Power Windows and Door Locks? Sorry, Not Available

[Marika]

I have seen the future of affordable, fuel-efficient motoring, and it looks a lot like a base model 1961 Ford Falcon. Hand-cranking the windows on the 2009 Chevrolet Cobalt XFE, which gets a very impressive 37 miles per gallon on the highway and 26 m.p.g. in town, I exercised muscles I’d forgotten I owned. And my bad back got a workout stretching across to press down the manual door locks.

“Hand-cranked windows!” exclaimed my 14-year-old daughter, who’d never seen them before. “What is this, an Oldmobile?” A child of the media age, she couldn’t believe the car had no remote for the locks.

The windows were also tight as a tick, and wouldn’t move unless considerable human torque was applied. Trying to get the window down while fumbling for change at a tollbooth, my hand slipped off and banged on the edge of the dashboard.

You cannot buy a base Cobalt XFE (Xtra Fuel Economy) LS model with power windows and locks. Perhaps this is a sign of our austere times. Car and Driver, evaluating an also easy-on-gas 2009 Toyota Corolla, marveled that its test vehicle was “so naked it had crank windows and manual locks.”

Therese Langer, transportation program director of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy in Washington, said she rented a Mazda 3 recently and was astounded to see the hand cranks. “I thought they had gone the way of the mastodon,” she said.

What a difference a couple of years makes! In 2006, the American International Automobile Dealers Association predicted that buyer expectations would result in the total demise of the hand-cranked car window, but now this distant cousin to the butter churn appears to be making a comeback. A steep learning curve may be necessary to relearn this once-basic skill. The Cobalt’s owner’s manual instructs, “If your vehicle has manual windows, use the window crank to open and close each window.”

Consumers seem to be embracing the austerity represented by the Cobalt XFE LS. The big news is that the 2009 model, with 37 highway m.p.g., has bragging rights over 2008, with 36. This modest gain was achieved with variable-valve timing, a taller final-drive ratio and new low-rolling-resistance Goodyear tires, said Nick Daniels, a General Motors spokesman.

The Cobalt will eventually be replaced by the new Chevrolet Cruze, built on the compact Delta platform and scheduled to appear for the 2011 model year. According to Edmunds, the most fuel-efficient Cruze should up the ante with a gas mileage rating of over 40 miles per gallon on the highway.

Meanwhile, Mr. Daniels said the XFE model is “flying off dealer lots,” and it’s the $15,010 no-frills LS model he sees most on the road. “With the economic times we’re in and fuel economy the way it is, I definitely think people will be willing to buy cars with manual windows and do-it-yourself locks,” Mr. Daniels said. “And G.M. will build a lot of vehicles like that.”

[Marika]

Truthfully, I was never fond of power windows. They're usually the first thing that breaks and it's very expensive to fix.

[Bruce Nunnally]

I was trying to explain to my son what features I consider 'luxury' features in a car. He pointed out that no car he has been in DOESN'T have most of the things on my list. The standard equipment level of even economy cars today is very high.