31–40 of 88 posts
> DRN sells the information to insurance companies, private investigators ... I wonder if anyone in the insurance industry could comment on how this data is used by them.
I honestly don’t get why anyone goes in to debt to buy a car in this day and age. You can buy a car (or truck) for $3000 that will last several years without requiring any huge mechanic bills or exotic maintenance - heck, I’ve done it. I would much rather take the bus/bike/walk and save up $500/mo for 6 months to be a free man than buy or lease a car for $500/mo and be a space to my creditors. Besides, hoopties can b…
I work as an automotive mechanic, and while I maintain a relatively neutral opinion on repo men, sometimes the amateurs that crawl out of the weeds are absurd. Ive had repo agents posing as customers looking to "get their car," which is pretty funny, but ive also seen agents harassing the front office staff with demands for a vehicle being worked on. Sometimes a driver will park their car to suddenly find theyve been…
Wow, that is wild.
Wow, everything in this article is horrifying: > the rising deployment of remote engine cutoffs and GPS locators in cars Wait, so people can remotely track my car or turn it off? This doesn't sound like a hack away from disaster at all. > The companyʼs goal is to capture every plate in Ohio and use that information to reveal patterns…“Itʼs kind of scary, but itʼs amazing,” said Alana Ferrante, chief executive of Rele…
> This doesn't sound like a hack away from disaster at all. It's been done. https://www.wired.com/2015/07/hackers-remotely-kill-jeep-hig...
>Hastings, an acclaimed war correspondent and vocal critic of government mass surveillance, died in the early hours of Tuesday, June 18, 2013, when his Mercedes C250 Coupe apparently lost control and burst into flames before slamming into a palm tree.
>Witnesses to the accident, which occurred around 4:25am in the leafy Hancock Park neighbourhood of Los Angeles, said the car appeared to be travelling at top speed and was creating “sparks and flames” before it went off the road.
I honestly don’t get why anyone goes in to debt to buy a car in this day and age. You can buy a car (or truck) for $3000 that will last several years without requiring any huge mechanic bills or exotic maintenance - heck, I’ve done it. I would much rather take the bus/bike/walk and save up $500/mo for 6 months to be a free man than buy or lease a car for $500/mo and be a space to my creditors. Besides, hoopties can b…
When it doesn’t work is people getting fancy BMW’s they convinced themselves they would be able to afford somehow, but I have no idea how often that happens vs just lubricating basic necessary economic activity.
I honestly don’t get why anyone goes in to debt to buy a car in this day and age. You can buy a car (or truck) for $3000 that will last several years without requiring any huge mechanic bills or exotic maintenance - heck, I’ve done it. I would much rather take the bus/bike/walk and save up $500/mo for 6 months to be a free man than buy or lease a car for $500/mo and be a space to my creditors. Besides, hoopties can b…
At least 10 years ago, a friend forgot where he parked his car in the Airport parking lot after a long trip. When he went to the booth embarrassed to tell them this, they said it was no big deal and did a quick tap-tap-tap on the keyboard using his license plate number to determine its exact location. They apparently scanned all the license plates in all their lots twice a day.
I'd bet this is to prevent people from claiming they lost their ticket after parking in the garage for a month in order to pay the daily max rate instead of a month's worth of fees.
Wow, everything in this article is horrifying: > the rising deployment of remote engine cutoffs and GPS locators in cars Wait, so people can remotely track my car or turn it off? This doesn't sound like a hack away from disaster at all. > The companyʼs goal is to capture every plate in Ohio and use that information to reveal patterns…“Itʼs kind of scary, but itʼs amazing,” said Alana Ferrante, chief executive of Rele…
> the rising deployment of remote engine cutoffs and GPS locators in cars How is this legal? Cutting off the engine at a bad time could cause horrific accidents, putting the car owner and occupants of surrounding cars in lethal harm. Where is the class action law suit for this?
It's sort of funny that a lot of people in the comments here had no idea that this stuff exists; it highlights the lack of demographic overlap between people posting on HN and the sort of person that would wind up getting a device like this installed (or need to use a buy here pay here lot).
At least 10 years ago, a friend forgot where he parked his car in the Airport parking lot after a long trip. When he went to the booth embarrassed to tell them this, they said it was no big deal and did a quick tap-tap-tap on the keyboard using his license plate number to determine its exact location. They apparently scanned all the license plates in all their lots twice a day.
In 2001 my car was towed from LAX parking lot because they checked the plate (they told me they scan all plates daily) and it came back as registered to a different make. Turns out the dealer made a single-letter mistake in VIN when registering the car with DMV, and there is no check digit to reject invalid VINs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_identification_number#... ?
At least 10 years ago, a friend forgot where he parked his car in the Airport parking lot after a long trip. When he went to the booth embarrassed to tell them this, they said it was no big deal and did a quick tap-tap-tap on the keyboard using his license plate number to determine its exact location. They apparently scanned all the license plates in all their lots twice a day.
In 2001 my car was towed from LAX parking lot because they checked the plate (they told me they scan all plates daily) and it came back as registered to a different make. Turns out the dealer made a single-letter mistake in VIN when registering the car with DMV, and there is no check digit to reject invalid VINs.