I haven’t bought a “new” car/truck since 2003. I prefer not to have note payments and have been lucky enough to buy right. However, it seems like actual keys are becoming a thing of the past, is that true and the future?

Yep. Keys have been replaced with a key fob that has a built in authentication chip supposedly making it more difficult to steal. But like everything, there are devices that defeat key fobs.

quote:

Originally posted by Opus1:
Yep. Keys have been replaced with a key fob that has a built in authentication chip supposedly making it more difficult to steal. But like everything, there are devices that defeat key fobs.

Not to mention the failure rate on electronic gadgets. I'll stick with keys.

Keys, spare tires and gas caps. Rented a car in the Yukon lacking all of the above . In place of the spare tire you get a can of inflating foam, not sure how that's supposed to help with a blow out in remote country. The "key" was a fob, fair enough and convenient, but filling the damn thing was a problematic at one point, damn flap wouldn't push in like it was supposed to.

Grizz

I went to get my 99 P.U. truck inspected last month + the brake lights on the back of the cab were out + those bulbs had been discontinued. It didn't matter that the regular brake lights worked, new law. I found some at a parts store back shelf so I'm good for another year. I sorely miss the days when my 57 or 63 Chevy P.U.s had a straight-six + you could find any part at the parts house for $15.00.

I had a fail on the state inspection because my day light driving lights didn’t work. I didn’t even know that my vehicle had them. I told them to hold on and I’d be back. Auto Zone and a few busted knuckles and $10 I was back and passed.

It’s horseshit, but we have to comply. My 1999 Suburban wasn’t even equipped with them, but my 2006 4Runner has them. I suppose the checklist varies. Government rules...

Of course, as good citizens we do comply (most of us anyway) but it's a shame when some of the regs are so stupid.

Ever wonder why the key fob as a physical key attached?

If the battery dies in the key fob and you cannot unlock the doors, use the attached key to open the door and then hold the key fob against the Start button. You will hear a beep and then the car will start in the usual way. Don't ask how I know this...

Like most old people, I hate change. Saw something online that said you were old if you remembered when cars had two keys -- one for the doors (round) and one for the ignition (square). Hell, I'm so old I remember when there was one key that worked for everything.

Speaking of age + fobs, I still have my Grandfather's fob on a leather strip attached to his pocket watch. It is shaped out of brass in the shape of an arrowhead with a laughing Indians face on it that was given as a freebie when he bought his 1919 Indian motorcycle W/ sidecar. (my Grandmother made him sell it before she would marry him.)

Lavaca, I can so relate to your sentiments concerning change. I am disgusted with the "new" way of thought; 'screw you 1st!'. My wife is in a really bad frame of mind right now due to online shopping + getting shafted at every corner + damned near all of it coming from China even though represented as the U.S. She has spent days dealing with Discover, etc. + they are helping but it still takes time + effort. Their people are working 4/7 because this graft is so prevalent. My wife's grief like mine consists of the fact that things are not what they once were + now there are no morals in transactions. She is ashamed of being naive but this is going on everywhere. I truly understand why the old folks of the last generations were ready to die because life was not like it was anymore. Like Col., Cooper quoted, "The past is another country, they do things differently there."

quote:

Originally posted by Opus1:
Ever wonder why the key fob as a physical key attached?

If the battery dies in the key fob and you cannot unlock the doors, use the attached key to open the door and then hold the key fob against the Start button. You will hear a beep and then the car will start in the usual way. Don't ask how I know this...

And highly trained engineers came up with this.

Grizz

quote:

Originally posted by Grizzly Adams1:

quote:

Originally posted by Opus1:
Ever wonder why the key fob as a physical key attached?

If the battery dies in the key fob and you cannot unlock the doors, use the attached key to open the door and then hold the key fob against the Start button. You will hear a beep and then the car will start in the usual way. Don't ask how I know this...

And highly trained engineers came up with this.

Grizz

To impress not-so-highly-trained managers who weren't there in 1974 for the seatbelt interlock debacle.

Yeah, 144 engineers equal gross ignorance.

My Jeep has a dual battery system, but if both went bad for some reason, the fob sill has a key. It also will not let me lock the fob into the car.

No offense Tom; that is a common saying by us in the HVAC industry dealing with commercial ventilation systems in design + build.

The problem is that many new models don't even have a slot for a key in the doors or ignition.