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There's going to be future battles, effectively DRM for automobiles. Epson has chipped their ink tanks, so you can only use their inks in their printers. Apple

by cmurf 9y ago

There's going to be future battles, effectively DRM for automobiles. Epson has chipped their ink tanks, so you can only use their inks in their printers. Apple does this with their own iPhone spare parts. You have no right to a 3rd party repair, or authorization to hack and replace the software with something else (hence the right to repair laws in the works). So why can't car companies chip all OEM spare parts, and disallow the car from operating if it's had any unauthorized repairs? Just put it into the sales contract. No more 3rd party repairs. Reduced competition. More profit for the car companies and dealers.

cardiffspaceman 9y ago
I've read that in some cases the car DEALER doesn't get full diagnostic information. Instead the mechanics exchange emails with technicians working for the manufacturer, who will send back instructions like "measure voltage on test point X in module Y" and this will cycle until "replace module M" or some other conclusion is reached.
bluGill 9y ago
Enough customers would care that no car OEM would try. The type of person who replaces their car every 3 years wouldn't care (most work is warranty, and even basic maintenance probably goes to the dealer as that is the best way to ensure if there is a warranty issue, there is not question that the maintenance was done correctly) but when they go to trade the car in the used car buyers will care because they don't always go to the dealer. Any manufacture trying this will discover that trade in value of their cars is the scrap price. (the manufacture is probably the one who owns the lease so it is their dollar so it will hit them hard) That is just practical reasons. There are a lot of laws about car repairs: car manufactures are required by law to make repair information available to third party repair shops. Independent car mechanics are a large enough group as well that any attempt to work around the law will result in more laws.
djaychela 9y ago
In the EU, I think that's specifically prohibited - a lot of work done to open things up has been done by the EU, to allow (for instance) warranties to be valid providing the correct servicing has been done, regardless of the garage doing the servicing.

by cmurf 9y ago

cardiffspaceman 9y ago

I've read that in some cases the car DEALER doesn't get full diagnostic information. Instead the mechanics exchange emails with technicians working for the manufacturer, who will send back instructions like "measure voltage on test point X in module Y" and this will cycle until "replace module M" or some other conclusion is reached.

bluGill 9y ago

Enough customers would care that no car OEM would try. The type of person who replaces their car every 3 years wouldn't care (most work is warranty, and even basic maintenance probably goes to the dealer as that is the best way to ensure if there is a warranty issue, there is not question that the maintenance was done correctly) but when they go to trade the car in the used car buyers will care because they don't always go to the dealer. Any manufacture trying this will discover that trade in value of their cars is the scrap price. (the manufacture is probably the one who owns the lease so it is their dollar so it will hit them hard) That is just practical reasons. There are a lot of laws about car repairs: car manufactures are required by law to make repair information available to third party repair shops. Independent car mechanics are a large enough group as well that any attempt to work around the law will result in more laws.

djaychela 9y ago

In the EU, I think that's specifically prohibited - a lot of work done to open things up has been done by the EU, to allow (for instance) warranties to be valid providing the correct servicing has been done, regardless of the garage doing the servicing.