Cars We Drive!

[clee1982]

I don’t recall last time drive a car with real key…

 

[VaderDave]

I don’t recall last time drive a car with real key…

Only two of my cars have a model date later than 1993, tho.

 

[Michigan Planner]

We inherited a 2016 RAV4 from my wife's mom when she passed earlier this year. Our son is about 2 months from getting his full driving permit, so he drives it to school every day with me in the passenger seat and the dog in the back and we return home via the local park for a walk after dropping him off. I actually kinda enjoy driving it on short trips compared to the gigantic GLS AMG douchemobile and swear the dog prefers it too -- have to bribe him into the back of the Mercedes but the minute the Toyota tailgate pops he's in there like a flash. Seems like a downsizing opportunity.

Anyway, the car said son would really like is an FJ Cruiser -- which is possibly the most robustly valued, reasonably recent, used car that's not an exotic. Not sold in the US since 2014 and up to 100K mile examples routinely go for well over their original MSRP. Has become a bit of a cult car on the West Coast. His argument is that, given scarcity, depreciation will be minimal going forward -- which is probably true. And one of reasons people like them so much is they are extremely reliable. IDK, we'll see.

Have you or the son driven an FJ Cruiser yet?

When I bought my Wrangler in '14 I considered an FJ Cruiser as I loved the way they look and they are pretty capable off road. I went and tested a new one and the fit and finish were outstanding and it was so much more comfortable than the Jeeps I had been accustomed to but there were horrible blind spots EVERYWHERE. As much as I loved everything else about it, I ended up passing and going with the Jeep Rubicon as I got a lot better price on it, it was a lot easier to get in and out of the backseat with the full 4 doors on the Jeep compared to the rear half doors of the FJ Cruiser (but I was moving child car seats around so that's probably not an issue for your son), and the blind spots seemed borderline dangerous. Everytime I see one on the road now I am a little jealous though.

I'd be weary of having an FJ Cruiser as a daily driver for a new driver, especially if you live in a dense area. Better idea: buy yourself an FJ and give the kid the Rav4!

 

[LVEsq]

I don’t recall last time drive a car with real key…

My 2017 G63 AMG has an actual key.... In fact push button start was not offered as an option on any W463 G wagons before 2019 remodel. Its bizarre - but I got used to it and I actually quite like it now.

 

[yorkshire pud]

Has anyone else had issues with a key FOB going through batteries quickly? Our MB key has been going through them like every 3 months which is crazy.

When the car is parked at home, how far away from the vehicle are the keys kept??

If the key and vehicle are in constant communication the fob battery wont last long.

If the vehicle is left unlocked in a garage the car and key will remain awake searching for each other

 

[LVEsq]

When the car is parked at home, how far away from the vehicle are the keys kept??

If the key and vehicle are in constant communication the fob battery wont last long.

If the vehicle is left unlocked in a garage the car and key will remain awake searching for each other

This is correct. Both of our Mercedes and my Porsche do this - and we were told to lock the cars, even in the garage, to prevent battery drain and key fob battery drains.

 

[HRoi]

Ah so i finally found the bad keyfob owners forum.

The 570s has one keyfob that has been solid since the day i took delivery, the other one I’ve had to replace the battery 4 times in 2 years. I didn’t think of Yorkshire pud’s point - i have a Faraday cage so i think I’ll put that fob in there and see if that ends the problem

 

[otc]

I don’t recall last time drive a car with real key…

Downside of the fake key though...couple of months ago, my wife dropped me off somewhere and then drove away while I still had the key in my pocket.

Yes, the car starts to warn you, but it was downtown in an area where the 1-ways and restricted right turns make it take a while to get back to the same spot in traffic and I was running late to a meeting...

 

[otc]

When the car is parked at home, how far away from the vehicle are the keys kept??

If the key and vehicle are in constant communication the fob battery wont last long.

If the vehicle is left unlocked in a garage the car and key will remain awake searching for each other

That was actually something I was concerned about when I first got my car and only had a valet spot in my building...the car sat there parked with the doors unlocked and the key inside 24/7.

Although I was actually more concerned about the car battery than the fob, especially since it could easily sit unused for a week or more and just slowly drain away.

But my research showed that this was a real issue with early keyless systems but was mostly solved on newer cars. You might get a little more drain, but it was smart enough to not empty the battery keeping systems alive for days on end.

 

[Texasmade]

When the car is parked at home, how far away from the vehicle are the keys kept??

If the key and vehicle are in constant communication the fob battery wont last long.

If the vehicle is left unlocked in a garage the car and key will remain awake searching for each other

For Mercedes, you double tap the lock car on the key fob. This locks the doors and basically puts the fob to sleep.

 

[brokencycle]

For those of you who have had significant car appreciation, is anyone cashing in and buying a newer version?

I know a lot of people who are. They have been able to get new cars for MSRP and trade the old ones in for basically MSRP. So they got a 2-3 year upgrade for free or a few thousand.

My car is too old to see a lot of appreciation and honestly, I don't drive so why bother right now.

 

[jbarwick]

That may be it then. We never really take the key out of the car and leave the doors unlocked

 

[Takumi Fujiwara]

Damn I wish I had one of these...

 

[Takumi Fujiwara]

Toyota still makes some nice cars...

 

[yorkshire pud]

Damn I wish I had one of these... View attachment 1670893

British License plates!!!

Any idea what the Japanese text means???