>Have you ever locked yourself out of a car?  Breaking into your own vehicle
>or hiring a locksmith is far more expensive than replacing door locks every
>20+ years or so.  I think this is one of the more intelligent features of
>the Vanagon.  At least some Subaru cars use the same design, and they also
>reduce the number of dead battery surprises by running the headlight relay
>through the ignition switch so the lights cannot be inadvertently left on.
>Smart...

Yes, which is why a spare key lives in my wallet. So I just smile when I
lock the car and see the keys hanging from the switch.

Almost all cars made have keyless locking. The Vanagon is  a real pain in
this regard.

As to lights wired through the ignition, well, sometimes we want the lights
without the key. Nissan had automatic lights back in 1984! No flat
batteries, don't even need to switch them on & off manually. Didn't need
the key either. And headlight buzzers are a real nuisance (84 Mitsubishi
Galant Sigma).

Andrew Grebneff
Dunedin, New Zealand
VW & mollusc nut
1984 VW Caravelle (currently SVX engine; waiting for a Porsche trans)
1985 Mitsubishi Galant Sigma 2.0 (FWD), for sale
1986 CE80 Toyota Corolla 1.8DX diesel (extaxi)
1989 CE96 Toyota Corolla 1.8DX diesel wagon
1989 CT170 Toyota Corona Select 2.0 diesel (taxi)