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What does this button do? – My new car has a mysterious and undocumented switch

blog.koenvh.nl

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Re: What does this button do? – My new car has a mysterious and undocumented switch

#241

Post by Suppafly »

hoistbypetard wrote: post #10

> “can I get free data from the SIM card embedded in the device that I now technically own?” That seems like the next-most-interesting question now that you've determined what the device is. Possibly followed closely by "can I use that free-to-me data in a fun way that might teach the people who installed the SIM to deactivate their devices when they sell them?" i.e. Could you send and receive enough on the connectio…

Our water company switched our meters from RF to cellular a while back, I'm not curious enough to mess with it, but I suspect you could repurpose the sim card from one of them.

Re: What does this button do? – My new car has a mysterious and undocumented switch

#242

Post by sellmesoap »

dlcarrier wrote: post #152
IshKebab wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Found it:

Coda EV Rav 4 EV Nissan Leaf Fiat 500e Smart Fortwo electric drive ... There's probably a dozen or so first-generation (well for this century) electric vehicles that are just regular cars that happen to have an electric power plant. The upside is that you can buy them used, for a couple grand. The downside is that they were manufactured with a 100 mile range, and your lucky if you can find one that still retains half…

I once saw a business proposing at a town hall near me that they would open a used ev/hybrid lot, the town was very reserved about approving the business and in the end it fell through. I love cars and tinkering with them, in my experience you can get a lot of miles out of an old car, newer technology can be daunting for old wrenches. I'm somewhere in between with my technical background. The idea of a 'kill switch' in a car is disconcerting for me, but this list gives me hope! Thanks!

Re: What does this button do? – My new car has a mysterious and undocumented switch

#243

Post by matsemann »

SoftTalker wrote: post #202
rcpt wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're right. Because my e-bike is of negligible danger to others. But cars kill tens of thousands every year. Speed limits and red lights being on the honor system isn't working. Luckily technology, like the little GPS tracker in the article, can fix it.

An e-bike going 40mph (or even slower) can easily kill you or someone else.

A car hitting a pedestrian at 30 mph is 80 % chance of death. At 20 mph the chance is only 20 %.

So the outrage and over-reactive legislation put on electric bicycles or electric scooters is quite insane in comparison. Max 15 mph on an electric bike, no limits on a car in the city..

Re: What does this button do? – My new car has a mysterious and undocumented switch

#244

Post by volemo »

WarOnPrivacy wrote: post #87
dclowd9901 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm with you here. I have an 89 BMW (which is old enough to have an actual servo motor attached to the intake manifold for cruise control) and an 83 Land Cruiser (whose most advanced feature is that it controls its emissions using vacuum controlled pneumatic circuitry). I'm very glad I've put in the time to learn how to work on cars because I have zero interest in the tech direction of modern vehicles.

> 89 BMW ... and an 83 Land Cruiser I'm with you. Our daily drivers are 2011 Mitsu, 96 Toyota, 92 Buick and a 63 Dart. Also a 61 Sunliner for when it's not-summer. The Mitsu is unfortunately drive-by-wire; I mostly avoid it.

How large is your family? Why do you need so many cars?

Re: What does this button do? – My new car has a mysterious and undocumented switch

#245

Post by KineticLensman »

rglullis wrote: post #234
jaredhallen wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like maybe you don't need a car. That's good for you, and I truly mean that. But that doesn't mean it's the case for everyone. It's a big, diverse world out there.

Unless your idea of "diverse world" is confined to (suburban) North America, the need to own a car is the exception , not the rule.

Rural southern England here. Public transport is non existant where I live. You need a car if you want a life.

I lost my driving license for medical reasons and have spent two years without driving. I am really conscious of what a car means in terms of having a social life, working, etc. If I was younger, I would have had to relocate

Re: What does this button do? – My new car has a mysterious and undocumented switch

#248

Post by no_wizard »

dclowd9901 wrote: post #35
afh1 wrote: post #25

The scary part is not the GPS installed by the fleet company that previously owned the car, which in all likelihood was just forgotten there, but the GPS and eSIM that comes with most (all?) new cars and that in most (all?) new cars cannot be disabled. Apart from privacy concerns of your data being used or sold by the car vendor, government outreach is also a concern. There was a bill announced in the US for all new…

I'm with you here. I have an 89 BMW (which is old enough to have an actual servo motor attached to the intake manifold for cruise control) and an 83 Land Cruiser (whose most advanced feature is that it controls its emissions using vacuum controlled pneumatic circuitry). I'm very glad I've put in the time to learn how to work on cars because I have zero interest in the tech direction of modern vehicles.

This makes me wonder what the cost is to convert a vehicle over to biodiesel so it can be ran on used oil.

Still green, unlike gas, but restricts the surface area of issues related to modern cars

Re: What does this button do? – My new car has a mysterious and undocumented switch

#249

Post by valval »

afh1 wrote: post #25

The scary part is not the GPS installed by the fleet company that previously owned the car, which in all likelihood was just forgotten there, but the GPS and eSIM that comes with most (all?) new cars and that in most (all?) new cars cannot be disabled. Apart from privacy concerns of your data being used or sold by the car vendor, government outreach is also a concern. There was a bill announced in the US for all new…

I know your comment is just the traditional HN karma grab, but rejecting technological advancement in vehicles based on privacy concerns means missing out on significant improvements in safety, efficiency, and comfort. Would you also reject modern healthcare because hospitals use connected devices?

Re: What does this button do? – My new car has a mysterious and undocumented switch

#250

Post by ssl-3 »

spike021 wrote: post #228
ssl-3 wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bought a used van a few years ago at a strange time: I needed a particular kind of vehicle right away, and there broadly just weren't any at a reasonable price (because chip shortage, mostly). I spent a long time (several weeks) looking, and became increasingly frustrated with what would have normally been a simple process. When one showed up at a good local dealership, I bought it. I barely looked at it first. Unu…

Sometimes it's for a sound system or some other wired feature someone installs from aftermarket stuff. When they sell the car, it's easier to remove the added system and leave the switch.

That's pretty common, yeah. Or fog lights. Or (on VCM Hondas, such as this example) VCM foolers/defeats.

I didn't ever find any evidence of aftermarket anything except for some suspension parts (new shocks/struts, tie rods, woot) and the remote starter. And...the switch.

Given the fact that the vehicle is probably headed to China by now to make new cars out of, the switch will just have to remain strange and unknown.

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