This newfangled keyless entry/ignition for cars is not an improvement. It’s just another complication added on to something that wasn’t broken.

@jack I’m traveling at the moment, so when I get to my first stop, my dashboard starts warning me that the battery in my key fob needs changing. What impeccable timing. Eventually I had to look up a YouTube vid on how to change battery, buy a screwdriver, new battery and do surgery.

@bradenslen "do surgery" ha! Yeah, batteries have the potential to ruin things. I did learn that (at least with my cars so far) even with a dead battery, the key fob will still work if held directly against the ignition button.

@bradenslen Especially considering the danger of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning, as described in this story.

@bradenslen Recently purchased my first car with this and I am on the fence about it. Most of my frustration is around the inconsistencies of when things work and when they don’t. Will the door unlock when I pull the handle this time or will it not? That kind of thing. Regardless, this is also my first car with a touch screen and they have no business being in cars. At least not with the horrible UX of most of them.

@mcg That is exactly my experience. The car manuals are as thick as a college text book. Just setting the darn clock requires flicking the wiper stalk up and down.

There might be some advantages to this keyless thingy, but I don’t really want to pull out that honking huge manual or search for YouTube videos to learn more.

@bradenslen I like not having to poke around my pocket for keys. My next car will have keyless entry and ignition.

@bradenslen my wife's keyless fob has been on the same battery for a year and I just checked. It's tivially easy to change.

@bradenslen I can see that scenario would be extremely annoying. Both of our cars have keyless fobs - mine is 3 years old and my wife’s is 6 years old and fortunately they’ve been trouble free. I experienced more frustration with the old key 🔑 fob batteries and the keys being fiddly in ignitions (sterling wheel lock).

The manuals are definitely large and hard to navigate. I downloaded PDFs of ours (1 file per chapter) so I can search them on my phone or laptop. And keep the AAA phone number and car maker’s phone numbers handy. So many things can go wrong and prevent a car from starting I want to be prepared.

@ronguest Keyless cars still seem to me to be a solution in need of a problem.

Touch screens and other electronic gizmos by vehicle manufacturers generally have a terrible UI and have no way to update that software when something better comes along.