I never liked Fords...

nooshinjohn

But now I have good reason to HATE them... I will never own a Ford after this.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/other/ford-wants-to-allow-your-car-to-lock-you-out-and-even-drive-itself-to-an-impound-lot-or-scrapyard-if-you-miss-payments/ar-AA183HvS?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531&cvid=b1db53e42229453ebfdbcdad658ee1dc&ei=9

pitdogg2

WOW!

kevhed72

I read somewhere reputable that Ford has a huge problem with recalls due quality issues to boot.

Jetmaker737

Technically if a car is financed through Ford they own it. An argument could be made that they're just protecting their property from theft. Welcome to the scary future of AI-enabled shenanigans.

mhardy6647

Jetmaker737 wrote: »

Technically if a car is financed through Ford they own it. An argument could be made that they're just protecting their property from theft. Welcome to the scary future of AI-enabled shenanigans.

Not just technically -- one gets the vehicle title after one pays off the loan, because that's when one owns it.
Y'all've been following this dastardly business being practiced by some dealers, no?
https://www.npr.org/2023/02/04/1152932192/yo-yo-car-sales?sc=18&f=1001

Despite the fact that, for many recent years, it absolutely did make more sense to finance a car than to pay for it upon purchase, I preferred (and still do) to pay cash. I (we) don't like debt, even though I will acknowledge there is such a thing as "good" debt. Rarely involves an automobile purchase, though.

< decided to edit the last paragraph >

mantis

I think this is fine. If you can't pay for your car, why should you be allowed to keep driving it? And this avoids a tow, the car drives itself to a impound yard where you know where it is when you get your payments caught up, you can go get it.

I know this can be argued but if you can't afford to own it, you can't afford to keep driving it.

mhardy6647

This thread now has me wondering about Tesla.
Tesla has a subversive (relative to industry norms and also many states' laws) approach to selling their automobiles. I wonder how they're managing financing, or if they're strictly cash (or cash-equivalent, such as credit or debit cards,or crypto ) and the putative buyer is on their own to come up with the lucre?

I guess I could look it up if I be curious enough.

F1nut

That's a very slippery slope and therefore a very bad idea.

mhardy6647

F1nut wrote: »

That's a very slippery slope and therefore a very bad idea.

So, in the modern climate, it'll catch on and spread across the industry like a virus.

txcoastal1

#1 If they impound wrong vehicle. Also opens up even more hacks
#2 Defending yourself if that vehicle gets in a wreck while being impounded

mhardy6647

txcoastal1 wrote: »

#1 If they impound wrong vehicle. Also opens up even more hacks
#2 Defending yourself if that vehicle gets in a wreck while being impounded

You know the tech mantra: Move fast, break things.
The lawyers will work all that stuff out after the fact. Yay.


https://xkcd.com/1428/

stangman67

I’ve got no love affair with modern Fords but I don’t mind this decision as long as it is regulated correctly. If financed through Ford, they own the car and can do what they want. This certainly seems like a better option than the repo process

audioluvr

Why drive to an impound lot? Just drive a couple blocks and go around the corner.

sucks2beme

This happened to me. Ford dealer in Dallas in 2012.
Had to go rebuy the car a week later. No real change in
Payments. I paid cash for my last new car, so no issues
On that deal.
The fact they didn't pay off the loan on the trade in after
Selling it off is real nasty trick. How did the next owner
get a title??? Moral of the story, pay off the car before
buying another.

motorstereo

Given the direction most of the world seems to be headed in today this may not be a bad idea

My only gripe with Ford presently is it requires a "top tier" smartphone in order to operate their Fordpass app. Apparently after my truck sat at the dealership for the past 2 days that's their verdict. I can either get a top tier phone (not happening) or go without the very useful fordpass app. Would've been nice to be able to remotely start the truck during the last cold snap but nooooo. So thanks for nothing Ford.

rooftop59

F1nut wrote: »

That's a very slippery slope and therefore a very bad idea.

Informal fallacy!

mhardy6647

can you say fallacy on a Vanilla forum? It sounds like, you know, something else.

(sorry... sorry... as you were. carry on)

Jstas

Dude, in all honesty, anything built after 2007 is required, by federal law, to have a "black box" capability. It's essentially a data collector with a back door into the vehicle's ECM that police can access remotely to shut down your car in the event that you are suspected of a crime. Additionally, if the black box recording is played back in the event of an accident or other nefarious deed, the logs are admissible in court for any traffic violations, like speeding, no matter how insignificant the violation is.

