Cross posted from https://hexbear.net/post/9006467
A Sycamore Township man said a mandatory software update on his Volkswagen Jetta appeared to trigger a cascade of malfunctions, leaving key safety features and the infotainment system not working properly. A dealership then told him it would cost $1,600 to diagnose and repair:
Volkswagen should fix that shit for free. I can’t tell you how pissed off I’d be if some random OTA update bricked my car.
It’s happened twice to me in my Mach-E. Bricked and had to be towed from my garage. Luckily under warranty so I didn’t pay anything. I’ve now since turned off all auto updates because it’s ridiculous that an OTA can render your car useless.
Don’t buy the first few years of a newly released car. Rules to live by. The Mach-E had all kinds of power train failures including fusing the high voltage battery junction box contacts open and or closed which disables the vehicle.
I usually delay updating until they have more of a chance to fix any bugs.