mind not having the feature but they are just taunting me by having that button there. Reminds me of the 1989 Dodge Colt I had with a snowflake button but no a/c. I used to press that non-functioning button all the time imagining how great it would be to own a car with a/c.
The thing that drives me nuts most about the truck I bought last year is no push button start. My last 4 vehicles have had it and it’s a great feature. I have never had a problem with a dead battery or being stranded. All of the systems I have owned have some sort of passive failsafe if the fob battery dies.
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Luddism
All of the success in my life was somehow related to my ability to adapt. When I had an old BMW, I learned about winding coils, dressing generator brushes, and carburetor tuning. When I got a Tandy computer, I memorized commands. When I joined the Army, I learned land navigation...and so forth. I don�t have a huge need for most of this knowledge anymore, as technologies have automated much of what I once had to do myself. However, shunning technology just because it has made old skills redundant is self-defeating. Once the box is open, it can�t be closed again...these technologies will be around until some sort of apocalypse takes away our ability to wield them.
In my view, we should strive to understand as much as we can about as many things as we can. That means embracing both old and new. Will this allow us to put aside our fears and bring our species to a more enlightened place? Maybe not, but I�m keeping my head out of the sand just the same.
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It's all "fun and games" until some fantastic new AI decides we're redundant... :wink:
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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neo-Luddism
All of the success in my life was somehow related to my ability to adapt. When I had an old BMW, I learned about winding coils, dressing generator brushes, and carburetor tuning. When I got a Tandy computer, I memorized commands. When I joined the Army, I learned land navigation...and so forth. I don�t have a huge need for most of this knowledge anymore, as technologies have automated much of what I once had to do myself. However, shunning technology just because it has made old skills redundant is self-defeating. Once the box is open, it can�t be closed again...these technologies will be around until some sort of apocalypse takes away our ability to wield them.
In my view, we should strive to understand as much as we can about as many things as we can. That means embracing both old and new. Will this allow us to put aside our fears and bring our species to a more enlightened place? Maybe not, but I�m keeping my head out of the sand just the same.
Lots of really slanted statements in there. "...put aside our fears" "....more enlightened place" "...head out of the sand ..."
As is "Embracing" the "New" just because it is new is an unalloyed Good Thing. It's not always good. It's not always feared. "New" things are not always "enlightened". Failing to "embrace" new technology does not mean you have your "head in the sand".
New technologies MAY be in place because someone invented something and then invented a demand for it so that they could make money. They may be in place to make people more dependent on things they have to subscribe to, update, and pay for because that helps someone else, not them. And (especially in the case of remotely trackable and controllable devices and equipment) it MAY help a Big Brother somewhere (financial, government, foreign, who knows) keep tabs on you, direct you, and keep you doing what they want you to do.
Being discerning and cautious about "embracing new technologies" is, in my mind, a much more rational course than immediately making yourself dependent on one more thing over which you have no control, and certainly more rational than exposing yourself to a new addiction of which you say "It's just a tool to me, no problem".
If you think smart phones (for example) are just a tool and not an addiction, you haven't been very observant of the ever-more-Borg-like young people for whom life doesn't exist unless it's experienced through the medium of their phone, and who are unable to interact normally with others face to face.
Even among older folks, the question is "Must I have a new GPS to get to Alaska, or can I use my old one?" The question of "Do I even need one at all?" isn't even asked, despite the fact that people have been living in Deadhorse for 120 years .....
Lannis
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Wow 4 pages! Now that we have the car I'm really impressed, very upscale look and feel, way beyond what we paid, makes my 2012 Forester feel cheap and tinny, avg 38mpg so far can't argue with that.Drives like a sport sedan, real fun on a back road. Every evening I sit down with the owners manual to figure all the features it has and how to use the info center and program the key FOB. I learned it has regenerative braking which no review ever mentioned, part of the Sky Active thing, it has a giant capacitor to help with the electrical load. I hope that never needs to be replaced.
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Lots of really slanted statements in there. "...put aside our fears" "....more enlightened place" "...head out of the sand ..."
Lannis
You may have misunderstood. I didn�t say, �no.� I said, �know...� I think that we agree, Lannis.
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You may have misunderstood. ....
Wouldn't be the first time ... ! I did read it carefully though.
Lannis
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I know of too many cars under 15 years old that are in the junk yard because the computer costs $2000+ to replace, and no knew ones are to be found.