That same info can be used by banks, repo companies and even dealerships and rental car companies to retrieve unsecured assets.

All this Ford idea is doing is creating software and sensors that will allow the vehicle to retrieve itself. It can cost tens of thousands of dollars per repo to retrieve defaulted assets, especially when the borrower hides the asset and makes retrieval difficult. If they can kill your car remotely or even get the car to retrieve itself, the cost of repossession goes way down. They can already kill your car remotely if it's less than 15 years old. They just want to take it a step further and have the car retrieve itself.

The fact that you're just finding out about this now because of your unreasonable hatred for a single brand is honestly, quite absurd.

Besides, Teslas have been able to do this since the "autopilot" feature was introduced. A Tesla isn't going to make it all the way to a repo yard or something by itself but it can get itself started and drive a short distance and then notify a repossession agent to it's location and to come retrieve it.

There's a reason my newest vehicle is a 2007 Lincoln MKX that I keep throwing parts at to keep running.

I remember posting a story about this back in 2006 when the legislation was passed and I said how intrusive and rights robbing it would be and people told me I was wearing my tinfoil hat too tight.

mhardy6647

I just pictured an F-150 driving itself out of a shed without bothering to open the door.

sucks2beme

Look at all the poor guys who bought a car from Carvana
and still can't get the tittle. A couple of states have banned
them due to the issue. Expect Carvana to file for protection
this year.

Jstas

sucks2beme wrote: »

Look at all the poor guys who bought a car from Carvana
and still can't get the tittle. A couple of states have banned
them due to the issue. Expect Carvana to file for protection
this year.

What happened there? I haven't been following that news.

Viking64

Whenever I see this thread, I think of this song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRNze9Lkgbo

pitdogg2

Jstas wrote: »

sucks2beme wrote: »

Look at all the poor guys who bought a car from Carvana
and still can't get the tittle. A couple of states have banned
them due to the issue. Expect Carvana to file for protection
this year.

What happened there? I haven't been following that news.

Takes months to get a title, IIRC there was a class action lawsuit or talk of one.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=carvana+title+problems&t=fpas&ia=web


https://news.yahoo.com/customers-describe-nightmare-problems-carvana-193257985.html

Keiko

Never owned a Ford and never will. They're cutting their own throat with this one.

txcoastal1

While we are talking about Fords...been along time since I owned my F-150 as I went to Toyota for 1/2 ton
Now own 2015 GMC Sierra Denali diesel which I found BNIB in 2016 at a great price (Almost 30k lower than what is out there now) . We are needing a 2nd diesel for trailering

Pondering at trying out the
Ford 6.7L HO Power Stroke® V8 Turbo Diesel VS
GMC 6.6L Duramax Turbo Diesel Engine

Any input or suggestions

BlueBirdMusic

nooshinjohn wrote: »

I never liked Fords...

I agree! I have never liked Fords, but I now own a 1997 Ford Ranger.

My very best friend gave it up because he could no longer drive a manual shift. He drove it for 112K miles so it should last for awhile.

I grew up in a Chevrolet family.

Now, I have to admit I enjoy driving it.

HzTweaker

mhardy6647 wrote: »

I just pictured an F-150 driving itself out of a shed without bothering to open the door.

Or down the road to the impound lot with the owners boat still attached!

HzTweaker

What I think is even worse than this idea from Ford is manufacturer's charging monthly subscriptions for things like heated seats /steering wheels or performance upgrades like extra rear wheel steering etc.

1: If the options are already on the car when you pay for it doesn't it make them yours?
2: If you're just going to put all the same equipment on every model car regardless if the owner decides not to pay for them, then aren't you just wasting resources?

huggies

Anybody really believe ALL automakers won't be doing this? You're fooling yourself if you do. Like previously stated, Tesla already does similar. It won't end at auto's either, but let's blame Ford.

OleBoot

motorstereo

^^^^^^And there's the exact reason I didn't go with a gm product. My bud with his brand Chevy truck showed me how thin and flexible the truck body is. So Chevy got scratched off the list when I was in the market for a new truck a couple years ago.