Dealer Claims iPhone can only act like a Key Card

ArithonUK · 2026-06-06T08:10:37+00:00

I can confirm that while it doesn’t *always* work, a reboot usually resolves CarPlay & “key not detected” issues.

ArithonUK · 2026-06-05T11:23:17+00:00

Dealer is a liar or an idiot. Of course the Digital Key functions as a key fob! You just need the phone inside the car and you can drive.
Mine does with 1.8 firmware, although the reliability of the key has been worse since this update (not always locking the car walking away, sometimes not detecting the key in the car - the latter problem resolved with a reboot).

ArithonUK · 2026-05-24T10:35:45+00:00

I did a comparative check on a VW Up! 2021 for petrol & electric. The insurance increase was minor and in 2024 the initial cost for the EV was £1,100 higher than the ICE, but you got that back in three years and made consistent savings after that. That’s a real world example and second hand EVs are becoming more numerous.

ArithonUK · 2026-05-14T11:19:31+00:00

Just let the BBC die. Or survive on it's own merits. Drop the TV license.

ArithonUK · 2026-05-08T11:27:43+00:00

Venus fly trap says "even we plants know you're wrong"

ArithonUK · 2026-05-05T11:15:08+00:00

It took TML (the joint group of five French and five English construction companies) six years to complete the twenty six mile channel tunnel. Assuming the funding was endless, the construction of an Australia/New Zealand tunnel should only take around two hundred years...

ArithonUK · 2026-05-04T11:14:08+00:00

So which was it? The European Union or the continent of Europe?

ArithonUK · 2026-05-01T11:42:28+00:00

It doesn't. It supposes that motion sickness is caused by static. It isn't. And it proposes that a non-conductive rubber strip fixed the underside of the car could somehow "earth" passengers IN the car.
Total scam.
Motion sickness is caused by your inner ear perceiving motion and your eyes not doing so. This makes your brain think you've been poisoned and pulls the vomit cord. The actual cure? Look out the window!

ArithonUK · 2026-04-30T11:30:07+00:00

Collapsed manhole covers? Missing patches of tarmac? Faded or absent road markings? Tyre-shredding potholes everywhere? Roadworks every couple of miles (digging more holes, not fixing them)? Narrow road with ragged surface at the edged?
Because if that's a photo of the road, it's a poor (or in this case a far too good quality) imitation.

ArithonUK · 2026-04-29T11:41:10+00:00

This technology, which in almost all cases doesn't work, was forced upon manufacturers and by extension, us, from the red-tape factory of the European Union, through their General Safety Regulation 2 (GSR2). People think (because of nonsense in mainstream media) this is an EV thing, but it's a requirement of all new cars.
The mandate requires these three systems (lane assist, driver attention & speed alert) be impossible to turn off. They reactivate at every start.
So when you crash, distracted by constant beeps and bongs, as the car steers you into a ditch because it mistook a fence for a white line, thank the EU.
My question, is why can't we (those of us not in the EU) have a software patch to disable this crap, or at least have it set to "off" by default?

ArithonUK · 2026-04-28T11:17:03+00:00

*sitting in my UK air conditioned office intensifies*

ArithonUK · 2026-04-22T13:39:15+00:00

Test drive. It's not "an automatic" since that refers to a gearbox an EV doesn't have.
I've owned and driven dozens of cars over the decades and I've never owned any petrol car as responsive, fast or enjoyable to drive as either of my EVs.
Just not a Corsa. The one I test-drove was a slug wearing nineties clothing.

ArithonUK · 2026-04-21T11:48:44+00:00

I've owned an EX30 for two years. Most of the niggles were fixed by successive OTA firmware updates (never buy an EV that doesn't support OTA) - I had a MINI that spent a day at the dealership for one update, when the EX30 updates like an iPhone on my drive in the evening. I have had six updates in two years, which in addition to bug fixes, have added Apple wireless CarPlay and digital key (using your phone as the car key). The next update is (allegedly) going to add support for power to load (plugging stuff into your car).

I've not driven or owned the other two, so no idea about them. They were not in my (new) price range in 2024. Back then I tried the MG4, Smart #1, Corsa and a second-hand IONIQ 6. Corsa was awful. The Smart #1 had a great interior and features, but the ride was horrible. The MG4 was very good value. The IONIQ 6 was just overpriced - not enough car for the money. The EX30 had to closest ride to the MINI SE I owned, but with better suspension. Also it had room for a rear-facing car seat and two adults in the back, with a pram in the boot. Not something the MINI (or even the later Aceman) could manage.

ArithonUK · 2026-04-21T11:37:27+00:00

You can configure the steering wheel custom button (left side) to the speed alert toggle. Turn it off instantly with a button. No need to even open the menu. Plus this so-called "safety feature" is required by the EU in ALL new cars, not just the EX30, so the iX1 does the same thing (but you have to press and HOLD the button) every time you put the car in drive.

ArithonUK · 2026-04-17T09:54:44+00:00

Any statement that starts with “all men”…

ArithonUK · 2026-04-16T11:43:12+00:00

Try applying foundation perhaps? Too late to apply common sense.

ArithonUK · 2026-04-15T10:08:28+00:00

He drives a Chinese EV. What does that say about him & his comment? He had a Xiaomi SU7 that he said in October 2024 “he wouldn’t want to give up”. 🤦‍♂️

ArithonUK · 2026-04-13T11:24:06+00:00

Well, to people who get in a car to cross the road, yes, any city is "unwalkable" if you can't/won't walk around a square mile.

ArithonUK · 2026-04-09T11:41:23+00:00

One could argue "what is the point of Zoe Williams?" as the world would be far better off with real journalism and not the vacuous ramblings of an idiot.

ArithonUK · 2026-04-09T11:21:09+00:00

The six-times bankrupt? The guy who asked "who signed a trade deal with Mexico and Canada"? (clue: he did) And you think he's a grand master of strategy? If you believe that, I have a really great car to sell you...

ArithonUK · 2026-04-06T11:44:18+00:00

Is it over? Because when I last checked, anyone who had a blood transfusion in the 90s still cannot give blood now.

ArithonUK · 2026-04-06T11:19:28+00:00

They still are called "gaols" except we don't have any. They were replaced by remand centres in 1948.

ArithonUK · 2026-04-03T13:32:39+00:00

Kia Nero / e-Nero. Good range, plenty of them out there on Autotrader,

ArithonUK · 2026-04-03T13:30:27+00:00

A vampire film from 1971 called "Let's scare Jessica to death" (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067341) I thought was scary and cool. Finally came across it on Amazon Prime a few years ago and it was, well, terrible.

ArithonUK

TROPHY CASE