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Will your car potentially repossess itself?

BlackTalon
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JimInOz JimInOz
Even if it was under finance, I don't know how it would open our garage door to sneak back to the dealers yard in the middle of the night.
Guessing people with 'homelink' and other similar devices that tie into the car could allow an electric door to be opened.

I don't have new cars like Spacefruit's so I am not as current with modern car technology. But I sure as heck am not looking forward to replacing my daily driver in the next year or two and getting saddled with a pile of electronics that regularly has sensors crapping out, etc. and only the dealer can fix, to the tune of $1,500 per failure (of a $3 sensor).

We'll be keeping one or two cars that are relatively free from electronics for our son to use when he starts driving. He'll likely wreck one while still a teenager, and they should be cheaper to repair.
 
Meme-Dweller
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Ford using a BMW 5 Series (E60) drawing in their patent application bothers me more than the dystopian idea of a remote repossession for some reason.
 
E
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Maybe your car "lost" to theft can "find" itself, and drive itself home lol
 
Evitzee
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Spacefruit Spacefruit
car ownership is frankly already history - how many new cars are owned? almost all are Leased nowadays. So I am told.
Actually, in the USA, in 2022, only 18% of new vehicles were leased, the rest were sold to the buyer. There has been a huge dropoff in leasing the last five years or so.

I actually have no issues with cars being tracked and repossessed, manually or by remote control. If you have a loan on the vehicle you have to make the payments per the contract, if you don't the lienholder has every right to take it back. Make the payments and no one will bother you. Unfortunately vehicles are so expensive now that $1,000 per month payments are here for many buyers. If you have financial difficulties you may not be able to service the loan, so bye bye $70k Ford F150.
Edited:
 
BlackTalon
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Evitzee Evitzee
I actually have no issues with cars being tracked
I'm with you 100%. I'll never understand people who don't track any of their cars.
 
RevZMan123
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BlackTalon BlackTalon
I'm with you 100%. I'll never understand people who don't track any of their cars.

Subaru has an app for that! I love it. I can see how close my wife is to the house and if my kid ever drives it, it can be set to limit their boundaries and turn the boost off on the turbos. 😁
 
JwRosenthal
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RevZMan123 RevZMan123
Subaru has an app for that! I love it. I can see how close my wife is to the house and if my kid ever drives it, it can be set to limit their boundaries and turn the boost off on the turbos. 😁
This tracking app is so you can run out to the mailbox and grab that package with new watches before she gets home,
 
JwRosenthal
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Evitzee Evitzee
Unfortunately vehicles are so expensive now that $1,000 per month payments are here for many buyers. If you have financial difficulties you may not be able to service the loan, so bye bye $70k Ford F150.
You can get a very nice used car with a $350 month or under payment. Getting a car with a $1k/mo payment is a choice- not a necessity.
 
Pastorbottle
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Repossession has never or will ever be a problem for me, I always own my cars outright.
Having said that……..My old Ford Ute is demon possessed!
 
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BlackTalon
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RevZMan123 RevZMan123
Subaru has an app for that! I love it. I can see how close my wife is to the house and if my kid ever drives it, it can be set to limit their boundaries and turn the boost off on the turbos. 😁
Wrong "track" 😁 The one I was referring to would have you increasing the boost.
 
dsio
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Pastorbottle Pastorbottle
Repossession has never or will ever be a problem for me, I always own my cars outright.
Having said that……..My old Ford Ute is demon possessed!
Damn, you’re ready for battle in that thing. Those are the cars that the cops don’t even bother pulling over as they don’t want to meet the driver.
 
BlackTalon
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Except the "I 'heart' Constellations" bumper sticker knocks the street cred down a few points...
 
RevZMan123
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BlackTalon BlackTalon
Wrong "track" 😁 The one I was referring to would have you increasing the boost.

Now you're talking -- I can imagine taking the Onxy out on the track. Would be interesting for a family turbo wagon.
 
Larry S
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I just paid OOP to repair fender damage to our 16 year old CRV with 70k on the odo. I just spent close to $5k on bodywork(off roading ouchie) , new suspension, 60k service on my 2014 3.6 outback. When I look at the cost to replace them, I thank goodness I have a great independent mechanic, a good body shop, and both are in great shape, dings aside. I have a buddy whose model 3 was bricked by a software update. No thanks. When the time comes, it’s gonna hurt. Thinking Plug in Hybrid for me. Wife wants electric. Gonna run the current stable as long as possible.
 
Vercingetorix
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There used to be a website called halfbaked or something similar. The idea was ideas not ready for prime time. One of the ideas was to have a mechanically injected diesel and run carbide headlights, so no aliens could stop and abduct you because there were no electronics.
 
STANDY
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My manual 4x4 with a second high low 4x4 shifter is going up in price where I live with every automatic, over sensored new 4x4 comes out.

Mate sent a great photo of 2 brand new 4x4s parked up after a deep creek crossing the other day.

And with no phone service where I go driving most weekends the only thing that could track my car would be a helicopter 😗
 
Waltesefalcon
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I can't abide the idea of being tracked all the time. My students have grown up with so much technology has made them think it is perfectly normal to track their friends, boyfriends or girlfriends, etc. The idea of not being able to just track other people at will disturbs them.



I enjoy being disconnected from the world when I want to. I like to leave my cell phone at home, hop in my twenty-seven year old Miata, or my twenty-nine year old Jeep, and go away for the weekend. There's something like freedom in that.



I'll likely never buy another car that is newer than my Miata.
 
pdxleaf
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Spacefruit Spacefruit
My youngest car being 2006 and even that has an ECU that I couldn’t fix with a hammer, my preferred automotive go to tool. (Joke - in case it isn’t clear)

i really did fix a car with a rock once, only because i didn't have a hammer.

We were in a Volvo 240 wagon, the Zombie apocalypse vehicle of choice, getting ready to leave a ferry on our trip back from Victoria, BC.

As the vehicles in front of us started to move, I turned the key but it didn't start. Nothing. Everyone behind got around us, until we were the last vehicle and the crew pushed us off into the parking lot.

Getting on the ferry in the other direction was some sort of classic car club who had a full on view of my humiliation.

My father-in-law was a mechanic his whole life and my go to guy for all my car questions. After talking through whether the lights came on or if there was any noise when i turned the key, he asked me if I had a hammer. I said I did not. So he told me to look for a big rock and then crawl under the car and hit the starter.

I did as he said and it worked, much to the delight of my daughters. For many years after if we had any car issues they would offer to get me a rock.

That was a great car, but I prefer our new Toyota and would rather be stranded with Zombies attacking than stuck again on a ferry. 😁
 
Scarecrow Boat
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Spacefruit Spacefruit
My youngest car being 2006 and even that has an ECU that I couldn’t fix with a hammer, my preferred automotive go to tool. (Joke - in case it isn’t clear)
pdxleaf pdxleaf
i really did fix a car with a rock once, only because i didn't have a hammer.

Years ago I would carry a small hammer in the glove compartment in my 2004 5 speed Honda Accord. The starter would often stick and a gentle knock with the hammer would free it up and on I would go. Carried the hammer in that car until I had the time to replace them starter myself.
 
bikerfox
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if the banks did a better job vetting the heroes (ones who pay their car bill) from the zeros there would be a lot less repossession going on. oh, i have an idea: the car repossessor takes one of your children and gives him/her back when the car is paid for.....bet that would happen in a pinch!
 
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