My car's keyless remote doesn't work with key in ignition...does yours?

I read an article reccommending to keep my car key separate from my remote. I could start the car, lock it and go back in the house while the car warmed up in winter, and I could never lock myself out of it. Sounded like a good idea to me.

So I tried it and found that the remote lock/unlock system is disabled when my key is in the ignition. It seems to me this makes the remote a lot less useful than it might be.

So, is this typpical or atypical? FTI, I have a 2002 Mazda Protege 5.

'99 Ford Mustang, the remote doesn’t work while the engine is running.

Doesn’t much matter for me, the remote and key are one unit, unless I want to use a screwdriver.

2000 Volvo, remote won’t work with key in the ignition. I too would find it more convenient if it did. The new Volvos have a switch-blade all in one system, so it’s moot.

I have a 2004 Honda Civic and the remote will not work if the key is in the ignition while it is running or not.

Maybe it’s too early to generalize yet, but… Mazda, Ford, Volvo and Honda…

I wonder why they build in a disabling system? It doesn’t strike me as a security or a safety issue.

Same with my 2002 Toyota.

My mom’s '98 Infiniti is the same way. Drives me nuts because every time I use it, I can’t find the control on the dash to pop the trunk. So, to pop it open for someone to whom I’m giving a ride (so he can get his stuff), I have to kill the engine and remove the key from the ignition to use the little button on the remote.

I learned the hard way that my Nissan’s remote doesn’t work when the key is in the ignition. The first and only time I’ve ever locked myself out.

Does anyone have any clue why this should be?

Well on my car the central locking also arms the alarm and turns on the engine immobiliser.

This is the only case so far where disabling it actually makes sense – if one of the buttons opens a door rather than just unlocking it. You wouldn’t want to pop the trunk (or open a door like you can remotely in some minivans I’ve seen)when something in your pocket presses against the remote button while you’re rolling along the highway.

But they could disable just that command, or disable it except when the gear is in Park. And my remote doesn’t have any such potentially dangerous button.

Yes it is a wonderful thing. Many a dollar has been made on cold mornings when someone goes out starts the car, locks the door and realizes the remote does not work.
Persoanlly, I would rather not go out and unlock cars when it is that cold out, but hey spare keys duplicated can pull in some dough as well. But, Osip has got to eat!

I am not sure why this is almost the standard, I do know my Honda Insight works that way. Says so in the owners manual!

2001 Ponitac Sunfire. I can (and quite often do) use the Keyless remote with the key in the ignition and the car running.

Lucky bastard! That’s 1.

How are you guys getting locked out? On most of the electronic locks I’ve seen in the last 5-10 years, the driver’s door cannot be locked without the door being close i.e you are already in or out of the car. Hasn’t this been other peoples experience? If that’s the case the purpose of the disabling might be so that you can’t lock the key in the car and then lose the remote.

A lot of people around here get remote car starters installed, to warm up their cars in the winter. For about $200 installed, you can start your car remotely from indoors and not even have to go outside until it has already warmed up.

You can’t figure out how people lock themselves out of cars? Look in the yellow pages – there are businesses that do almost nothing but open up locked cars.

My car locks itself within a minute of being opened by the remote, key in ignition or not, engine running or not, driver inside or not, as a security measure. I assume this is to prevent an accidental unlocking from leaving the car vulnerable indefinitely. If I get in, put the key in the ignition, and suddenly get out because I’ve forgotten something, I’m screwed.

So you disagree that most driver door locks don’t have the safety feature I mentioned? If a car locks up on it’s own like yours, I could see it happening frequently but what other combinations of moves can you do to lock the keys in? Not trying to start an argument I am just not sure how people manage to do it on modern cars.

I don’t wish to argue wither, but I don’t really understand what safety feature you’re speaking of. The door cannot be locked without being closed? Am I reading that right? No, I don’t agree with that.

Leaving out the remote from the equation, when I leave my car I press a “master lock” button on the inside driver’s door, which locks all 4 doors. Then I shut the door, and all 4 doors stay locked. Which gives me yet another way to lock myself out.

My previous car, an 87 Chevy Nova, had a feature similar to what you’re talking about, but the locks were strictly manual. If you locked the door, then closed it, the button would pop up, and the door would unlock itself. But you could defeat this by pressing on the door latch button on the outside while you were closing the door and it would stay locked. And pressing the button became a pretty automatice thing, as you’d have to use your key every time you exited if you forgot to hold the button. And of course, once it became a practically unconscious act, it became easy to forget not to hold the butten down the relatively few times you wished to exit without locking the door. And OOPS, locked out again.

Personally, though, I never did lock myself out of my car. I managed it 2 or 3 times with my house, however, so that now I have all deadbolts that can’t lock themselves as I pull the door shut.

Damn you! My '97 won’t and doesn’t have a trunk button on the car itself.

Sadly the unlock button has pretty much stopped working, but the trunk button is still working. I’m wondering if it’s worth it to get it checked out.