How do I manually start my 2017 Chevy Cruze, post-2013?
2017 Cruze, have had for a few weeks, about 3000m.
I don't want any info about keyless entry. I tried alllllll of the options on that
(and I read the 2013 question about this, too).
Situation: Parked in an underground parking garage, came back from
shopping, and couldn't start the car with fob in or out of car. Almost got it
started with cell phone app, by walking halfway to entrance so cell phone
could get reception (for the app) and still be bluetoothed to the car, but when I
walked toward the car it shut off (presumably from losing cell coverage). We
finally got it started after contacting OnStar, but neither OnStar nor I know why
that made it work. (My theory? An OnStar call gets special priority and the car
uses more energy to *make sure* the connection goes through ... and this
connection allowed my fob to be recognized, apparently by some mysterious
*satellite* instead of my *car*, ugh!)
The similar question here from 2013 shows three different spots where a secret
keyhole can be uncovered and used. Two of those spots had documentation
in their owner's manuals. Ok awesome ... exhaustively reading all pertinent
sections in my manual and going over the entire (I think) dashboard and central
console of my car both visually and with my fingers, I can find no such thing
(and I'm leasing the vehicle, so I can't start prying off panels willy-nilly).
I will check for a keyed ignition before every car decision in the future! Who
would have thought they would leave NO option, or make a vehicle dependent
on radio signal?!
Camping trips planned for August. Hoping there is an easy answer for this.
Anyone?
Also disturbed that the dealers didn't know about the keyed ignition for the Gen1 Cruzes (2013 question) ... doesn't give one a lot of faith in the design nor the maintenance, sigh ... If this is a problem (which I am finding on other sites as well), Chevy and the Dealers should all be (1) fixing it and (2) telling people before they drive off the lot. This could be dangerous :( ...
In case anyone has stumbled upon this thread, I, through experience, have found that if you place your key fob in the front cup holder when your key is not detected by the car, it will start as this spot is my car’s transmitter pocket.
I forgot I asked this question ... yes, the cupholder is where the best sensor is, but three times during the course of my lease I had a hard time starting my car even knowing this (every few weeks for the beginning of the lease I would forget the trauma ... then I finally learned to stop parking in parking garages at all)... The 2017 was, as far as I could tell from looking up and reading owners' manuals on the internet, the first model year the Cruze didn't have a physical ignition hole hidden someplace in the car (if one was willing to read all the fine print to find out how to access it, which I was). A super giant design flaw, in my experience : (.
We stopped at a rest stop at the turnpike and were surprised to find that our 2017 Cruze would not start. The message on the dash board said something like "transmitter was not detected". After frantically reviewing the owners manual and contacting our expert mechanic, the only advice was to place the key fob on the front cup holder. We attempted this several times without success. The batteries in both of our key fobs had been replaced within two months. We were ready to call for a tow, when we noticed the large new GMC SUV parked next to us was pulling away. We tried once more to start the car and were shocked that it started as if nothing had happened. In retrospect, we suspect that the transmitter on the GMC SUV was interfering with our Cruze's key fob transmission. We changed our key fob batteries again with brand new batteries. Since the incident we have had no problems starting the car. Upon closer reading of the owner's manual, it states that the fob may not start the car due to "transmitter interference". This is the only thing that seems to make sense. We now avoid parking near brand new large GM SUVs or trucks in parking lots or rest stops! We are disappointed to learn that there is no physical ignition hole hidden in the car : (
