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

thedrive.com

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

#431

Post by ilyt »

chadlavi wrote: post #329
Merad wrote: post #304

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> He offered to pay, and they wouldn't take a credit card, PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, wire transfer, or any other modern form of payment. No, he had to go to Western Union. I'm guessing they told him to get a Western Union money order, as those can't be reversed after they're cashed (AFAIK). Most modern forms of payment offer some level of consumer protection, as in they can be canceled or reversed. TBH a repo business mi…

Isn't a cashier's check from your bank also not cancelable?

If you're at bank you can just withdraw cash tho

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

#432

Post by dreamcompiler »

ilyt wrote: post #430
dreamcompiler wrote: post #397

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In many places where illegal parking is common, tow truck drivers stage close by or hire spotters so they can hook up cars quickly. They can make a lot of money hauling away cars from drivers who only plan to stop for 2 minutes. https://nyti.ms/3xW9OQX

This seems like stuff that should never be privatized or under non-police control. Police hires company to tow stuff away sure, but not "some random bumblefuck have right to do the police's job of "law enforcement"

It's legalized car theft IMO.

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

#433

Post by Galacta7 »

Clubber wrote: post #195
Kon-Peki wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their financing makes money on the differential between the rate they pay on demand notes and the rate they lend to car buyers. Anyone (well, US Persons at least) can buy the demand notes [1], which are currently paying 4.75%. So as long as they are lending at an average rate above 4.75% after defaults and other problems I guess they are in a good position. But they can also move money around internally, I suppose, t…

I've heard people opine that motor companies: Ford, GM, Harley Davidson, etc. aren't really motor companies anymore, they are finance companies and just use the vehicle as a means to get the financing paper. They are obviously both, but it would explain why the quality of US vehicles keeps deteriorating since around 2007 or so.

It seems like that's literally true for Ally bank, which started its life as the finance arm of GMAC, and still technically is despite being a full-fledged bank in its own right. I don't think they're owned by General Motors anymore, though.

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

#434

Post by manchmalscott »

elil17 wrote: post #157
mrguyorama wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except they can only do that if a patent clerk (who is usually not a physicist or engineer) can TELL it's a perpetual motion machine. After millions and millions of patents, there are bound to be a bunch that should not have been granted, even if those patent clerks are 99.9% good at their job

Patent examiners (the modern term for patent clerks) have at least a bachelors degree in a technical field relevant to the subject they review. That might be physics, engineer, chemistry, or something else. Examiners are assigned to specific art unit (e.g. an examiner with a degree in chemistry might be assigned to art unit 1710 and spend their entire career examining patents for chemicals involved in "Coating, Etchi…

Patent examiners are being moved to a system where they are "automatically" assigned applications to review that may or may not have anything more than superficial in common. I've got a parent that's a patent examiner and they have been complaining loudly about the move because they often don't know much about what they're reviewing anymore.

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

#435

Post by zrobotics »

heavyset_go wrote: post #416
giobox wrote: post #367

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every new Ford on sale today in the US, from the cheapest Maverick to the most expensive F150 configuration, now has remote monitoring and access via 5G as standard - it's needed if nothing else to offer the apps to remote start and unlock the car that consumers just expect now. Its generally the same industry wide. > https://www.ford.com/support/category/fordpass/

Is it always connected or do drivers need to pay a fee for connectivity?

Always connected, no fee. Although the car (at least my 21) also offers a cellular wifi hotspot that appears to use the ATT network[0]. No clue what the monthly pricing is, I've never signed up for that trial.

I have the lowest spec, cheapest car Ford had available and it still has the cellular antenna. I checked, and at leadt on an ecosport the cell antenna is very easy to remove and doesn't impact functionality of the car. That being said, I did reconnect the cellular antenna since app-enabled remote start is a genuinely useful feature. I can warm the car up from my desk without having to walk within range of the keyfob, so I am accepting that bit of privacy loss.

[0] https://www.ford.com/support/category/fordpass/fordpass-conn...

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

#436

Post by gerdesj »

My company's premises overlook a roundabout that is part of of a virtual crossroads - the A37 and A30, as well as several other routes: It's called Five Ways, there are four obvious ways these days, the other one becomes apparent when you look at a map and history. Also, we are surrounded by residential housing, a cemetary, and a college.

I deployed Home Assistant as a building monitor and stuff a few years back. HA gains new super powers with each release.

I let it listen to the airwaves and when the funky new Bluetooth stuff came online, it now sees a lot more stuff. We also have a couple of Unifi APs. So HA can listen to 2.4 and 5GHz, we have Zwave and Zigbee dongles in it and Bluetooth.

It notices every car that goes past on two major single carriageways, when they advertise themselves. The roads are classified at around 30,000 cars per day each.

Also I see several toothbrushes (Oral B+) and a lot of lights ... a lot of lights. I've already started having a chat with my neighbours about IoT.

Cars are a bit of a worry ...

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

#437

Post by kjghkjghkjgh »

ilyt wrote: post #430
dreamcompiler wrote: post #397

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In many places where illegal parking is common, tow truck drivers stage close by or hire spotters so they can hook up cars quickly. They can make a lot of money hauling away cars from drivers who only plan to stop for 2 minutes. https://nyti.ms/3xW9OQX

This seems like stuff that should never be privatized or under non-police control. Police hires company to tow stuff away sure, but not "some random bumblefuck have right to do the police's job of "law enforcement"

With police already understaffed as they are, how would they enforce a bunch of students parking illegally next to campus and blocking traffic?

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

#438

Post by eduction »

lovemenot wrote: post #427
version_five wrote: post #389

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You had me until "former car owner"

Pointing out sanctimony or hypocrisy is not a valid argument against. It's is a kind of ad hominem. A person can be both right and sanctimonious

Weird to me it’s being read as sanctimony. My intent was just to convey “I was a driver for 22 years I am allowed to say we are entitled behind the wheel.” Maybe people feel guilty about owning cars so it rubbed them wrong? Some people have to, I’m lucky enough to not. I don’t think I’m better, just emotionally liberated. It’s an amazing feeling to have the privilege of not having to drive or park, get psychotically enraged at being towed, etc

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

#439

Post by zrobotics »

Panzer04 wrote: post #426
turdprincess wrote: post #424

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Curious whats your plan if new cars become increasingly internet connected, kinda how smart TVs went? Will you keep driving early 2000s cars until they become "vintage"?

Presumably you could always just break the 5G module - the carmaker can’t assume internet connectivity, so it should work fine without.

Yep, I tested with my 21 Ford and removing the TCU (telematics control unit, that acronym should be general to most of the industry) disabled cell communication but didn't impact operation of the vehicle.

I did end up hooking it back up to re-enable remote start since I'm in a cold climate, but I couldn't help myself but test this. Something mobile like a car can't assume connectivity, although I have heard reports of people stranded when using rental services that rely on cell connection.

Forum confirmation here: https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/disabling-fordpass...

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

#440

Post by notyourwork »

reustle wrote: post #401
notyourwork wrote: post #387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The amount of mental gymnastics I hear from people who illegally park or obstruct society for their own selfish reasons is beyond me. There are places to park, there are places to not park, they don't have an overlap.

I don't agree with this. I'm from the US and have now lived in Japan for 6+ years. We have zero on street parking around the city, yet we joke that the hazard lights button is the "park anywhere" button, and you see it all the time. Because nobody strongly abuses this, it generally works fine and people go on with their lives around them. Even with the small neighborhood streets around Tokyo, you rarely see it being…

> I do get disillusioned sometimes though, living in a society where people have a general level of respect for each other.

This might have something to do with it.

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