I dunno if any of you read Edmund's Inside Line Long-Term Test Blog, but it is excellent reading on the internet to get an idea of what the new stuff is like to live with for years, and they frequently have older cars in the mix as well (C5 Z06 and a Supercharged 94M Miata right now).
Anyways, there was a post I read on there this morning about another one of their cars freaking out. Link
"So this was a reboot issue. Lest you think this is a Kia problem, remember that we've seen reboot-related electronic issues before in a half-dozen or more cases. At one point I was keeping track, but that Excel file disappeared two laptops ago.
A partial list includes the time the stereo went out in the Cadillac CTS. And then there was the BMW 750i that set something like 200 fault codes in one go and wouldn't move. There have been other examples covering other brands. No one, it seems, is immune.
To me this is a side-effect of the increasing role of software/firware code running behind the scenes in our vehicles. Our computers and smartphones get bug fixes, patches, reflashes and updates all the time and we don't even blink.
For me, that's not acceptable in a car. A car feels like hardware, not software, and I don't like having to hit the reset button. Let's hope this doesn't happen again...and again."
So basically it sounds like minor freak-outs could be fairly common (though obviously easily fixed so far). With all the "discussion" that went on about DBW, Toyota's recalls, and electronic in cars in general, it just seems like this would be a good (?) topic.
Have you ever had an electrical freak-out in your car? Did you fix it or did it need a dealer/expert/VooDoo Shaman?
I had a low battery once in my SHO and it flipped the car out. All the door locks kept locking and unlocking slowly and some stuff in the dash flashed and beeped. It was eerie, like sitting in a modern Christine...