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

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

#451

Post by 77pt77 »

malfist wrote: post #375
_huayra_ wrote: post #330

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI for anyone who owns a Subaru: you can opt out of 3rd-party data sharing here https://www.subaru.com/support/consumer-privacy.html If you don't live in one of the states mentioned in the first paragraph, expect this to take a very long time. For me it took 6 months.

You can also opt out of Ford too. They default enable sharing with third party for features, default disable for sharing with data brokers like LexisNexis. It requires you to put in your driver pin to enable that

Wait!

Lexisnexis has access to the GPS information?

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

#452

Post by herczegzsolt »

kordlessagain wrote: post #427
simonjgreen wrote: post #288

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you continued reading to the bottom of the article you would find validation for your hypothesis

The article doesn't specifically mention iButton or one-wire systems. It just describes a metal plate "to hold a magnet next to" that's connected to a fleet tracking system for driver identification. While this is similar to how iButton/one-wire systems work, it's not fact since the article doesn't confirm the specific technology used. I have one of those buttons and readers from a project kit from a long time ago, a…

I think the magnet reference is just a misleading mixup on the dealers side who was probably not familiar with iButton specifically. Very old immobiliser systems used simple reed switches and magnets - basically just pure security by obscurity.

The purpose of the switch is also unconfirmed by the article, but this exact combination of cheap chinese button + ibutton reader were an extremly common retrofit into Opels in Hungary.

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

#453

Post by 77pt77 »

madaxe_again wrote: post #92
JTyQZSnP3cQGa8B wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> given them a reasonable amount of time (maybe a couple months) to collect their property Why waste your own time with this? If it's your house, you own everything inside. I would put all the cameras in the trash and forget about it.

Not so. My mother bought a house in France in 1988. The previous owners had a mountain of stuff in the barn that they would come collect “soon”. 25 years passed. My mother started variously selling and disposing of their slowly rotting crap that they evidently were never going to collect, as she wanted to fix the structural issues with the barn, and their stuff was in the way, as it literally filled the entire ground…

> In Europe, it’s also common for you to buy a place, and then when you move in, you find the vendor has taken all of the wiring and plumbing with them. Sometimes they’ll even take things like doors, staircases, floors, you name it.

LOL!

No. This is not common at all.

I've seen it from disgruntled former renters, but that's it.

It's also illegal.

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

#454

Post by 77pt77 »

madaxe_again wrote: post #130
tomrod wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a super dumb outcome for your poor mother. Abandoned property is just that.

In France it’s only counted as abandoned if it is more than 30 years. These guys rocked up at something like 29 years and 9 months, and because there had been a verbal agreement that they would one day collect, and my mother allowed it, she was deemed to have stolen property she was entrusted to store. She was actually lucky to avoid criminal charges.

This is ridiculous.

At that point just lie and say that it never happened.

Or that the preperty was just some dishes or something.

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

#455

Post by 77pt77 »

madaxe_again wrote: post #227
IncreasePosts wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And how is there any record of what was in the barn, or how much it was worth, or either it has been stolen or collected by the owner any time in the past 30 years. I don't want to call OP a liar, but a lot of times when I hear outrageous stories like this the details are very different than what was provided.

Among other stuff, there was a bunch of Italian modernist art from the 50s-70s. It was literally decomposing in there, and my mother sold a few pieces at auction at about the 25 year point, which was then used as a reference point for the value of the collection as a whole, and as evidence that she was acting maliciously, that she knew the value of what was in there. The owner died in the early 90s - the folks who ro…

> but that wasn’t the agreement, and French law treats a verbal agreement as a contract

True, but the thing with verbal agreements is that it's very difficult to prove what was agreed upon.

Your mother should have just lied.

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

#456

Post by blt »

dclowd9901 wrote: post #179
don-code wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

87 BMW here. I believe my servo is controlling the throttle cable itself. When the cruise control commands the vehicle to accelerate, the pedal physically moves. It's not my daily driver, but I would absolutely love to one day get another one as a project car - one that's not in such good condition that I'd feel bad removing the engine - and drop an electric motor in it. That likely _would_ become my daily driver. Th…

Yep, you explained it better than I did! It's a really charming setup.

Isn't this the standard way to implement cruise control in the decades before drive by wire throttles?

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

#457

Post by WarOnPrivacy »

floydnoel wrote: post #411
_huayra_ wrote: post #332

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm guessing that car is "drive-by-wire" via the throttle, which has not been an actual cable in most cars for decades at this point. Steer-by-wire is indeed just the cybertruck at this point afaik.

electronic throttle body controls are extremely common, yes. but they don’t have any downside to driving feel, so i don’t think it would fit what the GP was referring to.

Parent nailed it. I feel lag every time I hit the pedal and it messes with me.

It's cables for me but I'll settle for linkage.

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

#458

Post by WarOnPrivacy »

volemo wrote: post #244
WarOnPrivacy wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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?

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

I live with my 5 adult sons.

We also buy cars when deals show up. The Toyota had 41k for $500 and the Buick had 31k for $1300.

We're working on a cheap 88 Dodge P/U; my son converted it to points and carburetor.

We also have a 69 XL that seriously needs to go away. It does 130 at what feels like high idle.

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

#459

Post by pc86 »

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…

The more serious preppers I know (e.g. the people prepping/worried about realistic scenarios as opposed to the civil war LARPers) pretty early on make sure they have access to a fully mechanical vehicle - to the extent that's even possible - and have the skills to maintain it.

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

#460

Post by pc86 »

yellow_postit wrote: post #435
op00to wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love older cars and drove an early 80s Volvo until 2010 or so, but I also love side impact airbags, antilock brakes, and a car that mostly just “works”.

I wonder if the Franework model will ever apply to cars with modern safety. Probably not but one can dream. I want an electric car. I also wish it was feasible to work on it.

An electric vehicle and "feasible to work on" (presumably in a home garage and/or driveway) do seem mutually exclusive.
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