3 ms·

> A technology like this means that the vehicle still belongs to Ford, which means if something goes wrong with it, or if you get sciatica from their shitty sea

> A technology like this means that the vehicle still belongs to Ford, which means if something goes wrong with it, or if you get sciatica from their shitty seats, you can class action sue them into oblivion. Nothing prevents that from happening now, though. I'm also uncertain how reclaiming the collateral for the loan is any different in this scenario. Granted, I think this is extraordinarily gross and consumer-hostile. Aren't there myriad of options on the table for reclaiming the vehicle? How often does someone "get away" with keeping a car, anyway? That's what the repossession industry exists for.

CydeWeys 4y ago
Doing an actual repo is much more costly and sometimes involves doing PI stuff like trying to track down the location of the vehicle. The cost of one repo easily wipes out profits on many months' worth of interest payments.
anonymouskimmer 4y ago
> Granted, I think this is extraordinarily gross and consumer-hostile. It seems like a good idea for stolen autos (at least until the car can be modded to remove the ability, so recently stolen autos). As long as there are enough checks to ensure that only the owner (or law enforcement with a warrant) can repossess the car. There just has to also be a requirement that the lease holder can't lawfully repossess without a court judgement.
astura 4y ago
Repos are extremely costly. My friend let his car get repossessed because he did not need it anymore thinking that was easier than selling it and there wouldn't be any negatives other than on his credit. He was surprised to get sued for the cost of the repo, which was thousands plus they managed to sell the car for much less than it was worth.
- chongli 4y ago
  I wonder how costly it would be if one of these self-driving cars killed a bystander while repo-ing itself.
  - kube-system 4y ago
    Probably similar in cost to the people killed by human tow truck drivers.
    - frumper 4y ago
      That sounds more costly for the tow truck driver than for Ford.
  - anigbrowl 4y ago
    They'll bill it to the person they repossessed it from. Someone will introduce a bill to make them liable for murder, on the grounds that they were engaged in defrauding the car company and are therefore a felon.

CydeWeys 4y ago

Doing an actual repo is much more costly and sometimes involves doing PI stuff like trying to track down the location of the vehicle. The cost of one repo easily wipes out profits on many months' worth of interest payments.

anonymouskimmer 4y ago

> Granted, I think this is extraordinarily gross and consumer-hostile. It seems like a good idea for stolen autos (at least until the car can be modded to remove the ability, so recently stolen autos). As long as there are enough checks to ensure that only the owner (or law enforcement with a warrant) can repossess the car. There just has to also be a requirement that the lease holder can't lawfully repossess without a court judgement.

astura 4y ago

Repos are extremely costly. My friend let his car get repossessed because he did not need it anymore thinking that was easier than selling it and there wouldn't be any negatives other than on his credit. He was surprised to get sued for the cost of the repo, which was thousands plus they managed to sell the car for much less than it was worth.

chongli 4y ago
I wonder how costly it would be if one of these self-driving cars killed a bystander while repo-ing itself.
- kube-system 4y ago
  Probably similar in cost to the people killed by human tow truck drivers.
  - frumper 4y ago
    That sounds more costly for the tow truck driver than for Ford.
- anigbrowl 4y ago
  They'll bill it to the person they repossessed it from. Someone will introduce a bill to make them liable for murder, on the grounds that they were engaged in defrauding the car company and are therefore a felon.