The keyless entry beeps on most factory systems can be disabled so you can maintain your nocturnal stealth activities should you choose to do so, but one would have to ask why you don’t want the neighborhood Karen to know of your comings and goings?
As for manual unlocking, yes you can choose to do that, but I have encountered frozen locks where you can’t get the key in or it simply won’t turn, not to mention freak hail storms when you want to get in ASAP and move the car to a safer location before the panels end up with more craters than the moon or the windshield shatters, so I definitely appreciate the speed and convenience it offers. While insurance might pay for some repairs, the deductible for just one incident can sometimes cost more than the price of the system. I guess living in the city has desensitized me from the occasional beeps, but I do agree with the annoyance of inadvertent key fob button activations, which in my case almost always seems to be the panic button.
@kuoh I don’t mind the beep so much; it’s the ones that honk the horn that annoy me. What’s wrong with using a beep like everyone else? Beeps are quieter.
I had a VW in the late 80s that only had manual locks. No problem; I was used to unlocking my car door with a key. But this car could only be locked with a key, which was surprisingly inconvenient. One more reason why I called it The Car From Hell.
You could lock it without the key but you could not lock it unless the door was closed. That is a standard feature to help people not lock the keys in the car.
You could lock it without the key but you could not lock it unless the door was closed.
I don’t understand. How could I lock it without the key once the door was closed? I had to close the door, then put the key in the lock and turn it to lock the door. I’ve never known of another car like that.
@kuoh@lisagd
I remember the misfeature of the cars that had latch mechanisms which popped the lock button up when you closed the door. Not many were like that, but yeah, you needed the key to lock the door. There was also a variant that would leave the latch locked if you pulled the door handle’s trigger while closing it with the button down. Then there were the safety-hazard cars whose doors would not automatically unlock when you pulled the handle to open them from the inside. Good way to drown.
@kuoh@lisagd@werehatrack Once I got used to our VW’s door lock features/eccentricities, I preferred it - harder to lock your keys inside your car. I also liked that the stereo would play without the key in the on or accessory position.
@kuoh@macromeh@werehatrack True, you couldn’t lock your keys in the car, but (knock wood) I’ve only done that once. It was annoying when my hands were full, though.
I did like the radio thing. I can’t figure out how to turn my current one off.
@kuoh@werehatrack I remember back when cars had the old-style metal door handles where you grasped the handle and pushed a button with your thumb. Some would let you lock the door by pushing down the lock button while the door was open, then holding the button on the door handle in while you closed the door.
@lisagd The S.O.'s Sentra has a radio that obsessively wants to seek out Bluetooth devices and Make New Friends, with the result that it tries to connect to his iPhone every time he gets in the car. I have begun reflexively turning the radio off as soon as I start the engine to try to forestall this. (And it took me way too long to find out which button to stab in order to kill the radio.)
I lived in an apartment about a decade back, where one neighbor drove a truck that had the HORN beep twice when he unlocked the door. At 5 am. And when I complained to the manager, they brushed me off by telling me that “nobody else is complaining.”
They wouldn’t do anything until I threatened to involve the police. Literally, they just had to tell the guy to RTFM.
The keyless entry beeps on most factory systems can be disabled so you can maintain your nocturnal stealth activities should you choose to do so, but one would have to ask why you don’t want the neighborhood Karen to know of your comings and goings?
As for manual unlocking, yes you can choose to do that, but I have encountered frozen locks where you can’t get the key in or it simply won’t turn, not to mention freak hail storms when you want to get in ASAP and move the car to a safer location before the panels end up with more craters than the moon or the windshield shatters, so I definitely appreciate the speed and convenience it offers. While insurance might pay for some repairs, the deductible for just one incident can sometimes cost more than the price of the system. I guess living in the city has desensitized me from the occasional beeps, but I do agree with the annoyance of inadvertent key fob button activations, which in my case almost always seems to be the panic button.
KuoH
@kuoh I don’t mind the beep so much; it’s the ones that honk the horn that annoy me. What’s wrong with using a beep like everyone else? Beeps are quieter.
I had a VW in the late 80s that only had manual locks. No problem; I was used to unlocking my car door with a key. But this car could only be locked with a key, which was surprisingly inconvenient. One more reason why I called it The Car From Hell.
@kuoh @lisagd
You could lock it without the key but you could not lock it unless the door was closed. That is a standard feature to help people not lock the keys in the car.
@kuoh @yakkoTDI
I don’t understand. How could I lock it without the key once the door was closed? I had to close the door, then put the key in the lock and turn it to lock the door. I’ve never known of another car like that.
@kuoh @lisagd Audis are like that. Probably also most anything under the V.A.G. umbrella.
If you are inside the car or the window was down you could lock it without the key.
@kuoh @yakkoTDI Well, yeah, you can lock any car when you’re inside it. I thought it was understood that we were talking about being outside the car.
@kuoh @lisagd
I remember the misfeature of the cars that had latch mechanisms which popped the lock button up when you closed the door. Not many were like that, but yeah, you needed the key to lock the door. There was also a variant that would leave the latch locked if you pulled the door handle’s trigger while closing it with the button down. Then there were the safety-hazard cars whose doors would not automatically unlock when you pulled the handle to open them from the inside. Good way to drown.
@kuoh @lisagd @werehatrack Once I got used to our VW’s door lock features/eccentricities, I preferred it - harder to lock your keys inside your car. I also liked that the stereo would play without the key in the on or accessory position.
@kuoh @macromeh @werehatrack True, you couldn’t lock your keys in the car, but (knock wood) I’ve only done that once. It was annoying when my hands were full, though.
I did like the radio thing. I can’t figure out how to turn my current one off.
@kuoh @werehatrack I remember back when cars had the old-style metal door handles where you grasped the handle and pushed a button with your thumb. Some would let you lock the door by pushing down the lock button while the door was open, then holding the button on the door handle in while you closed the door.
@lisagd The S.O.'s Sentra has a radio that obsessively wants to seek out Bluetooth devices and Make New Friends, with the result that it tries to connect to his iPhone every time he gets in the car. I have begun reflexively turning the radio off as soon as I start the engine to try to forestall this. (And it took me way too long to find out which button to stab in order to kill the radio.)
I lived in an apartment about a decade back, where one neighbor drove a truck that had the HORN beep twice when he unlocked the door. At 5 am. And when I complained to the manager, they brushed me off by telling me that “nobody else is complaining.”
They wouldn’t do anything until I threatened to involve the police. Literally, they just had to tell the guy to RTFM.
@curtw4 Jinx!
Huh. I learned about Coleman’s Principle today.
Still love that 8-bit Phantasy Star like ditty that goes with this segment.