Originally Posted by ekpolk
I really don't have a dog in this fight, as none of our vehicles have this technology, which makes having an opinion a little too easy. That acknowledged, and having reviewed all the posts, I'm coming down "slightly against," at least as the system is currently implemented. If it were installed consistently in a neutral fashion, I'd be fine with it being installed in every vehicle sold. By neutral, I mean the owner or driver chooses "permanently on", "permanently off", or "select with every start" and so on. But it's not. It appears that many of the installations default to ON, every start, no matter what the owner/driver wants. That sort of manipulative rigging reveals that the manufacturer's motives are not to put the customer's preferences first. Once the OWNER OWNS the vehicle, his or her choices and interests should come first.
I'm the same way...... Sort of. None of my vehicles have it. And there is no way I would ever choose to buy a vehicle with it. Because the end result does not justify the means. You are being forced to live with a very complex system. That at some point will require much more expensive diagnosis, parts, and labor to repair, than a standard, conventional starter system. This is especially true for someone like myself, who doesn't drive a lot of miles every year. And who keeps their vehicles a very long time past the warranty.
I'm not concerned about fuel mileage. And even if I were, this whole Mickey Mouse engineering disaster doesn't deliver any type of substantial improvement. Certainly not in any acceptable ratio to it's expense and complexity. Not to mention how it negatively effects the way the vehicle drives for most people. Most find it annoying.
As always, common sense has to kick in somewhere. It doesn't here. I mean really, who in their right mind is going to want to purchase a high performance 6.4 L V-8 Ford Raptor truck with one of these things on it? So they might be able to save 3% to 6% on gas, if that? It's ridiculous. People who purchase $65K to $75K high performance trucks don't care about fuel economy. But regardless, it's being shoved down the consumers throat. Without much, if any improvement.
That is what annoys people the most, including myself. I have no problem accepting the fact you are always going to have people who defend whatever it is they buy. Regardless if it's something they purchase willingly, or as in this case, are having it rammed down their throat. Regardless if it's a POS or not. They will always come away defending it. I can understand that to a point. I'm just not swayed by any of it in the least.
New technology is always going to appear in new vehicles. Some will be good. Others like this won't. It's fine as long as the consumer can choose which, or none at all. That is not the case here. It is being forced on the consumer. And for the most part, they don't like it.