italianstallion
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2017
- Threads
- 4
- Messages
- 57
- Reaction score
- 27
- Location
- Orlando, FL
- Vehicle(s)
- 2017 Mustang GT Lightning Blue
Agreed. My hesitation on all this stuff has nothing to do with Big Brother or Nanny State: it has to do with the cost to fix such things when they break.More crap to possibly break.
I drive a 2011 Mercury Milan as my beater. The car has blind spot and a rear backup camera. I was rear ended in an accident, and a couple months after getting it all fixed the blind spot system broke. Normally I'd just say "alright I'll live without it," but because it was broken a nice little chime sounded in the car EVERY SINGLE MINUTE to remind me it was broken...I couldn't turn it off.
I brought it to Ford and they said "Yeah you can't turn it off because its a safety feature and it therefore needs to be fixed." So I asked what the quote on a replacement part was. For a 5 inch by 5 inch sensor that mounts in the bumper, they were $1060 each, and I needed two of them. I immediately asked if the impact from being rear ended could break them and the tech said "if these things are mounted off by a millimeter they eventually fail." Immediately I got on the phone with my insurance, told them the issue, and they ended up covering it. That was an extra $2,400 in parts in labor on top of $7,000 in body work on that car. I couldn't imagine footing that out of pocket for a feature I don't even really use (old habit, I always check my blind spot over the shoulders).
When it came time to buy my Mustang, I was so glad they had a car on the lot that didn't have blind spot detection. I just know for the amount of time I plan on keeping this car those sensors would eventually go.
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