HN Explorer

Keyless Chevy Traverse

1 points by pettycashstash2 ↗ HN
I just found out the hard way that one can drive a car without a key. One of my children had a driving class, and my wife pulled the car out from our garage so it would warm up. I assumed she left the key in the car. Boy was I wrong. We arrived at our destination and I parked. My daughter goes on her lesson and so I have about 1 hour for errands. I attmpet to start the car with the “Engine Start/STop” button and receive the NO REMOte DETECTed message on the dashboard. Am I in The wrong to think this should not have been allowed. Standard cars don’t allow driving without key in ignition. PS we’ve owned this car for just over a year.

3 comments

[ 6.8 ms ] story [ 30.4 ms ] thread
elmerfud
Keyless ignitions or push button starts are just that, you need the key to start the car and not necessarily to drive it. Even with a keyed car the key allows you to turn the lock cylinder to start the car. Normally the lock cylinder also has a mechanism to hold the key in the cylinder when it's not in the off position but that mechanism has been known to break and wear out allowing the key to be removed while the car is running. Yes the car will continue to run without the key in the ignition it's all about the position of the lock cylinder.

I think it would be unsafe to spontaneously power down the car when the remote is not detected there could be all kinds of valid reasons that a running car may not detect the remote. That being said I would think if the car was running and it missed pinging the remote periodically a message on the dash would be a wise idea.

pettycashstash2
Agreed, especially after putting the car into DRIVE. Maybe a few tones and message as you suggest would at least warn me.