Thinking I have to change the batteries soon in the fobs. Sure I love a mechanical connection, I think those days are gone, I don’t get it either, but that is the way it is.
The reason is pretty simple: Chipped keys make it harder to steal the car. Once you chip the key, it’s immaterial whether the start mechanism uses a button or the more archaic “insert a rod of metal into a hole and twist” method.
Both methods are making a momentary electrical connection that tells the car’s computer to look around and see if there’s an authorized key in the cabin, and to start if so. You will get exactly 0% more reliability by insisting on staying with the physical key start method.
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I do not believe this is true. Most cars sold from 2000-2004 had this as an option, and most cars from 2005 onward have this standard. On my 2004 Toyota Corolla, for example, this was part of the “security system”, which I did not want.
I do not believe for one moment that any of this “tech” has slowed the rate of car theft, except maybe among teenage joyriders. I believe the pro’s have always used computer hacking tools, or simply tow the car away. There are so many unmarked tow trucks used for repossession that a thief could “blend in” to the crowd by using one to tow away cars he wants to steal.
What I do believe is that these complicated anti-theft systems frequently malfunction, especially on older cars which are long out of warranty (and no longer useful to thieves anyways). Owners are forced to spend big bucks to have these problems fixed, if they even can be. When the car is 20 years old, and you need to replace a failed PCM for example, piece of cake if there is no security system, and no chip authentication–just get another used one from a junkyard from a car which also did not have the security system. If your car does have the security system, can’t install a used part, and probably can’t find a new one either at that point.
What you decide not to believe is irrelevant. The numbers speak for themselves:
Car theft rates today are about 1/3 of what they were 30 years ago. And it’s not because criminals have suddenly decided to go straight and stop stealing people’s stuff.
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Perhaps you should wait until a diagnosis is given before blaming the keyless ignition. It could be a bad battery in the fob or a bad battery in the car. One of my favorite features of my Mustang is the proximity key. Just walking up to my car and having it unlock (or lock as I’m walking away), is a game changer, along with just pushing the start button with the key in my pocket. I will never go back to having a daily driver without a proximity key after having a car with it.
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It will be a decade or two before all us Luddites are gone. Until then there will be a demand for basic OFF-RUN-START key operated ignitions. I drove a 2020 Toyota with the basic key switch just yesterday. Practical thinking is why add to the list of potential failures that are dangerous, costly and annoying?
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Because it doesn’t add to the list of potential failures, at all.
When you turn a key, you’re making an electrical connection that tells the computer you want to start the car and it should check to see if an authorized key is present.
When you push the start button, you’re making an electrical connection that tells the computer you want to start the car and it should check to see if an authorized key is present.
It’s the same thing. The computer doesn’t care what the switch looks like, it only cares that the signal gets sent.
It’s like arguing that a red turn signal light is more reliable than a yellow turn signal light. No it isn’t. It works the exact same way, only the visuals are different.
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In addition, the older ignition switches are subject to mechanical wear. We all remember not to have too much weight on the ignition key ring. Using a push button ignition with proximity key means my wife can put that fob on her huge key ring without any problems.
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Have you not heard of the dangerous GM ignition switch issue?
+1
This reminds me of the people who say that they don’t want a car with ABS (apparently, they are capable of matching ABS’s ability to pump the brakes 15 times per second 
), or traction control (because they will apparently never be in a low-traction situation…), or VSC (because they know that they will be able to prevent or recover from every potential skid), or a backup camera (because they are uniquely able to look under their rear bumper for the presence of pets and/or little kids while sitting in their vehicle)…because… “all of these systems are prone to breakdown and very expensive repairs”.
Yes, in theory those electronic systems may be prone to breakdown and very expensive repairs, but in practice I have found them to be problem-free, for as long as 11 years. (11 years is the longest period that I have kept my vehicles, but 10 years is typical)
How many other systems on a car can go for 11 years with no need for maintenance, and no need for repairs?
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That argument always amazes me. So you don’t want the thing in the first place. Then why are you worried about fixing the thing? When the thing breaks, just leave it broken…
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That is sort of similar to the old ladies who complained that the food at their hotel was terrible.
Then, they complained that the portions were too small!
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I have replaced a great many GM ignition switches, lock cylinders, turn signal switches, etc. all relatively quick, cheap repairs. The lock and switch on my 1989 Chevrolet continues to operate trouble free. Imagine that.
Sounds like a major point of failure. Maybe those cars should have been equipped with buttons. 
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Hondas in the mid-late '80s (like my '88 Accord) had failing ignition switches.
Only 2 of the cars were mine. Both had well over 200k miles on them when the repair was needed.
You know I don’t recall ever replacing a door switch for the courtesy light on older cars but the later models that are in the latch mechanism are notorious for failing and they are a costly part to replace. Ford has such a failure problem with those switches and other modern updates that they have developed a GEM module to shut down a number of circuits including all that are triggered by the modern door ajar switches if/when the battery discharges below some critical voltage. But the real joke is that the GEM modules fail and make it nearly impossible to determine where an intermittent discharge is located.
More and more the grand technology being built into cars is morphing into a masterpiece of designed in obsolescence. Climate control for each seat position, presets for mirrors, seats, steering wheel, etc that is programmed for each programmed in driver and built in notebook computers with numerous APPs installed including GPS makes for an impressive test drive but when the warranty is out all that glitz is just a conglomeration of expensive failure prone gizmos.
When will we be seeing you at Improv?
I used to think that way. Then I got a car with all those gizmos. None of them failed in 13 years. And my wife got a car with all those gizmos. None of them have failed in the 9 years she’s had it. Turns out, electronics are pretty bloody reliable. Well, as long as you avoid BMW. I don’t worry about it anymore.
Besides, all of those other gizmos are irrelevant to the topic. When the choice is between a key start and a button start, there is no difference in reliability between one momentary contact switch setup and the other momentary contact switch setup.
If anything the key cylinder is less reliable because it has more moving parts.
I’ve had problems with power windows over the years, but it was the mechanical part of the assembly that failed, not the electrical parts.
Maybe it’s my starting position @shadowfax. I learned to drive on a Chevrolet pickup with the starter controlled by a foot pedal that moved the bendix into the flywheel and when fully engaged points made contact to operate the motor. The only wire on the starter was the cable to the battery.
And it’s not the momentary contact switch that is troubling on the push button starter it’s the solid state printed circuit module that runs a sequence of turning on the ignition system and then cranking the engine until it starts at which time it disconnects the starter but leaves the ignition circuit on. How much is that module on any given vehicle and how available is it now but also how available will it be in 10 years? And if the owner is 500 miles away from home in 10 years and that module fails is the car suddenly scrap iron?
My old Chevrolet uses the same ignition switch as dozens of other car and truck models including Jeeps, for more than a decade. Every McParts store in the country still stocks that part
https://www.autozone.com/electrical-and-lighting/ignition-switch
and it’s a 15 minute swap for an experienced mechanic with a few basic tools.
For the owner with the failed module there may be a few nights in a motel added to the exorbitant price of the module. If there is one to be bought at any price. I searched for a replacement module on a Mopar and Toyota vehicle, each 4 years old, and neither was available after market at Auto Zone. The last time I paid a wrecker to pull across the state line it was $3/mile plus miscellaneous expense$$$$ and that was 22 years ago.
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