At this pace, I’ll either never change my car or will never buy a car again.

  • @SacredHeartAttack
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    656 days ago

    My 17 year old car is at almost 200k miles and I just dumped over $2k into it to keep it going to a quarter million miles to try and hold off having to buy something new.

    • @kalpol
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      6 days ago

      Cheaper than a car payment… By a lot. I budget about 1500 a year and just act like thats my car payment.

    • fmstrat
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      46 days ago

      I had to give up my '08 manual transmission rear wheel drive technodumb car last month due to it finally going downhill (in its operation and in the easiest direction to push it). Will miss the fun, and the privacy.

    • @[email protected]
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      5 days ago

      I buy used cars. I had an X-Trial I bought 8 years ago for £2000. It lasted 7 years. I did basic maintenance myself like brakes, oil, etc. on the end the flywheel needed replacing. To the scrap it went. Bit 2k for 7 years!

  • @surph_ninja
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    286 days ago

    Jeep owners are the perfect target for this. Not exactly the kind of people doing a lot of research before purchasing a vehicle. Or else they wouldn’t buy a jeep.

    • youmaynotknowOP
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      35 days ago

      Guilty as charged, I owned a total of 5 jeep/Chrysler/Dodge vehicles way back when. Moved to Infiniti, then Tesla (fucking got rid of it within a year) and now I have a Chinese BYD with every telematic disabled.

      • @surph_ninja
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        01 day ago

        Haha. Yeah man, you’re not hyper focused on total cost of ownership. They know their audience!

  • @[email protected]
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    506 days ago

    At this pace, I’ll either never change my car or will never buy a car again.

    [email protected] is an option.

    But yeah, with all the telemetry they’ve tacked onto vehicles, feels like you need a digital and electrical forensics team to disable it all

        • sunzu2
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          16 days ago

          some merit here older car, just cut it out and own it properly lol

          • @[email protected]
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            26 days ago

            Lots of it is tied to the ecu now, which can’t be tampered with if you live in a state with emissions inspections.

            I’m planning to when stuff starts failing though. And I will likely be installing a homemade OBD2 reporter so that it’ll keep passing.

            I don’t live in CA though, I wouldn’t mess with it then, the do tailpipe confirmation, and deeper inspections for CARB parts.

        • sunzu2
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          86 days ago

          well not getting all that data will be a tell tale lol

          • @[email protected]
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            56 days ago

            Easy solution: plausible deniability. Play dumb.

            “I dunno, man. I just turn the car on and off. I don’t know anything about car computers or whatever.”

            Them: “Did you take it anywhere to get it serviced?”

            “Just to get my tires inflated.”

            • @grue
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              76 days ago

              The fascists are already dismantling the CFPB. I’m sure the FTC will be on the chopping block soon, too.

              So who’s going to stop them when they flagrantly ignore the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and refuse to honor your warranty for having your car serviced somewhere other than a dealer?

              • @[email protected]
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                46 days ago

                And who’s going to stop them from claiming you did either way?

                The warranties are trash anyway. I’m not for the warranties in the first place, just pointing out that you could claim plausible deniability if you needed to while still ensuring they don’t get to surreptitiously send your driving data to your insurance company.

            • DankOfAmerica
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              36 days ago

              Them: Hey Sal! We got another liar that says he didn’t go through the 20 steps to disconnect the telemetry and thinks we’re gonna believe that some tire inflater just did him a solid without telling him…

  • @[email protected]
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    266 days ago

    I love how that saying this is a software glitch is somehow supposed to make it okay? Motherfuckers, you took time and money to develop the thing. In doesn’t matter that it wasn’t supposed to be deployed right now. It matters that it was developed at all.

    This is my tinfoil opinion, but I wouldn’t be surprised that it was done on purpose to gauge the public reaction and setting the pace of rollout.

    The timing is too perfect knowing damn well that Republicans won’t legislate that.

    • @Weirdfish
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      116 days ago

      I design UI for systems infinately less likely to kill you when distracted than a vehicle interface.

      The only possible glitch is that this is appearing before it was supposed to.

      Being triggered specifically when the vehicle is stopped shows a lot of thought on the cover your ass for saftey lawsuits front, that was no mistake.

  • @[email protected]
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    406 days ago

    Jeep/Chrysler have always been banned from my life.

