That’s incorrect. A relay is an electrically operated switch. It can be electromechanical or it can be solid state.
If the relay is isolated part then it’s serviceable at a reasonable cost. If hey start putting them on a central computer board then it gets expensive.
If my research is correct they’re still using a separate module for the turn signal I described. It’s solid state and makes no noise. it is also programmed to blink 3 times for a lane change and then stop. I think it was a Ford Fussion.
Rick can probably describe it better. There may be a turning mode involved. I was a bit flustered driving it because it didn’t act like a normal turn signal and I didn’t have time to consult the manual while driving it.
I never expected so a heated hijack and debate over turn signals and their design philosophy but I guess that is just one of the bonuses of the SDMB.
Oh I don’t think it’s heated. I understand Rick’s point and he’s one of the contributing professional mechanics and I respect that.
But getting back to the thread, there seems to be a shift away from cheap efficient cars in the United States. When the gas crisis of the early 70’s came about people were flocking to buy cheap efficient cars. Comfort and fashion have taken a toll on that demographic purchase group. Station wagons have been replaced by SUV’s and trucks. The subcompact has grown in size and a separate micro car or hybrid has replaced it.
It’s really hard to compare purchase choices between the 70’s and now because the choices are so much different. Clearly there is a market for economy cars but the word “cheap” doesn’t seem to enter into the equation like it did in the 70’s. A Pinto sold for $2000 in 1970. Inflation would make that $12,000 today. Are there cars that cheap? Yes, in theory. You won’t likely see on on the road for that price. The original Pinto had no carpet, air conditioning or power steering or brakes. And people bought them like that. In droves. Ironically for a couple of thousand more you get something that is massively nicer than a stripped down Pinto and still people aren’t buying them like they did in the 70’s.
In this situation you’ve got a transistor sort of being used as a relay, but it would generally not be considered correct to call a transistor a relay. Hopefully this doesn’t touch off a hijack-within-a-hijack about electrical component nomenclature!
The important point is that adding an extra transistor on the computer board (which, yes, behaves sort of like a relay) is much simpler and cheaper than adding a separate relay.
Furthermore if you take his definition at face value his 1960’s Rollscanhardly* does not have a flasher, it has a relay. 
The point is in the auto world a relay is an electromechanical device.
In one of my new car feature books from Volvo technical they make the point that a number of relays had been replaced by Field Effect Transistors.
By hey what do those guys know? They just design and build cars for a living.
*Rollscanhardly = rolls down one hill can hardly make it up the next.
You’re turning a simple fact into a hijack. You have to have a relay to transfer electricity from point A to Point B using another electrical signal. I gave a cite that such a device can be solid state or electromechanical. Using an SCR or FET on other solid state device may or may not save money depending on the location of the board but there is no question that it is cost prohibitive to the consumer if it breaks. And if you think this doesn’t matter when someone is handed a $400 repair bill for replacing a computer versus $10 for a solid state relay easily accessed then we are never going to agree. A common turn signal module among cars is a better engineering design than one on a computer board.