Car Key Woes!

[Flivver]

There's just no way those should cost that much. A 4 GB Flash card only cost $40, you can even buy an iPod or a 7 mega pixel digital camera for less than most of those keys. It's just an outright scam is all, I don't care how "secure" they say it is, new cars still get stolen all the time! Where's the benefit vs. cost? :rage:

Unfortunately, auto companies treat service parts as a profit opportunity. The price of the part is marked up many times over cost. If you were to "build" a new $20,000 car from parts purchased at retail in the dealer parts department it would likely cost around $200,000.

 

[Flivver]

I hate all the new technology that's going into new cars. I just refuse to by a car with "On Star". Was anyone aware that new cars also have the dreaded "black box" installed on them? After a wreck your insurance company can remove it and gather information about what was going at the time of your accident (speed, breaking information, etc).

That black box really smacks of "1984" and is an invasion of privacy as far as I'm concerned. I'm seriously thinking of only driving cars that are old enough to not have one.

 

[Twitch]

BTW the black magic, mumbo jumbo of secret dealer programming of the remotes consists of pushing about 3 different buttons on your climate control panel and following simple instructions. Done in 30 seconds. I've heard they charge about $50 for that!!

 

[Flivver]

If anyone needs to re-program their remote, the instructions on how to do so can be found in the factory shop manual for your car. Most larger public libraries have these shop manuals available.