As I recall, keyless fobs were a luxury car feature first, in a futuristic “fuck you, I’m so cool I don’t need to rummage through my tuxedo pockets to find my keys” sort of way. Then they trickled down to us plebs. (Well, not me yet. I’m an old used car kinda gal, so it’ll be another decade before I have to deal with them.) The “problem” they were designed to solve was that people were buying The Other Guy’s Cars, and maybe if you put keyless systems on your car, they’d buy your car.
And, I mean, find your inner 12 year old. The *idea *of a keyless entry and ignition is kind of neat. It’s just that, as with lots of things that appeal to your inner 12 year old, like eating Cadbury Creme Eggs for breakfast and riding elephants, they seem more fun than they really turn out to be.
Used car lot in Japan. Not sure what the Festiva was in the US, but out here it’s a rebadged Mazda Demio 5 door, evidently made in Korea. I picked mine up for $1100 before associated legal fees (liability insurance, title transfer fee, Japanese Compulsory Insurance, etc.)