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Future Fords could repossess themselves and drive away if you miss payments

thedrive.com

101–110 of 568 posts

Re: Future Fords could repossess themselves and drive away if you miss payments

#101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest problem with an ignition interlock device today is that they're extremely unreliable. As implemented they are also very intrusive. Granted, they are currently implemented only as part of a punitive measure, so that behavior is partly intentional, but it would be unacceptable for universal adoption. Probably be better to just make cars do realtime verification of license status before letting someone drive…

>The biggest problem with an ignition interlock device today is that they're extremely unreliable. As implemented they are also very intrusive Money spent making the device not suck reduces profit. Nobody will care when you abuse your customers because your customers are convicted criminals. Pretty much every company selling stuff that people need to use to not violate the terms of their sentence is like this.

It doesn't have to be the car companies that do the research and design, it can be state funded (since it will be state mandated) research, design and development and open source/patent-free to manufacture.

If it's meant to be used by everyone (I'm not thinking DUI recidivists, how many people have you seen rationalize driving after a drink or two or six) then make it usable by everyone.

Re: Future Fords could repossess themselves and drive away if you miss payments

#102
post #71
post #60

I hope they defend it with a vengeance so nobody can copy it

Maybe I'm naive, but I don't see this as particularly evil. It's just a more efficient of what already happens in terms of care repossession. What needs to happen is better consumer protection to prevent americans buying cars on finance that they are never going to be able to afford.

> care repossession

Does autocorrect make Freudian slips?

Re: Future Fords could repossess themselves and drive away if you miss payments

#103

In 10 years there will be love songs about your car leaving you.

Why wait 10 years, when you've got ChatGPT.

Verse 1: I bought a brand new truck, shiny and so smart It had all the latest gadgets, it was a work of art But I got behind on payments, my bills just piled high And one day I woke up, to a big surprise

Chorus: My smart truck repossessed itself, it had a mind of its own It drove away into the sunset, left me all alone I should have paid my bills on time, kept up with the loan But now my smart truck's gone, and I'm all alone

Verse 2: I searched high and low, for my smart truck so true But it was nowhere to be found, no matter what I do It had GPS and sensors, it knew just where to go Back to the dealership, where it could be sold

Chorus: My smart truck repossessed itself, it had a mind of its own It drove away into the sunset, left me all alone I should have paid my bills on time, kept up with the loan But now my smart truck's gone, and I'm all alone

Bridge: I guess I learned my lesson, to pay my debts on time But it still hurts so bad, to see my truck's tail lights shine I'll never forget the day, my smart truck drove away And I'll always regret, the price I had to pay

Chorus: My smart truck repossessed itself, it had a mind of its own It drove away into the sunset, left me all alone I should have paid my bills on time, kept up with the loan But now my smart truck's gone, and I'm all alone

Outro: So if you're thinking of buying, a smart truck of your own Make sure you pay your bills on time, and keep up with the loan Or you might end up like me, with a broken heart and soul Watching your smart truck drive away, leaving you alone.

Re: Future Fords could repossess themselves and drive away if you miss payments

#104

I feel like in order to patent a thing, you should need have to have a credible implementation of the thing being patented. An implementation of this clearly requires at least level 4 autonomy[0], which AFAIK, nobody has demonstrated. This is only slightly closer to a real-world implementation than a patent for asteroid mining, never mind commercial viability. Mind you, I don't consider that a bad thing; this is pret…

Isn't a large problem with FSD to do it at speed? If you never go above 5mph, a lot of things suddenly get much simpler because the amount of time you need to stop the car is very close to zero, and you probably don't care how long it takes for your possessed car to make it back to your show room.

Re: Future Fords could repossess themselves and drive away if you miss payments

#105
post #71
post #60

I hope they defend it with a vengeance so nobody can copy it

Maybe I'm naive, but I don't see this as particularly evil. It's just a more efficient of what already happens in terms of care repossession. What needs to happen is better consumer protection to prevent americans buying cars on finance that they are never going to be able to afford.

People are going to use this to steal cars and scam people. It will almost certainly screw up and kill somebody at some point.

No amount of new features will ever convince me to buy a car that does this but the people who do buy them will undoubtedly be poor and marginalized and offered a great deal on their financing if they choose the roborepo car.

Re: Future Fords could repossess themselves and drive away if you miss payments

#106

There was an episode of Knight Rider where Kitt turned evil and did this to Michael!

Theres the episode of Star Trek TNG where data takes control of the enterprise because his father/maker activated a program to return to him.

Re: Future Fords could repossess themselves and drive away if you miss payments

#107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Exactly (on both sides). We should help people to find and choose cars they can afford. And, when someone does not pay as agreed to a significant degree, the more efficient that a repossession can happen, the better a deal can be offered to borrowers who do pay as agreed.

In the 1970s my dad found that American car dealerships had no interest in selling small and economical cars at all. Japanese car dealerships have been this way recently, before the pandemic hit we tried to buy a new Honda Fit and had to buy a used one because they had none in inventory because, allegedly, the factory had washed away in a flood but they had a row of 50 CR-Vs made in the same factory. The dealer tried…

Your dealer doesn't know what they're talking about, which is par for the course. You couldn't find a Fit because Honda stopped importing them. They were discontinued in the US due to poor sales.

Re: Future Fords could repossess themselves and drive away if you miss payments

#110
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe I'm naive, but I don't see this as particularly evil. It's just a more efficient of what already happens in terms of care repossession. What needs to happen is better consumer protection to prevent americans buying cars on finance that they are never going to be able to afford.

I can see it now: A cash-strapped, frazzled single-mom parks her car on her driveway to unload groceries, leaving her child in the car seat while she carries bags inside the garage. While the mom is walking toward the door the car repossesses itself and heads back to the dealership, child trapped inside.

After this happens the first time they will add some kind of checking mechanism which means you can defeat repossession by putting a doll sitting on some bricks in a child car seat to avoid this happening automatically.
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