As nobody has posted much in Transportation for a while, I thought I’d have a rant about something. Why do many new cars, specially the more up-market ones, have pushbutton start rather than by a key? Up until the 60s cars had pushbutton start, then key start came in. I can’t remember whether steering locks came in at the same time, or whether some early ones had key start, remote from the column, so no steering lock, but both were an improvement IMO. Do car makers think we’ve been nostalgic for pushbutton start all these years, and they’re doing us a favour bringing it back?
Of course on modern cars there’s a fob that goes into a slot on the fascia, enabling the electronics and allowing the car to be started. I assume there’s still a steering lock, operated electromagnetically as the fob slot is remote from the steering column. But the electronics can be hacked remotely, allowing thieves to drive away. It’s reported that in London you can’t get insurance for a posh car, and the police routinely stop them as they think there’s a good chance it’s been stolen. At least with a mechanical steering lock you need the key to drive it, even if you’ve hacked the remote central locking and got into the car.
And is there a risk of a lost contact causing the steering lock to engage as you’re driving along?
Sounds like a backward step to me, on a par with space-saver spares, run-flat tyres etc.
Modern Cars
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