26 - Friday, January 12, 1990 - North Shore News

AUTOM OT I

LABOR-SAVING GIZMOS

Push button convenience trend of the ‘90s

THERE USED to be a saying that the more op-
tions and gadgets a car had, the more things were
likely to go wrong when the car got older.

For some reason, people
don’t seem to worry about
that any more. Perhaps it's
because today’s cars are
much more reliable than
they used to be (though
some may debate this).

There’s no doubt that new
cars now have enough elec-
trically-operated, iabor-
saving gizmos to inspire the
laziness in all of us.

Some of us still own a car
where we actually have to
wind the windows down
manually, but our numbers
are dwindling.

The trend in the °90s is
toward push-button,
power-operated conve-
niences that require little
skill, minimal effort, and no
knowledge of how they
work.

For those of you who
haven’t driven a luxury car
recently, let me brief you on
some of the luxury features
enjoyed by the not-s9-
helpless.

Centrally-operated power
windows: no longer does the
driver have to wind dowz, his
own window or reach across
to the rear seat to wind
down a passenger window.
It's all done from the
driver’s seat with a touch of
acouple of buttons.

Sometimes the driver hits
the wrong button and blasts

his surprised passenger with
a rush of cold air, but that’s
one of the hazards of button

driver's door will lock/
unlock all the locks and
sometimes a key in the pas-
senger door and trunk will
do the same thing.

There are some cars that
can be unlocked remotely
from the outside with an in-

Jumbar support and even
power headrests. Most of the
time, the control duttons are
hidden on the side of the
seat so that the driver must
fumble in the dark to
discover which of the six
buttons is for up/down and

**There are some cars that can
be unlocked remotely from the
outside with an infra-red
transmitter, or by physically

entering a secret
numeric pad on

AutoMotion door.”

pushing.

All the windows can be
locked with one button too,
which is handy if you have
small kids in the rear seat
who insist on winding the
window up and down, up
and down, up and down, ad
nauseum.

Centrally-operated power
door locks are probably the
most useful of the power-
assisted features. All doors
can be locked/unlocked
from the driver’s seat and
sometimes from the passen-
ger seat. A key in the

fra-red transmitter, or by
physically entering a secret
code on a numeric pad on
the driver’s door.

Outside rear-view mirrors
are now power-operated us-
ing a single toggle switch
which is usuaily located on
the centre console. Some
outside mirrors are even
electrically-heated to melt
off a layer of ice or conden-
sation.

Power-operated seats are
now available with a
multitude of adjustments
suc as for-
wards/backwards, height,
tilt, rake, thigh support,

code on a
the driver’s

which is for forwards/
backwards,

Fortunately, some cars
now have a single toggle
switch which controls four
or five seat functions, and
many now have a memory
feature where the seat will
return to 2 preprogrammed
position with the touch of
one button.

There are a few other
power- Operated conve-
niences such as_ sunroofs
which tile up or slide all the
way back, power trunk lid
(which closes and_ locks
automatically) and power
antenna.

VE §S

Some luxury cars even
have an electrically-heated
front windscreen that can
melt chick ice in just three
minutes. The windscreen has
a thin layer of conductive
transparent material that
heats up when an electrical
current is passed through it.

This idea certainly appeals
to me, but like all these
power-operated conve-
niences, a price must be paid
for them.

I estimate that a_ car
equipped with all the
features I’ve mentioned will
often cost 50 per cent more
than a base model without
these options.

And there is another price
to be paid for power-assisted
pleasures too: dependence.
If the source of electrical
power is cut off, e.g. the
battery runs down or a fuse
blows, the driver may be
unable to steer, brake, start
the car, change gears
(assuming that it has an elec-
tronic automatic transmis-
sion) or roll down the win-
dow.

But, admittedly, this
doesn’t happen very often
and the risk appears to be
small. And, relatively speak-
ing, the price of these op-
tions is actually coming
down.

But for some of us
diehards, there will always
be an aversion to paying ex-
tra money to have something
done when it can be done
fairly simply yourself.

