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Tesla remotely unlocks Model 3 car, uses smart summon to help repo agent

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Re: Tesla remotely unlocks Model 3 car, uses smart summon to help repo agent

#51

Post by ryanmercer »

causi wrote: post #3

Should this be illegal? No, probably not. Is this the future I want to live in? Also no.

It's already the future you live in.

Repo agents, for decades, will roll up on a vehicle and hook it up to a tow truck and take off. People go out of their way to hide their vehicles, or block them in with other vehicles, when they haven't paid their loan and know their vehicle is now eligible for repossession.

This just makes it safer for the repo agents, because they can recover the vehicle faster and don't have to risk some nutjob running out of a house/apartment/office with a bat/gun/knife trying to confront them because someone was like "Dave, someone's hooking your car up to a tow truck".

Re: Tesla remotely unlocks Model 3 car, uses smart summon to help repo agent

#53

Post by jhgb »

ryanmercer wrote: post #49
simonh wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's quite right, you own the vehicle legally and you owe the bank the loan. However as soon as a repossession takes place the legal title to the vehicle does change.

You don't own the vehicle if you have a loan, the bank has the title. The title holder is the owner. The best part about paying off a financed car, to me anyway, is the day the title shows up in the mail and you actually own your car.

"Loan" sounds so generic to me that what you're saying may or may not be true in different places.

Re: Tesla remotely unlocks Model 3 car, uses smart summon to help repo agent

#54

Post by fxtentacle »

shadowgovt wrote: post #48
fxtentacle wrote: post #47

The advantage of autonomous cars is that they can resist their owner. That enables big cost savings for everyone (insurance, manufacturer, rental, leasing, repo). Well, everyone except for the "owner".

Who is legally the owner when a car is repossessed? I'd say autonomous vehicles are pro-social machines. They will, in general, act to follow the rules established, ideally more often than a "dumb" car operated by a human. Given how many traffic accidents are human caused, that's sort of the point of the entire exercise.

I would argue that before it is successfully repossessed, the old person is still the owner. They'd also be the one liable if something goes wrong. So we have disconnected the liabilities of ownership from the advantages of ownership. In the past, this type of disconnect has led to companies exploiting it for profit.

Re: Tesla remotely unlocks Model 3 car, uses smart summon to help repo agent

#55

Post by zo1 »

simonh wrote: post #37
scoopertrooper wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, technically, the bank owns the car till you pay it off. So, maybe they are advocating for their customers?

I don't think that's quite right, you own the vehicle legally and you owe the bank the loan. However as soon as a repossession takes place the legal title to the vehicle does change.

It's not universal. Some places have specific regulations that govern this and so they specifically carve out a weird "ownership but non-ownership" scenario. E.g. mortgages here in South Africa. Other places yes it's in your name but you put it up as collateral on the loan itself, etc etc etc.

Bottom line, the government just makes it obscure and difficult to determine the real dynamics between the two parties, and the weird interaction it may have with existing laws governing theft/ownership.

Re: Tesla remotely unlocks Model 3 car, uses smart summon to help repo agent

#56

Post by grishka »

prmoustache wrote: post #41

As a bicycle and old motorcycles user I am gobsmacked that so much people accept that the vehicule they are using is connected or regularly phone home to the manufacturer. I guess if you share all your life on facebook and instagram, why shouldn't you also give away all your errands to any third party. Is there at least a license agreement you are showned at and have to agree to upon delivery? Can you operate those v…

Also, what happens if you remove the SIM card or the cellular antenna?

Re: Tesla remotely unlocks Model 3 car, uses smart summon to help repo agent

#59

Post by sschueller »

hatchnyc wrote: post #36
LightG wrote: post #20

Holy sh!t ... reason 47 to not buy a Tesla.

So…in case you plan to not pay for it but still keep it anyway? I am really struggling to understand the mindset here of what I assume are mostly well paid professional software developers. If I defaulted on a car loan (I don’t know the details exactly off the top of my head, but this entails more than just missing a payment) I’d be quite ashamed of myself and return the car myself with an apology. I cannot understan…

It has happened that cars and even homes have been "repoed" as a result due to a mistake by a bank.

Re: Tesla remotely unlocks Model 3 car, uses smart summon to help repo agent

#60

Post by ethagknight »

bell-cot wrote: post #45

Is this only news "because Tesla"? User jcims mentioned Ford's having the same feature. Probably GM's do, too. For years, I've seen occasional news stories about car dealers adding similar features to vehicles which they sell to buyers with sketchy credit.

I feel pretty confident that GM’s Onstar is primarily a service oriented for GMAC/ally so they can locate and limit speeds and unlock vehicles they hold title to but have not received payment for. Oh and sure they give you a big blue button to punch in case you have a flat tire, for peace of mind. They advertised the speed limiter capability “in case of a vehicle theft” and repo situation (driving a vehicle not paid for) isn’t too far removed from theft
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