Am I the Only One? Leaving car running on push button start.

[VaTom]

Full disclosure. I am retired, 68 years old and still have all my marbles. Like others my age sometimes you get forgetful but not often. Five years ago I bought a new Toyota Camry with V-6 engine. Great car, powerful quiet engine - maybe too quiet! It has the push button start feature. Twice I have left the car running - forgot to turn it off. Happened yesterday. I was taking an older friend to lunch who needs help getting in and out of the car. I also don't play the radio when we ride together but all the time when alone so it is a reminder to turn off the car.

Yesterday parked in restaurant lot, put it in park and put on parking brake and jump out to help my buddy.

Went in, had lunch with some friends and 1 1/2 hours later came out and my car was still running. Fortunately it was a low crime area!!!. Guess in my rush to help my disabled friend out just forgot to turn it off. It won't lock when it is running so forgot to lock it also!

Has this happened to any other old geezers like me?

 

[RalphMP9FS]

Our Hyundai will beep loudly if you walk away from the car if it is left running. The key fob only registers for a few feet, and that's why the car beeps, good idea IMO.

 

[6518John]

Tom—I thought I was the only person in America to have done this. I HATE the push button ignition but I guess that is the way of the world. Mine is a Jeep Cherokee

I was attending one of my son’s football games in the season before this one. It was an away game and I was confused about where to park and there was already a huge crowd when I got there. So I was a bit out of sorts. I parked and got out, but left the vehicle running.

At half I was at the concession stand and they announced it over the stadium intercom. I went to the exit and a nice Little Rock PD officer lady was waiting and ran me to the Jeep in a golf cart they keep at the school for the security officers.

They had been checking/patrolling the parking lot and saw a bit of mist come out of the tail pipe and figured out it was running!

It had run almost two hours. It really did not use that much gas just idling. What gets me is it has that dang auto shut off, but that only works when the vehicle is being driven/in gear!

 

[Baxter6551]

What I don’t understand is how come they don’t program the cars to shut off if the remote gets a certain distance away. My Ram truck tells you on the dash that the key fob has left the vehicle but it remains running and someone can drive away with it no problem.

 

[6518John]

And I can’t idle for 5 seconds at a stoplight, but I can leave the vehicle running in park until all the gas runs out!

 

[bigwheelzip]

Did that once with my previous brand vehicle. When I put it in park, the engine stopped automatically but I forgot to turn it off. Eventually, it restarted itself to maintain the battery, since the AC was still on.
With my current VW, if I leave the car for only a few seconds, it shuts off.

Sent from my motorola one 5G using Tapatalk

 

[ladder13]

Did it once.

At least it wasn’t in gear.

 

[Benton Quest]

Get in the habit of checking the tach before you get out.

If you screw up and leave the car running in your garage, you will be deader than fried chicken.

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[ladder13]

And I can’t idle for 5 seconds at a stoplight, but I can leave the vehicle running in park until all the gas runs out!

I shut that feature off immediately after starting the car. If I leave it running, a thief would get as far as the first stop.

At least I hope so.

 

[arjay]

Hmmm,we’ll have to lower the max driving age to 50!

 

[bigwheelzip]

Get in the habit of checking the tach before you get out.

If you screw up and leave the car running in your garage, you will be deader than fried chicken.

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Hopefully anyone with an attached garage has a carbon monoxide detector at the connecting door.

Sent from my motorola one 5G using Tapatalk

 

[ladder13]

Cars are weird. I got a message on my screen from GM.

“This is your last warning, if you don’t accept this software update you will need to go to your dealer” No, not the dealer

I had ignored it a couple of times because the update disables the vehicle for about an hour once you say yes . Who’s going to do that when you’re out on the road?

Luckily I had just gotten to the gym. When I got back to my car I was sweating a bit, not gonna lie. Will it start? What to do if not?

I used the fob to start the car. OK, so good so far. Got in with the car running…… windows, radio, touch screen all NG.
The car needed to be shut off and started by the button, then all was fine.

It’s only going to get worse.

 

[billwill]

Mmmmm, maybe just once

 

[robrossk]

I did it once at work and engine was running for about 4 hours. I was surprised the engine temp was on the normal range.

 

[Geronimo Jim]

Several years ago an older gentleman who lived alone
in a 3 story townhouse with basement in garage died
when he left vehicle running in first floor garage.

 

[lihpster]

Several years ago an older gentleman who lived alone
in a 3 story townhouse with basement in garage died
when he left vehicle running in first floor garage.

Rentals here in Oregon with attached garages are required to have a CO alarm as well as a smoke alarm for that very reason.

 

[waffles]

My girlfriend did it in her new wrangler. Damn thing was on 5 hours on the street. Not at all upset that I don't have push start.

 

[raljr1]

I do it frequently. Fortunately my XT5 beeps at me when I do. Then my wife yells at me. Give me a key, please.

 

[Tom S.]

Worst case scenario - take it back to the dealer. It should alert you with a horn honk when you walk away, unless of course you leave the keys in the vehicle.

Best case scenario, you might be able to change a setting yourself and avoid a trip to the dealer. Turn on the car and scroll through the settings on the radio. You might be surprised at what other settings are in there that are owner changeable. For example, my truck can be set to just unlock the driver's door or all the doors with one press on the fob. Since I live alone, I have it set just to unlock the driver door - why operate all the other locks if they don't need to be? I can also set it to honk the horn when locking or not honk the horn.

 

[John_M52]

I forget sometimes when I park, but I've never let it run for hours! What I really don't like is when you leave the door open with your foot hanging out to roll the car up a couple feet and the damn thing automatically slams on the break and bounces your nose off the steering wheel. And if you're not actually sitting in the seat when you do this - forget it - the car won't move. I had a car as a kid that I had to push start. You'd get it going, jump in and pop the clutch. I assume that wouldn't work today, if you can find a clutch, that is.