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Yeah these comments are awful. Someone even wrote, “take my upvote.” Not a good look for HN discus quality. Back on topic: I find this hard to believe, what h

Yeah these comments are awful. Someone even wrote, “take my upvote.” Not a good look for HN discus quality. Back on topic: I find this hard to believe, what happens if it repossess itself by mistake? Gets in an accident on the way home during said repo? Especially since nowadays most Fords are just oversized trucks. And why is this even a desired feature? Is the average Ford customer that untrustworthy? I’m curious what the expected amount of use for a feature like this is. In any case, autonomous driving isn’t far along enough yet for this to be practical and out in the streets, so I wonder how it even got approval.

SketchySeaBeast 4y ago
Aren't mistaken repossessions and accidents during repossession things that happen already? The used car market is incredibly predatory and full of the same car getting repeatedly repossessed from new owners.
- jwilber 4y ago
  I’m sure they are, though probably pretty rare. But my comment isn’t about the occurrence of them, it’s about the muddied waters when a vehicle repo’s itself with no driver. Who’s at fault if the vehicle crashes? The purchaser of the vehicle clearly did not crash - they may not even know the vehicle was being repo’d. So then is the dealership or bank to blame? (If so, will this add to higher premiums?) Say a predatory dealership has some stake in the game. Given the asymmetry of information, maybe they will claim the car wasn’t being repo’d at all, rather the purchaser must have caused the damage and lied. What if no repo even occurs but the software malfunction? It just seems like such a mess.
harvey9 4y ago
I take it to mean they're writing this into the lease agreement in readiness for full autonomous driving. Desired feature for leasing companies and as to damage after the company takes remote possession I expect the same shenanigans you get when returning rentals.

SketchySeaBeast 4y ago

Aren't mistaken repossessions and accidents during repossession things that happen already? The used car market is incredibly predatory and full of the same car getting repeatedly repossessed from new owners.

jwilber 4y ago
I’m sure they are, though probably pretty rare. But my comment isn’t about the occurrence of them, it’s about the muddied waters when a vehicle repo’s itself with no driver. Who’s at fault if the vehicle crashes? The purchaser of the vehicle clearly did not crash - they may not even know the vehicle was being repo’d. So then is the dealership or bank to blame? (If so, will this add to higher premiums?) Say a predatory dealership has some stake in the game. Given the asymmetry of information, maybe they will claim the car wasn’t being repo’d at all, rather the purchaser must have caused the damage and lied. What if no repo even occurs but the software malfunction? It just seems like such a mess.

harvey9 4y ago

I take it to mean they're writing this into the lease agreement in readiness for full autonomous driving. Desired feature for leasing companies and as to damage after the company takes remote possession I expect the same shenanigans you get when returning rentals.