Foam at the mouth much?
Perhaps the reason I disagree with you is one of us has worked in the industry for over 40 years at both independents, dealers, in a parts house and for the factory. The other person is an uninformed interweb “ex-spurt”*. Gee which one of us do you think knows more about this subject?
Multiple models of cars do share the same remote. the 300,000 number I quoted covered 5 different models produced that year.
You have some serious incorrect assumptions here. First off, if I am testing the brake light circuit, that is all the program is doing. It isn’t going to be working on the transmission or the window motor. Secondly since you don’t really know how the program is setup, I find it hard to believe that you can make a logical criticism of it. For your information, the program runs like a web page using IE. As you go from part of the program to another part of the program it goes from page to page in IE. Very, very similar to how you surf the net. Your complaint is like complaining that your computer is reading Wiki, while you are looking at www.Bighootersareus.com . Lust like your PC is not reading Wiki while you are surfing porn, my program is not testing the transmission while I am checking a lighting circuit. The program goes through 4-5 major revisions each year, and each revision gets 1-4 updates. Based on that, I don’t know how you can say that it can’t be changed. In fact it is a very flexible program and has evolved a bunch since it was first introduced. Compared to what I taught with in 1998, you can hardly recognize the 2008 version. Over the years it has become much more user friendly, and much, much more powerful.
Several people have suggested that the diagnostic program be broken up into smaller chunks, or maybe done via a USB stick. OK fair enough, let’s talk about this. First off, these chipped keys have their roots back in the very early 1990s. A show of hands please, how many of you were using USB sticks in 1991? Didn’t think so. Any system the car company uses has to have some provision for earlier cars. If Volvo were to decide to go to a totally separate stand alone system it presents some interesting challenges. in no particular order:
[ol]
[li]New hardware to be sent to the field (dealers). Who is going to pay for this?[/li][li]Technicians have to be trained - Worldwide. Again who pays for this training?[/li][li]Additional parts have to be stocked, and interest paid on that inventory. Who gets to pay for this inventory?[/li][li]The hardware/and/or/software in the car itself has to be changed. Who pays for this?[/li][li]Software to interface between the car and the new hardware has to be written/tested and distributed. Again who will pick up the tab?[/li][/ol]
Speaking as a dealer, if the car company were to say "Hey we are going to break out the key programming function out of the main program, and make it a stand alone, and it will cost you $X dollars. My response would be FUCK YOU. You have a perfectly functional solution, why are you fucking with it? If it works don’t fix it.
From a practical standpoint, every time a new electronic tool is released, it adds complexity to the shop, and sets up Mr. Murphy for a score. Software tools need to be updated. This takes time. Time = money. Somebody always forgets, or doesn’t get around to it. Then when you need the latest version, you don’t have it because somebody didn’t update the program, and basically somebody gets fucked.
Just for the record, let’s look at some pictures
A standard key that can be cut damn near anywhere and requires no programing
A “Laser” or side milled cut key. That may or may not have a chip in it. (This key fits some Volvo heavy construction equipment, but it is almost identical to the car version)
The key, and remote combo I was talking about
looking at the first and last picture some differences should be readily apparent.
[ul]
[li]The first key is edge cut, the last key is “laser” cut. While it may not be obvious, one of them costs a bunch more to have “cut”[/li][li]The last key has an integral remote that screws to it[/li][li]While it may not be obvious, when screwed to a remote, pushing the chrome button allows the key to fold back into the remote. Often called a switchblade key.[/li][li]The second key is not exactly a stamped chunk of metal and therefore probably costs more than a simple stamped key.[/li][/ul]
*Ex as in has been, spurt is a squirt under pressure.