Intelligent Car Keys

In recent years, automakers have turned to what they call intelligent car keys in an effort to help curb auto theft. These keys are very expensive to replace compared to a standard key. Having a duplicate key made, for example, is no simple matter of going to your friendly maker of keys and plunking down a couple of dollars to have one ground. No sir reeee. Now you have to go to the dealer and have a new key programmed at a cost of around $50 dollars, depending upon the dealer and the area of the country (an outrageous amount, by the way, considering what is involved).

The idea behind the use of intelligent car keys is that with old fashioned keys there were a limited number of combinations that could be ground into the key block. With an electronic key, the combinations become almost unlimited. Furthermore, with an electronic key, the electric system your car's ignition system can be routed through the key. If the wrong key is placed in the ignition, even if the teeth are ground the same as on the correct key, the car will still not start. This is thought to help eliminate theft by elimination the possibility of a thief making a key or a master key and simply driving away with your car. Your car can not be made to start using such an ordinary device. The thief must also have in his possession a copy of the precise electronic path used by your valid key, and the correct code that your system will recognize as being valid. In short, only your specific key will start your car.

The use of a small transmitter embedded in the key, or as a separate device, enables many different possibilities. Today you can not only lock and unlock your car from a distance with the simple push of a button, you can even start your car without using the key at all. Just push a button. I guess the idea is that you don't have to go out in cold weather to start the car and then run back inside while the car is warming up. And I have seen recent ads showing that these keys can even be used with a passive sensor to detect the beat of someone's heart who may be hiding in the car waiting for you to return from your shopping spree. Ahhh, the wonders of technology.

But is it all worth it. Has this technology actually reduced car theft? Have lives been saved? Is it worth the extra cost? And now, there is a report from Nissan that some of the keys for it's 2007 line of cars can actually be "deprogrammed" if they are too close to a cell phone when a call is received or made. This can leave a motorist stranded. Is it worth it? And is the technology too expensive? Are we being taken to the cleaners, compared to the actual cost of manufacturing and programming these keys?