Buddy of mine just took his 2015 Ram 2500 in for service because he wasn't getting heat in the cab. They come back with two problems. First is a bad thermostat, $40 part. The second is a bad "Cabin Temperature Control Module" - aka, the knob you turn to select hot or cold air was faulty. But, you can't replace just the little knob. Ram only sells the whole assembly, for $450 plus they have to disassemble the dash to change it. Nearly $1000 bill to get his truck fixed, but it was still under warranty.
Service guy told him he was lucky. They had a 2016 Ram that's basically the same truck. But by then it had the controls linked into the "infotainment" system. $3000 computer module that is basically the entire dash console got replaced. Guy had to do it because darn near everything in the truck runs through or is controlled by that system. It's an expensive single point of failure... and a bad overall design.
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Wow 4 pages! Now that we have the car I'm really impressed, very upscale look and feel, way beyond what we paid, makes my 2012 Forester feel cheap and tinny, avg 38mpg so far can't argue with that.Drives like a sport sedan, real fun on a back road. Every evening I sit down with the owners manual to figure all the features it has and how to use the info center and program the key FOB. I learned it has regenerative braking which no review ever mentioned, part of the Sky Active thing, it has a giant capacitor to help with the electrical load. I hope that never needs to be replaced.
Mazdas are IMHO the best deal in new cars, you get a better car for your money than elsewhere. You might check on the regenerative braking thing, I was led to believe it was an $800 option available in Gran Touring trim only. They've discontinued it for 2018.
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Your right the regen braking is in the Tech package which this car doesn't have. The owners manual covers everything like all the models have it. I really don't want it ,a little bit of to much tech.
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My "new" car:
(https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/27629156_1985371128451182_1990640670578002215_o.jpg?oh=a7d2eeb13111c049999581dd88329052&oe=5AE4B561)
'89 Mercedes 190E 2.6 (six cylinder), with only 78k miles on it. Garage queen most it's life.
I'm a "happy camper". :azn:
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Sharp looking Mercedes you have there, enjoy. :thumb:
GliderJohn
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Concerning classics, my primary flight instructor drove one of these in the same color. It was his baby.
(http://thumb.ibb.co/foT8tm/Screen_Shot_2018_02_03_at_7_23_36_PM.png) (http://ibb.co/foT8tm)
GliderJohn
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Avanti!!
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oldbike54,
I just commented (in a different thread) to "Muzz" in Christchurch, NZ, that I used to have a 1961 Morris Minor when I lived in Auckland in '87.
Not only did it have a floor mounted starter button, it also had an opening under the front grille to insert a crank handle! It was surely a hoot. Dang thing never died, it just kept dragging its carcass down the road. Miss that car.
Fob's are for pocket watches.
-Jesse
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That's exactly what my Grandfather used to say about electric windows!
and my grandfather said the same about the crank handle that he got with his Model T Ford. - "Jist another thing to go wrong"
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Maybe not.....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/27/mercedes-car-stolen-without-using-key-seconds-relay-theft/
Mark Silvester, from the West Midlands Police crime reduction team, said car owners can protect against this type of theft by using a Thatcham-approved steering lock to cover the entire steering wheel.
what does this mean???????
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For the record, GM start/stop uses a heavy duty alternator, with a serpentine belt dual action self adjuster. When restarting, the generator/starter is spun up, rotating the engine via the belt. There is an external trans fluid pump to keep the clutches engaged, and an extra AGM battery in the trunk to keep the electrics alive .
I have a Fiat 500S and I've had a friend say to me - DO NOT disconnect the battery ( to recharge on a bench) or take a terminal off to reduce the battery drain in the airport long term carpark for a month. Said the car will go in to THEFT mode if no power to ECU, and i'll have to get it towed to a dealer (200kms away) to get it reborn. So sounds like I've got to keep another battery hooked up to leads if need to replace old one.
Is this true or FAKE NEWS.
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I couldn't speak to the electric design of Fiats. The extra AGM battery I spoke of in a GM stop/start car is there to keep solid current flowing to the ECM during the enormous load plkaced on the battery while it spins up the alternator to restart the engine at the light.
Most newer cars are capable of recognizing a draw like the trunk being left open, and turning off the trunk light after a certain period of time, as long as that light is controlled by the body computer.
No car I have ever seen will lockout just from the battery being disconnected. Fiats could be different. Check the owners manual.
That being said, for years I have been using a jump box or spare battery to put power to the car through the fuse box or remote jump start connection to keep electronics alive while changing a customers battery, to save myself the time of resetting clocks/radio presets/calendars.
It doesn't take much juice to keep a computers memory alive, especially when it's asleep. It takes a good solid 12 volts for a computer to make a car operate properly.
