Recently by Eric Peters: Some More DIY Don't Do's… Learned the Hard Way
As bad as the government is about making new cars cost a fortune by issuing regulatory fatwas (such as fleet average fuel economy requirements) the automakers themselves are just as guilty. Maybe more so, because much of the stuff they are engineering into new cars is stuff that they could leave out since theres no law (yet) requiring them.
For example, push-button (keyless) ignition.
Go back five years and this was an exotic feature you encountered in a few very high-end cars which is where a feature like this belongs because it doesnt really add any functionality, just some wow factor and, of course, expense. A lot of expense. Instead of a physical key you insert into a lock, then turn youve got a key fob transmitter that talks to the cars ignition system. You dont turn anything. Just push the start button on the dash or console and the engine fires up. Push the button again to turn off the engine. This is neato-torpedo, I guess until the fob stops transmitting because you forgot to take it out of your pants pocket and it went through a super wash cycle. Or maybe you just lost it. Now, youll feel the dark side of technology. Instead of going to Lowes and having a duplicate key cut for $5 youll be heading to the dealership because only the dealership can fix the push-button ignition. It is proprietary technology; their technology. Instead of $5, you could be looking at $500.
For a new car key.
God help you if the problem runs deeper like some defect with the internal guts/computer gremlins inside the steering column that run the show. Used to be you could just pop out the lock cylinder in the steering column and pop in a new one, easy-peasy Japaneesy. It cost maybe $75. That figure is about two-thirds the hourly labor rate youll be paying to have a technician chase down whatever glitch has developed in your cars operating system.
Parts not included.
Note: The keyless ignition system is not the same animal as remote keyless entry. For the latter you can still get relatively reasonably priced replacements on the aftermarket (as well as at the dealer) for about $75 or so. The keyless ignition stuff is different. It allows you (or someone else) to start and drive the car without a physical key not just get into the car. The automakers are understandably reluctant to allow anyone but their own authorized dealers to access the codes/software and so on that comprise the working guts of the keyless ignition.
So when the push-button ignition system malfunctions, or youve lost your transmitter, youre in their clutches.
And of course, stuck.
If youre rich, no big deal. You pay what they say and drive on. But most of us arent. Yet more and more cars (I test drive new ones every week) including more and more modestly priced, $25k-ish family-type cars, are coming through equipped with this technology. It is being pushed hard by the automakers because, well, theres a lot of money in it. The profit margins are large at point-of-sale and even more so down the road, when the system gets buggy or you lose the transmitter. These are things you cannot fix yourself not unless you are an MIT grad with a full array of factory diagnostic tools and equipment, anyhow.
I would just say no, myself.
The problem is that its becoming hard to just say no.
Just like cell phones, which are equally inessential yet depressingly ubiquitous, push-button ignition (and more besides) is becoming a default standard in new cars. Automaker agit-prop has convinced the masses that they absolutely must have such things just like they succeeded in convincing minivan-driving Moos who drive significantly faster than the posted speed about as often as Newt Gingrich goes for a jog that they must have 17 inch alloy wheels and 55-series low-aspect ratio $150 a piece sport tires.
Lots of money in that, too.
In a couple of years probably sooner it will be as hard to find a car without push-button start as it is to find a car without power windows or ABS brakes today.
Physical keys are on their way to becoming curiosities of a bygone era like the paid-for home and having more than $50 in your bank account.
I wonder whether theres a connection .