I looked up the interior of a 1997 LaSabre, there's plenty of places to add a new button. I don't think (but I may be wrong) that US law stipulates that the ho

I looked up the interior of a 1997 LaSabre, there's plenty of places to add a new button. I don't think (but I may be wrong) that US law stipulates that the horn must be operated via the steering wheel, and modifying it is trickier for the reasons you mention. You could have a custom horn via a pull chain, see e.g. [1]. Anyway, this was clearly ages ago. I only chimed in to note that there's often non-OEM fixes for car troubles that are much cheaper, and will pass inspections. If all you need is a functional horn you can get a working one at a junkyard. Then all you need is to mount it somewhere, a 12V power supply, and a switch. Even if you can't do any of this yourself paying a mechanic to do it would be a small fraction of the $1600 you noted, which presumably was a full steering wheel replacement (airbag and all). 1. https://www.lalightbars.co.uk/hadley-air-horn-pull-chain-kit---truck-pull-chain-234-p.asp https://www.lalightbars.co.uk/hadley-air-horn-pull-chain-kit...