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I have a Fiat 500S and I've had a friend say to me - DO NOT disconnect the battery ( to recharge on a bench) or take a terminal off to reduce the battery drain in the airport long term carpark for a month. Said the car will go in to THEFT mode if no power to ECU, and i'll have to get it towed to a dealer (200kms away) to get it reborn. So sounds like I've got to keep another battery hooked up to leads if need to replace old one.
Is this true or FAKE NEWS.
I'm no expert but it does sound like fake news...My 03 Chevy base model Rustarado has a security feature that will make the factory CD/stereo player "inactive" if it's removed without having the key in the ignition... Or something like that .....If I disconnect the battery on our 90's Jeeps and the 03 Chevy, the radio loses it's memory.. I disconnected the battery on the 09 Ford Ranger for 1/2 hour and the radio stations were still programed...New vehicles may retain all info when the battery is disconnected ???
Times have changed...When I got a driver's license in 1964 my first car was a 56 Ford V8 with a manual transmission. The battery went dead and I had no money for a new one ... I lived in a hilly area so it was easy to park on a hill and then roll and jump start the engine..You can do this with a generator, but not with brush style alternator that became standard on cars from about 1963...
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I'm with Steve C (from pg1)mostly. A local locksmith not only sells remotes ,about $35 they also give you printed instructions. If you fail to program it in there parking lot they charge $10 to do it ! Also if your remote "failed to live up to its design potential" or broke. They will rebuild it for $20-25 .When I was in the service dept. @ dealerships up-sell was mandatory when doing minor jobs ! Find something was the order from service Mgr.
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Interesting thread...I just replaced my beloved 2006 Mazda 6 Wagon (losing oil in all of the most unreachable locations imaginable) with a 2015 Mazda 3 Hatch, 2.5 liter. While it is not as "planted" or stable at high speeds as the 6 was, it is a hoot to drive!
I don't dislike the starter button, but it is taking a while for my brain to reprogram. I keep pulling out the fob as I approach the car, thinking I need it to unlock and start the thing. Once I sit down, I have to tell myself to push the button instead of reaching for the key and push the button instead of turning the key when I stop. I'm trying to rewire 45+ years of sticking a key in the ignition switch. Its been about six weeks now and it isn't natural yet. I'm sure I will get there, but I am an old dog.
This was a "Pre-Owned Certified" (i.e., Used with a warranty) Mazda, but it did come with two fobs. I just don't ever want to lose one.
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You don't want to go swimming at the beach with one in your pocket either. :tongue:
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You don't want to go swimming at the beach with one in your pocket either. :tongue:
ACTUALLY, that's not always the case. Well sorta, LandRover and Jaguar for instance offers the option of a lifestyle key (a waterproof, wearable watch-like fob which locks and unlocks the doors. You keep the regular fob inside the vehicle and they become disabled until you unlock it and get in with your wrist-band key).
(https://images.autotrader.com/scaler/620/420/cms/content/articles/oversteer/2016/12-dec/12-20/260086.jpg)
Kinda like Disney's magic bands.
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Sounds like the exception to the rule. Wonder how many other manufacturers have gone that route.
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Sounds like the exception to the rule. Wonder how many other manufacturers have gone that route.
Have or will?
First one I've heard of, but we'll see.
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Hopefully the waterproofing is seawater. Very corrosive for electronic parts. Seawater is listed by IATA for airfreight shipping as a corrosive.
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Buddy of mine just took his 2015 Ram 2500 in for service because he wasn't getting heat in the cab. They come back with two problems. First is a bad thermostat, $40 part. The second is a bad "Cabin Temperature Control Module" - aka, the knob you turn to select hot or cold air was faulty. But, you can't replace just the little knob. Ram only sells the whole assembly, for $450 plus they have to disassemble the dash to change it. Nearly $1000 bill to get his truck fixed, but it was still under warranty.
Service guy told him he was lucky. They had a 2016 Ram that's basically the same truck. But by then it had the controls linked into the "infotainment" system. $3000 computer module that is basically the entire dash console got replaced. Guy had to do it because darn near everything in the truck runs through or is controlled by that system. It's an expensive single point of failure... and a bad overall design.
sounds like dealer BS
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Hopefully the waterproofing is seawater. Very corrosive for electronic parts. Seawater is listed by IATA for airfreight shipping as a corrosive.
They demonstrate it with a surfer, ya know, for all those Land Rover and Jaguar owners who surf.
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I know a lot of surfers that use Land Rovers and Jags.......NOT. :grin: Historically surfers can't keep a job 'cuz when "surf's up" they're gone. It would have to be someone that got their money the old fashion way. They inherited it. :grin: :grin: :grin: