Kyle Bailey

I was up at Sequoia National PArk this past week, and was waiting my turn to drive on to a fallen redwood for a photo opportunity. I left the Cherokee in front of me plenty of room to back off, but he just kept on backing. When it became apparent that he wasn't going to stop, I tried to honk the horn but remembered that it didn't work with the ignition off. I quickly started the car, considered backing up but I had someone behind me, so I layed on the horn. The Cherokee stopped about 3 inches from my front bumper.

I had an old BMW 2002, and its horn also worked only with the ignition on. From this, I assume that it is a characteristic of German cars, but I am unsure of the logic. I suppose it could be to prevent the horn from going off inadvertently in the middle of the night.

RickS

It must be euro thing, I know these won't honk either: Discovery, 300E, 850Ci & Aston Martin

mitro

Goes waaaaay back. All my old VWs did this. Don't know why.

James

Hey Everyone,

Here are a couple of reasons why I think they only allow the horn to work with the ignition on.

1) Those who put their purses up in front of the steering column to grab their wallets before going into the bank, etc. I'm not sure how many padestrians my mom has scared by accidently honking the horn this way.

2) Kids who are waiting in the car while the parent goes for a quick run into the office, 7-11, etc.. I know I honked the horn when I was younger waiting in the car. :-)

I really don't miss the horn when the car's not on. But you're right though Kyle, in a situation like this, it would really help. One of my previous cars was a victim of this type of thing at a gas station.


James Wu
<a href="http://vancouver.a4.org">Vancouver A4 Club</a>
1998 Black/Onyx 1.8tqa

pauls

I agree with James but would add my 2 cents. I've always suspected it was a kind of safety thing that has outlived its usefull life. Having owned several British cars with Lucas electrics I can tell you it gives you some comfort to not have power supplied to many components when you switch off the ignition. Kind of like turning off a master switch things can't short out and catch fire by themselves. BTW I had a car in the garage that did short the horn once. My neighbors told me it was honking while I was away. Next time I tried to honk the horn it didn't work, I checked it and it and found it completely melted. That scared me big time. Fixed the horn, it never did it again. Who knows. I believe they should forget the idea now though. Its better to have the horn alive all the time.

P