Keyless Start Button Placement

Mine is at the bottom. If a safety issue, I wonder if they will recall and change?

laurel said:

We bought a Silver Sands 2.3 today. We noticed immediately that the engine on/off button is now at the top of the row of buttons for D, P, R, etc. When we test drove the MKC awhile back it was at the bottom. I gather there has been some concern about the button placement being too close radio dials etc. Where is your button? When did this change occur? Our MKC was born September 29th. We did test whether one can turn off the engine while driving, and pushing the on/off puts the car into neutral. So moving the button sounds like a very good idea.

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Mine is at the bottom, odd.

The oddest part of changing the location of the engine on/off button is that there hasn't been an announcement about this. I have to think that it is a safety issue. The other thing I find a little odd is that when pressing the engine on/off while driving is that the car goes into neutral and then park. We only tried that at low speed so I'm not sure what would happen at high speed. I think we are destined for some sort of recall--maybe a plastic safety cap over top of the on/off button unless they move the on/off away from the gear buttons. This will interesting to follow to see what happens next.

Mine is at the top, no problems

Mine will finally be in on the 14th. It will be interesting to see where its at.

Mine is at the top as well.

Mine is at the bottom. When in for service the dealer mentioned some are located at the top.

Ours is at the bottom. Build date is Aug 12th.

The brochure has also been changed; now pictures show at the top

My wife ordered on Sept. 8., she received it 3 days ago and the start button is at the top.

Possibly, but I would not bet on it, unless it is a plug and play deal. It is weird a design change mid cycle.

harborbreeze said:

Possibly, but I would not bet on it, unless it is a plug and play deal. It is weird a design change mid cycle.

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I just called Lincoln's Client Relationship Center. They said it's a design change, sometimes based on early customer feedback, and there is no safety issue or potential recall involved for those of us that have the earlier production MKCs with the ignition on/off button on the bottom. They said they would never hide a safety issue from their customers but I'm sure other manufacturers like GM and Toyota have said that to their customers in the past as well. We all know how that has turned out. I'm still skeptical. Manufacturers don't make quick design changes early in a vehicle's production cycle unless there is something significant going on. I'm still not buying what I heard today from Lincoln. If there is anyone else out there who can shed more light on this design change I am very interested in hearing more. Thanks.

Maybe all MKC owners with the start button on the bottom should get their dealers to replace it with the new set up?

cjc96 said:

Maybe all MKC owners with the start button on the bottom should get their dealers to replace it with the new set up?

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Will never happen without an official recall. Appears highly unlikely at this time.

I suspect the change is due to input from owners early on. On the other MKC forum, an owner wrote to Lincoln about her experience of turning off the car accidentally while going 30 mph while changing radio stations. Car went into neutral and shut off all power. Scary stuff. I know I am much happier having the button at the top as it is a little more out of the way, but optimally engine off/on would be moved totally away from gear shifting and the navigation screen.
My husband says he thinks the fix by Lincoln will be to add a spring loaded plastic cap over the engine on/off button. And he is sure a fix will be coming as it is too potentially dangerous to leave things the way they are.

Button on top. Build date was October 14.

Build date Oct 7. Button on top.\
Different letter colors and tactiles (convex, concave, bumps) all might help.