Yahoo Autos The $7 Part That Starts Every Lexus LFA
The keyed ignition switch is nearly a thing of the past. Today, even base-model economy cars are showing up with keyless push-button start. But it wasn’t so long ago that even top-end cars had traditional metal keys. One of the most recent examples is the Lexus LFA, an otherworldly supercar built from cutting-edge carbon fiber-reinforced polymer and powered by one of the best sounding engines in the history of the automobile. And yet, to start that V-10 engine, you have to twist an ignition switch with utterly humble roots.
Welcome to The Parts Department, where we follow basic car components to their strangest destinations.
Toyota part No. 84450-12200 is a keyed ignition switch that was nearly ubiquitous in the automaker’s North American products starting in the mid-Nineties. It first appeared in the dashboards of cars like the Tercel and Paseo before spreading to the rest of the Toyota and Lexus lineups over the next decade and a half. At its peak, this ignition switch was used in almost every Toyota and Lexus made in the early 2000s, before slowly dropping off as push-button ignitions were introduced.
Around 2010, it seemed like the switch was done for good in the Lexus lineup. The only Lexus left that used 84450-12200 was the aging SC 430, which was cancelled after the 2010 model year. But then our humble ignition switch reappeared in 2011, in the dashboard of Lexus’s new performance halo, the LFA. The screaming supercar’s key may have been adorned with milled metal and carbon fiber, but it operated the same tumbler found in the lowly Tercel.
No. 84450-12200 had a much longer life in the Toyota lineup, appearing in the 4Runner up until this year (SmartKey push-button starting finally becomes standard equipment on the SUV for 2022). The ignition switch also appeared in the Scion iQ, TC and xB from 2005 to 2016, when the brand folded.
Our friendly ignition switch retails for $114.53 from Toyota and Lexus dealers, but online OEM discount stores typically sell it for just under $80. Thanks to the fact that it’s shared across so many Toyota and Lexus models, the switch is a popular item in the aftermarket, with nearly a dozen companies offering their own versions to fit. The cheapest version, from Ultra-Power, costs less than $7.