Zinc mobile

comes to NV

THE COMINCO Lid. “Zine
Mobile,’ a specially-painted
Chrysler Voyager mini-van,
will be on display at Jubilee
Plymouth Chrysler until
Jan. 17,

This vehicle is part of
Cominco’s Zinc Awareness
Campaign designed to
heighten public awareness of
the benefits of zinc, par-
ticularly with regard to pro-
tection against rust.

RUST PROTECTOR

Cominco has joined with
Chrysler in this campaign
because Chrysler is an ag-
gressive user and promoter
of zine as a rust protector.
Almost 90 per cent of the
sheet steel used in the
Chrysler Voyager van is pro-
tected with zinc.

And the use of zinc
galvanized steel in Chrysler
vehicles allows them to offer
an industry-leading, seven-
year rust protection plan.

SEE LOCALLY

To see the Cominco Zinc
Mobile and learn more
about the benefits of zinc,
visit the Jubilee Plymouth
Chrysler showroom, 1177
Marine Dr., Neth Van-
couver.

Vancouver-based Comin-
co Ltd. is an integrated nat-
ural resource company with
principal activities in mining,
smelting and refining, min-
eral exploration and fertil-
izer production. The com-
pany is one of the world’s
largest suppliers of zinc ore
and zinc metal.

'89 SABLE GS

6 cyl. air, tilt, cruise, pwr windows,
cast wheels. Stk. #SA 351

$17,990

’89 RANGER 4X4

California Special, 5 spd.

_ 13, 700

‘89 ESCORT 4 DR

LX, auto, air cond, cassette
Stk. *ES 260

‘B9 FESTIVA

2 OR. 4 spd,
Stk. #FE 199

$7910

‘8S LINCOLN 89 XR4Ti

Cantinental, Signature, Currant Red. 5 spd.
fully loaded. Stk. #L 141 L267

°39, 990 524, 880

T90 AEROSTAR.

) Wagon, 6 cyl., auto, 7-pass., XL
E259

trim. Stk. ~Al
LEASE $316

OR BUY $16,380

| TP. Lease $16,168
90 GRAND MARQUIS °90 SABLE GS
6 cyl., Plwindows, spd control, air cond.

GS, V8, Pwindows & tocks, cruise,
tilt, air cond. Stk. #GM495 AMIFM cass., Pilocks. Stk. *SA405
LEASE $379

LEASE $495
OR BUY $22,530 OR BUY 18,220
TP. Lease $19,192

T.P. Lease $24,760
90 F250 SICAB4x4

3
90 F250
V8, auto, RR bumper, chrome grille, headliner J XL trim, 7.3 diesel, RA bumper, conv. group. light
group, spd cont., titt, AM/FM cass., air cond.,

insulation pkg., convenience group, light group,
nee 9 g! trailer tow phg., tu-tone dix. Stk. #T. T270.

spd cont., tilt, AMIFM cass., air cond. Stk #7195
LEASE $375 ose $555
R_BUY $24,990
OR BUY sn ses40 TP. Lease $19,000

OR BUY = $17,990
MONTHLY PAYMENTS SASED ON 48 MONTHS LEASE WITH $1000.00 DOWN (SALES TAX EXCLUDED)

‘90 TOPAZ
4 cyl., auto, AM/FM stereo, electric
mirror, interval wipers. Stk. #TP433

LEASE $244

OR BUY $12,280
TP. Lease $12,712

790 COUGAR LS

3.8 litre engine, auto trans.,
air cond. Stk. #CG437

LEASE $415
OR BUY $18,660
TP. Lease $26,920

"90 Fi50 4x4

5.0 Auto., bumper chrome grille, conveni-
ence group, light group. speed control, tilt.
AMIFM cass., air cond. Stk #T204

LEASE $382

'89 Suzuki Samurai

From sg 595 =:

4 to choose from

Also Available:
89 Suzuki Swift

GTi Automatic
2 only

$11,985

pius tagnt & POI

90 Sidekicks

Great Selection to
choose from

From *11,995
plus treight & PDI
Sales Hours:

Service Hours: 4
Mon.-Fri.

Mon.-Fri. 15 min. to N.Van.
Sam-S5pm

8am-Spm 254.081 1 Sat.5, Sun. 12-4pm

1845 POWELL ST., VANCOUVER