Nissan warns U.S. cellphones can disable car keys

[RJF]

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Thu May 24, 2007 7:22PM EDT

DETROIT (Reuters) - Nissan North America has a warning for customers: placing your electronic key too close to your cellphone could leave you stranded.

The automaker is asking customers driving new models of two of its flagship sedans to keep their car keys and cellphones at least an inch apart to avoid disabling the "intelligent keys."

Cellphones kept near Nissan's I-Keys -- wireless devices designed to allow drivers to enter and start their cars at the push of a button -- can erase the electronic code on the keys, rendering them unable to unlock or start the cars.

The problem has occurred on the 2007 Nissan Altima and Infiniti G35 sedans -- two of their top-selling models, the company said on Thursday.

"We discovered that if the I-Key touches a cellphone, outgoing or incoming calls have the potential to alter the electronic code inside the I-Key," Nissan spokesman Kyle Bazemore said.

"The car won't start and the I-Key cannot be reprogrammed," he added.

The problem has occurred in a "very small percentage" of cars sold, Bazemore said. He also said a new version of the I-Key would be available in the fall.

Bazemore said current owners have been notified of the potential glitch via mail and can get new keys from dealers if they encounter the problem.


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[drifting_changed_mylife]

wtf lol thats pretty nuts. thats why i have a 1992! technology scares me! what happened to the old day when you justed "turned" the key to turn on ur car??

[whiting]

All these new immobilizers and Inteligent key stuff is just something to break, and cause you to dish out thousands later, but I guess they have to pay the guys at R&D for something!

[axiomatik]

those things are so pointless. pushing a button on a normal keyless entry was just to hard? And pushbutton ignition is just ricey (except on Aston Martins)

[S13FREEAAK]

those things are so pointless. pushing a button on a normal keyless entry was just to hard? And pushbutton ignition is just ricey (except on Aston Martins)


I beg to differ, if you've used them they are pretty nice. My mom's new Miata has it. It's pretty convient never having to reach in you pocket and fumble around looking for keys.

Call me lazy.

[loosesocksdiff]

^^^ I agree, I have a 2007 altima and I just put the I key in my pocket and never worry about taking it out everytime I open the door or start the car. Just push and go.

I dont know about you guys, but I never put my cellphone and my keys on the same pocket. I dont want to get my cellphone getting scratches.

[Jesster]

^^^^^^^You guys are lazy

[hellion240sx]

what ever happened to cranking your car up? lol whatever. i always keep my keys in left pocket and phone in right pocket. cause i don't want my pphone scratched. sounds like a nifty idea tho.

[SimpleSexy180]

you guys are fucking lazy.

[loosesocksdiff]

Haha call us lazy, but Nissan, Ifiniti, Toyota, Lexus. Are moving to push start in the future. With a busy person like me convinience is what I want.

[axiomatik]

I beg to differ, if you've used them they are pretty nice. My mom's new Miata has it. It's pretty convient never having to reach in you pocket and fumble around looking for keys.

Call me lazy.

Lazy. :p

You either have too big of pockets or too much crap in them. How long does it take to find your keys in your pocket? I've never thought to myself, "You know what, reaching into my pocket as I walk up to my car is just too much work. If only there was some fantastic invention that would allow me to never go through that ordeal again!" :keke:

and lol at the "busy person like me" comment. I can pretty much gaurantee that at least 99% of the time, it takes you more time to walk to your car than it does to get your keys out.

[Phlip]

Pockets?
I got other shit in my pockets, like money and my debit cards and license and such, my keys are never there.
They're hooked to my belt loop until I am approaching the car. I couldn't imagine being so lazy as to NOT have enough drive to reach for my keys and juct crank the damned car.
Sure, puch button would be cool and all, but only on cars "cool" enough for it to not be considered in bad taste.

[max2damax]

wtf lol thats pretty nuts. thats why i have a 1992! technology scares me! what happened to the old day when you justed "turned" the key to turn on ur car??


what happened to the old days when you just gave the horse some food and away you went.

[KwKouki]

With a busy person like me convinience is what I want.

Homeboy, if you are too busy to turn your wrist ............ you may want to get off the speedcrackcoffeelsd.

[DJ_Sunrise]

Like hellion said. keys in left pocket, cell in right pocket. i work over at a toyota dealership in the parts dept. occasionally i move the bosses sc430 or his avalon.. yea.. it is lazy, i guess. but its just so fucking convenient.. once you guys try it out you'll be amazed haha. its really nice. mmm..

-Bart

[S13FREEAAK]

Lazy. :p

You either have too big of pockets or too much crap in them. How long does it take to find your keys in your pocket? I've never thought to myself, "You know what, reaching into my pocket as I walk up to my car is just too much work. If only there was some fantastic invention that would allow me to never go through that ordeal again!" :keke:

and lol at the "busy person like me" comment. I can pretty much gaurantee that at least 99% of the time, it takes you more time to walk to your car than it does to get your keys out.


Plus the Mazda ones are shaped like a credit card, you can slip it in your wallet. Super nice, all you have to grab is your wallet, and its harder to forget your wallet.

And yes I'm lazy.

[eastcoastS14]

^^ hahah fuck that i lose my wallet all the time...like once a week...I keep my keys on a lanyard and throw em around my neck or hanging out of my pocket

[rewplayff]

dont worry guys, its just a small step towards your car feeding you breakfast in the morning before you go to work. and in the future you wont even have to take your pants off to take a shit, but hell i dont anyways.

[jrmiller84]

This happens all the time at my the hotel my fiance works at. Peoples key cards get erased from cell phones and they can't get into their room.

[91rps13]

did everyone miss out on the fact that they are called "intelligent keys",, lol i guess they arent that intelligent if they get screwed by getting near cellphones LOL...

[azndoc]

Maybe voice activated or finger print activated systems soon.

Now that would be dope if it's not done already.

[sijia10358]

good thing my car is a 90...dont need those advance electronic shit! lol

[silviaguy240]

Maybe voice activated or finger print activated systems soon.

Now that would be dope if it's not done already.

i believe lexus's have the option for finger print recognition to unlock the car. or they had it for a little and it didnt go over to well.

[C. Senor]

dude thats awesome. all we need is this key system mated with the ferrari semi-auto trans...milli-sec shifting the lexus ls460h impact warning that applies the brake itself when needed and the self parallel parking and i'd have the most perfect car ever.

[NebSR]

Most expensive too s13coupeluv

[gotta240]

if cell phones are powerfull enough to erase the key/hotel cards, what are they doing to my nuts every time my cell rings in my front pocket?

Scary...