ScimmyMike wrote: ↑Sat Dec 01, 2018 10:25 pm
somebody care to explain why it was thought to be a good idea to have this keyless system please, what was wrong with pressing a button to unlock your precious motor in the first place, can understand the switch from key to fob system, that makes sense, this is why I tend to buy older cars, for one they are less desirable, another they cost less and are usually less complicated to fix when they go wrong and for me lastly the bloody mileage I drop on them would make a newish cars worth tuppence halfpenny after two years
It's part of the 'lifestyle sell' required to keep punters wanting to change their cars at a regular interval. If all cars remained the same they would not stimulate demand, so they solve problems we don't know we have and make the new chattel appealing whilst it gets ever more complex. It also has a good upside when we pay them to try and fix it for us. The ten year obsolescence 'target' becomes a greater reality the more complex the vehicle is and it's much more likely something horrible will happen that makes it uneconomic to repair. Go buy a newer even more complex car!
Technology looking for a problem isn't unique to the car industry and neither is the need for ever more complex solution to resolve the original design shortcomings. Of course this particular issue won't be a problem going forward with electric automated driver-less cars that you don't own. You buy a service from your manufacturer of choice and the car arrives outside your house at the time specified when ordered on your smart phone. How you then avoid the retail marketing opportunity and being fleeced in the back of the car, then becomes your biggest problem. I guess you just buy the upgraded advert free premium service?
I'm not sure that the threat to home and family is made any worse by the technology in the cars, but the high 'value' of many of the vehicles when new does make them a target. With all the security devices on the car, VIN and id on many of the major parts, ANPR cameras and general surveillance everywhere, it seems less likely you'd be able to use or dispose of a car 'whole', so are these cars being taken mainly to fix crashed vehicles of a similar type?
I'm with Corky though, if they want the car I want them to take it, without fear of threat or anguish to my family. Not sure the insurance company would be quite so happy that I left it open with the key on the front seat though.