This is something that's been in the back of my mind for a long time. Whenever I hear a car horn honk when its owner presses the remote, I wonder why the car makers couldn't have used something a bit more... subtle.
It's annoying, and the "beep" is usually unnecessarily loud. (Some automakers are worse than others.)
Don't we have enough ambient noise already? Every year, the number of vehicles making this sound increases significantly... probably.
Anyway, what got me thinking about this again? Someone actually started a petition to bring this to the attention of the automakers:
102 signatures so far. Not a lot, but I bet it gets a lot more.
My sister's Toyota makes a digital "beep" sound when you use the remote. My brother's Dodge Caliber, on the other hand, makes a too-loud "honk" of the regular horn. To me, one says "
somewhat sophisticated", while the other says "look at me! I'm cheap and annoying!"
My
2000 Honda Insight is the first car I've ever had with remote locking. It doesn't honk at all. You need to watch the blink of the signal lights, or listen for the actual click of the lock mechanism.
Most of the time I just use the physical key anyway, to save power.
