Now that cars are like smartphones, we don't really own them
In a dispute over a repair law they don’t like, Subaru and Kia crippled their own wireless car features. Maine could be next.
There is a discussion on Hacker News, but feel free to comment here as well.
Are all cars like this now? Is there no brand or model that we can vote with our dollars to show that we want to own what's ours?
Buy used in cash from private sellers.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Nathan White, CitySide’s general manager, said his staff warns car shoppers that features like those requiring wireless transmission don’t work on new Subaru models sold in the state.
Subaru crippled its technology over a state law intended to let people share their car’s wireless repair information with any service shop — not only the authorized dealer.
The Massachusetts law, and a similar one that Maine voters approved in a landslide this week, show our desire to influence what happens to the reams of data our cars collect.
The Massachusetts and Maine laws could let a car owner send an in-dash warning about worn brake pads to a service shop of her choice to schedule repairs.
Joshua Siegel, a Michigan State University engineering professor, said this isn’t a simple task and that car manufacturers are doing a reasonable job in trying to comply with the spirit of a first-of-its-kind law in Massachusetts.
At CitySide Subaru, White hopes that automakers find a way to let car owners provide remote vehicle maintenance data to any service shop.
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