Ask Pete

[#1]

I remember a time when I would go out to my car about 15 minutes before my journey, start the engine, wait until it sounded like a purring kitten, then go about my day. Remember the day when you had to “set the choke” with a carbureted engine to get it going? Ahhh…those were the good ol’ days! I can still smell those rich exhaust fumes and hear the rumble of those cylinders as they came to life—sometimes one by one. You, too?
 
With technology and its marvelous advancements, today you pretty much hop in your car, put your foot on the brake, turn the key, start the engine, and away you go! It’s just that easy! Of course, when it’s cold out, you still have to wait a minute or so for the heater to come alive! Nonetheless, we’ve been spoiled by the elimination of having to “press the gas to the floor once,” or “pump the pedal.” With today’s technology, the vehicle’s on-board computer pretty much takes care of all that for us.
 
While I still miss the good ol’ days, I really do appreciate the advancements in technology. There’s a lot to be said for “turn the key and go”!

[#2]

Speaking of advanced technology, have you seen the ad on tv where the wife is getting on a plane and her husband calls her cell and asks her to remotely unlock their car?  She proceeds to do so, and then locks and unlocks the car repeatedly just to get her husband's goat.  While it's a funny ad, I wondered about the practical side of this.  What if you hit this button while someone else in the family was actually driving the car?  Or if someone steals your keys -- do they automatically have control over your car or do you have to input a code first?  Do you know how this works and what the limitations are on this technology?

[#3]

Telematics has been around for years! Think about the Onstar ads where someone in a call center unlocks your car from far away. Or calls for police assistance because they detected your airbag deployed.  

There are several security measures in place for this kind of stuff and several verifications along the way to ensure things are on the up and up. I'm sure there have been cases of things getting into the hands of the wrong people but that is going to happen no matter what but all in all, telematics companies go to great lengths to protect the privacy of their clients and the integrity of their products.

[#4]

That's good to know about the security measures and back ups.  It does sound as though the overall good overrides any potential glitches.