For those of you who don't know, our family traditionally names inanimate objects that are part of our daily lives. Accordingly, my car, a Toyota Rav4, is named Ravi (short for Ravi Chan's Car, which Andy appropriately dubbed him). Recently, Ravi's alarm system suddenly began going off at random and locking doors at will. When this happened, the engine also wouldn't start. The first several times it happened while I was inside the car, I would just have to press the unlock button on the key fob, and the engine would start. Last week, however, that system didn't work and I had to get a jump. We thought the battery was at fault. I waited to try it again until Ken was here to help. We jumped the car, put the cables back into Ravi, and drove to get the battery checked. Turned out, it was fine.
When we got home, I turned off the engine, opened the door to get out, and it was locked. The engine also wouldn't start and the cables were inside the car! In addition, I had forgotten to bring my cell phone with me. Totally trapped by a Rogue Rav! After about 10 minutes of trying to figure it out, Ken decided to disconnect the battery completely. He waited about 5 minutes - long enough for the car to reset - then reconnected the battery, and --- Open Sesame! The door opened and with great relief, I got out of the car and walked slowly away. We went early next morning to get the system checked out. Turned out to be a very simple fix, and the mechanic told me about a remote start feature on the fob that I hadn't known about, even after 2 years of owning the car. Ravi and I are now back on speaking terms, and I'm having a ball starting the car from the doorway of my house so that it can warm up while I get all my outer gear on. A discovery just in time for the arctic blasts we have been getting.
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