Wow. This is really surprising. The Associated Press have picked up on the whole I-Key design failure. This was on the Detroit News today.

Some Nissan electronic key signals erased by cell phones
May 23, 2007

ASSOCIATED PRESS


NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Cell phones rub some of Nissan's "intelligent keys" the wrong way, the automaker is warning car owners.

Complaints about some cell phones erasing Nissan's I-keys for the 2007 Altima sedan and 2007 Infiniti G35 have the automaker advising customers to keep cell phones and the plastic fobs containing the starters "at least 1 inch apart at all times."

A statement released Wednesday by Nissan North America Inc. says some cell phones, if allowed to touch the I-Key while sending or receiving a call, may alter it's electronic code.

"When this happens the I-Key will not start the vehicle and cannot be reprogrammed," the statement said.

Nissan said it is developing a modified I-Key to prevent the problem and will provide customers with the new keys in the early fall.

Nissan did not return telephone messages seeking additional comment.

Brent Adams, vice president and general manager at Action Nissan in Nashville, said the problem involves only a "certain type of phone and this particular service," which he declined to specify.

He described the number of complaints as "minute."

Ken Hunt, owner of Hunt Nissan in Chattanooga, said the dealership was including a warning in the vehicle packet for purchasers. He said no retail customers have complained.

"I have ordered extra keys in case," Hunt said.

 

$100 says someone at the newspaper in Nashville had this happen to them or a friend. The AP reports all kinds of really stupid stuff so it isn't like that should be a gauge as to how bad it is.

 

Doubt it - as soon as Infiniti sent the letters they knew the press would pick it up. I'm in product management too, and it's a tough choice when something like this happens; you find out for sure it's a problem, decide on the resolution, then send out the notice and wait for the reaction.

This article was actually fairly positive, so I'm guessing that sure enough there have been very few zapped keys.

 

backpage news........... ......... .

 

i got the letter from Infiniti yesterday. Pretty sad but well have to wait until "Fall 2007" for the fix..

 

I am curious to know what type of cell phone is causing the issue.

 

Nissan/Infiniti probably is too!

 

LOL, good point.

 

If they would let me keep my old/defective keyfob after they give me a new one, I can start testing it with all the cell phones and carriers that I have access to

Till then, I'll try to keep my stupid phone away from the iKey ....

 

Yea that would be a good find for Infiniti to figure this out. I think its more of a signal and frequency issue. For instance if your cell phone is quad band etc. I know that when i put my 8125 near my ipod in my car the thing goes crazy. Also you hear the little interference sound with some audio equipment in my house.

 

Any cell phone OR any PDA can delete the fob. Also, benz, bimmer, audi, lexus all use the same inteligent key, so they have they same problem

 

Has anyone heard or read if this issue has been isolated to either GSM or CDMA cell phones.....or I wonder if both are being affected?

 

My gut feeling says this is probably more of a GSM issue than CDMA.
But again, its just a guess based on what I know about these technologies ....

 

It's better than a recall for say... your Jeep heated seat catching on fire.

 

GSM, CDMA doesn't matter. Any phone, from a razr to slvr, samsung to kyocera, OR any PDA, from Blackberry to Palm Treo, can delete the fob's signal when there is an incoming message, email, or call. The phone doesn't have to be linked to the car via bluetooth, just next to the fob for the delete to happen.