Got a text from SWMBO whilst at work telling me how much she hated the Scenic. I hate that car, hate, hate , hate!
Turns out she had got out to find it frosty so started the car in the driveway, went back into the house, got her stuff together and then out into the car and drove to work 5 miles away.
Of course, the Scenic has keyless entry and after starting the car, she had went back inside and put the keycard on the kitchen table.!!
So drove to work, pressed the button to switch engine off but got a message telling her that card could not be detected and engine wouldn't switch off! So had to drive back up the road to get the card!
Donkey ears for Xmas me thinks.......
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Yes I tested that very scenario when I had one for a day. I thought, I wonder if you can...... and indeed you can. You have to admit, it could happen to anyone. Now stand there and tell us you have never done it....go on.....
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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This seems like a design flaw,would be better if the card had to be in a slot for the car to run.In fact,the card could be made of metal to ensure robustness and each one could have a unique shape so that it will only work in the right slot........ : )
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Beat me to it sierraman :-)
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They have these things now which stop you doing this. They are made simply from a long, flat or cylindrical piece of metal with a unique code milled along the length for the individual car. Such devices fit into a recess in the steering column and turn clockwise and anticlockwise to start and stop the engine respectively. These, if fitted to Scenics, would prevent the problem experienced by your wife as they need to always be inserted to keep the engine running. Maybe someone should tell Renault?
;-)
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Mike Farrow
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Much more productive to re-invent the wheel.
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Much more productive to re-invent the wheel.
shhhhh. dont tell renault or they will make it a square wheel
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>> >> Much more productive to re-invent the wheel. >> shhhhh. dont tell renault or they will make it a square wheel
Quartic om, quartic like early Allegro steering wheels. My 1964 Plymouth had an oval one. And of course a wheel that isn't concentric with its boss is always a good idea too, like the wheels on a joke bike....
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...Maybe someone should tell Renault?
seems like a safety design flaw to me.
maybe someone should tell the health&safety inspectorate. is it not part of construction and use regulations as to how a vehicle should be capable of being switched off ?
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Just as well she didn't have to drive for 200 miles.
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Hand on heart, I have never done it!
The technology is great and Ilike it. However, I thought that it would flash up a message when the card was not detected. However, it only flashes the message up when you are trying to do something eg open boot, switch off engine etc.
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I presume if you stall it the igntion system stays "live".
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I would sooner have a key.
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I would sooner have a key.
i would sooner have a ford ;-)
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Me too oldman but then that's just what I'm used to!
On a more serious note, what happens if your stuck in rush-hour traffic on a motorway or a busy slip-road and you stall it? Can't be the safest of situations.
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Mike Farrow
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what a truly stupid design........ we've all been a bit absent minded and i'm getting worse.
Imagine packing the car for a long journey and then leaving the card like above.....you might get too low on fuel to make it back home again.... and imagine the annoyance factor of being half way to Scotland or something.. which is what i do all the time and then realise i've forgotten my sunglasses or something similar, because i put it on the dining room table 'so i couldn't forget'.
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Reno keys are very annoying full stop, the break, crack and are so easy to lose. Rubbish. But they key itself has info on the car which can be read by a diagnostics reader on the dealers desk so its a step forwards.
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Oh I see! Renault now make self loosing keys.
Rather than saying "what a load of utter tosh and rubbish" which I understand now causes a huge row and people leave, i shall instead say "I beg to differ"
In fact I lost my complete renault car, but I still have both keycards.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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Agree with you Patrick O. You know you always leave something behind when going on holiday?!
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Torque means nothing without RPM
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>>The technology is great and Ilike it. However, I thought that it would flash up a message when the card was not detected. However, it only flashes the message up when you are trying to do something eg open boot, switch off engine etc.>>
Clearly it is a failing by Renault that it does not flash a message when the car is perhaps more than 100 yds from the card. It has safety implications, i.e. if you had an accident and the car was not drivable, also what if it overheated, you would not be able to switch off so damage woud ensue.
It is a major design error that allows the car to be driven without the car in close proximity and not thus not able to be switched off.
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..... the car to be driven without the - card - in close proximity ......
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If all else fails, read the manual!
"If the card is no longer in the detection zone after the button is pressed for the first time, the message 'confirm stop engine' appears on the instrument panel. Press twice more to confirm that you want to switch off the engine"
However, this does not stop the car being driven in the first place with out the card which I agree is a bit daft. Leaving a car to idle on its own is not a sensible idea for obvious reasons and I beleive is actually illegal.
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...Leaving a car to idle on its own is not a sensible idea for obvious reasons and I beleive is actually illegal.
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ditto. i believe that too.
If all else fails, read the manual! ...
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so xileno, are you suggesting that bobbyg has misled us when he said : "...pressed the button to switch engine off but got a message telling her that card could not be detected and engine wouldn't switch off! .." ?
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Nobody except BobbyG's wife was present at the time so we don't know exactly what happened. The fact is that you can turn these engines off without the card, on some Renaults you press and hold the button in for 4 or 5 secs (rather like turning off your PC when it all locks up) or you follow the instructions I have detailed above. As I said, reading the manual is best.
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good job she cant read either then. had she turned the thing off, she would have been stranded, no working car and no key.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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She told me that the message read card could not be detected, so she couldn't switch engine off. NOt entirely sure if the last part of that was on the message or just her assumption.
She did think about stalling it but realised without the key she would not be able to lock it or re-start it, so chose to drive back home to get the key.
Re the discussion on the key itself, we have had the car for 2 years and this is the first time either of us has done this. Don't know why she did it, probably the hassle of getting the kids out to school and her trying to get to work and having to deal with a frosted over car as well. (Of course I got the blame cos I had went to LIDL the day before and got one of their car covers but hadn't put it on the car).
Anyway, on the card itself, I personally think its a great invention. Just walk up to the car, pull the handle, get into car, put foot on brake/clutch, press the start button and away I go. If I am carrying shopping or whatever, I don't need to put it down to fumble for keys. If SWMBO is out at night, she doesnt need to go looking in her handbag for the card (assuming she has remembered it in the first place).
Of course, as with any technology, if you are stupid with it, then it can cause you more problems.
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... had she turned the thing off, she would have been stranded, no working car and no key...
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whereas previously (see my first post timed 5 Nov 06 12:14 above) i had suggested that renault may have a safety hazard issue, it seems that this is in fact a safety benefit if xileno's manual is correct.
why? well, it looks like renault's system warns a driver that they are attempting to shut down an engine when the key has been left behind.
this gives the driver the option to try and remedy the situation (as bobbyg's wife did) but if they really want to shutdown despite the warning, he/she can force a shutdown by following the instructions and pressing twice or whatever to override the warning.
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it seems that this is in fact a safety benefit if xileno's manual is correct.
That still doesn't help you if you stall it!
It's much like stalling a car on a log-jammed dual carriageway with a flat battery you're charging on the way to a concert with a couple of mates. Which I, err, have never done :-$
[walks off sheepishly]
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Mike Farrow
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