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Comment by alt227 | Hacker News Reader

I still dont understand whats wrong with putting a key in a door to unlock it.

I had a 2007 Chevy HHR. It had remote start/unlock. When I lived in Denver, I used the remote start during winter to warm the car up before getting in.

Also, there was something sticky with the door lock. If I used the key instead of the fob, sometimes the anti-theft system would not disarm and the only way I found to disarm it was to use the fob to turn that alarm off. Grrrr. Fobs lasted about 3 years and cost $100 to replace/reprogram.

My current car (a Miata) has a key only to unlock the door in the event of a dead battery. It has a pushbutton instead of the traditional ignition key, so the key is pretty useless outside of a dead battery.

Speaking of nearly useless cut keys, the key fob for the Mach E reused a common Ford design. But the car itself has no keyholes, at all. So the fob came with the metal key part, but it was not cut. Just a complete blank.

The problem is no one can control this remotely. Some people would prefer your access to the vehicle be conditional.

Most cars still have a physical lock hidden under the handle for emergencies, like opening the car when the battery is dead.

All remote unlock is doing is adding an unnecessary insecure remote layer on top of that for convenience.

I think weex means loan vendors and carmakers would like your access to your car to be controlled by them not the driver -- so they can lock you out if you don't pay them every month.

Which is what I was replying to. They cant lock you out because your car has a physical lock, its just that they hide it these day.

Some cars don't even have physical keys to operate door locks or the ignition, only fobs and ignition buttons that require the presence of fobs.

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