    Garbage. Worse than any other American car company. They even managed to screw up cars made for them by Mitsubishi.

    • @[email protected]
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      136 days ago

      Can confirm. Had to buy a Pacifica because I needed a wheelchair accessible minivan and only Pacifica offered the features I wanted. Absolute piece of shit of a car. I don’t think I ever regretted any purchase as much. I would 100% compromise on the features I wanted had I known how much this car sucks. I’m talking about a brand new 2024, very well equipped car. Do not buy a Chrysler. I can shit on this car for days AMA.

      • @Spaceballstheusername
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        156 days ago

        I got the Pacifica plug in hybrid because it was the only minivan with any electric option. I have never regretted it so much. Every time I turn on the car it wants to connect to my Wi-Fi and update. I don’t want updates I don’t want my car to change and I don’t trust that they’re gonna do something shifty if I connect it to the internet. After having it for a year the transmission went out so I try to bring it in but it takes 6 weeks before they can see me. Finally they can see me and they take 2 weeks to look at it and diagnose. Then 4 more weeks to fix it. Meanwhile they keep telling me it should be done next week every time I call. Absolutely worst experience ever.

    • @[email protected]
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      66 days ago

      I had a 1996 grand cheerokee… great vehicle except for everything chrysler hands touched. (It was a near finished design from AMC).

  • DreamButt
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    306 days ago

    If you can move somewhere with public transit, it has changed my life

    • @andrewth09
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      116 days ago

      Public transit might be great, but it is certainly not ad-free.

      • @[email protected]
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        86 days ago

        Does it have to be? Are you not exposed to billboards while driving? Radio ads?

        Public transit has other benefits. You can read a book, play on your phone, and don’t have to worry about parking.

        • @[email protected]
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          46 days ago

          “Does it have to be? Are you not exposed to billboards while driving? Radio ads?”

          Not really in the UK. Minimal bill boards and ad free radio if you stick to the multitude of BBC channels.

      • @LovableSidekick
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        6 days ago

        Yeah that’s my reaction. Also public transportation changed my life for the year and a half I used it, by eating up zn extra hour a day of my life. My 15-minute each way car commute became 50 each way, very consistently. I finally got fed up with it and went back to driving.

    • youmaynotknowOP
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      25 days ago

      Unfortunately, public transportation in my country is garbage, and I’m being considerate with that word.

  • @[email protected]
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    Why do I keep seeing companies blame shit like this on “a software glitch”? Like, fuckin, no it’s not. And no one believes your bullshit either.

    • @[email protected]
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      35 days ago

      It’s a glitch that it rolled out today instead of next week.

      That or the dumb fucks in charge of these companies still think it’s the 90’s where everyone thought that machines would suddenly gain sentience.

    • @[email protected]
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      56 days ago

      I can’t stand when they lie to us and it’s not even plausible. I saw an ad for some technical school or something and it proudly proclaimed “Our only goal is for you to succeed”. Like, no it fucking isn’t! You’re a for-profit business; your goal is to maximize shareholder profits while (hopefully) providing a service. It falls apart when you think about it for even a moment…

  • Killercat103
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    266 days ago

    At this pace, I’ll either never change my car or will never buy a car again.

    Based. Train, busses and bikes are superior.

      • @AnUnusualRelic
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        6 days ago

        But you need room for the secondary car needed to navigate the car park, from where you left your car to the mall entrance. European people can’t understand what they have to face daily in the US.

  • 𝚝𝚛𝚔
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    146 days ago

    American cars are so bad. We did ~3000k of driving last year in the US and noticed that most of the cars on the road were new. Didn’t take long to realise why - between terrible driving standards causing them to crash regularly, terrible build quality causing the interior to fall apart, and needing to drive EVERYWHERE so you flog the thing out in about 12 months vehicles are practically disposable.

    There were late model cars still rocking the flashing brake light as an indicator wtf lol

    • @[email protected]
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      They are selling right hand drive converted Yank Tanks in Australia. They are double the price after shipping, rhd conversion and making them compliant. They don’t fit on our roads at all and are very restricted with payload and towing because of car licence weight restrictions. To tow more you need a truck license (light rigid).

      They also have no spare parts here in Aus. Plenty of “overlanders” spending $25k to get it towed out of the outback, back to a major city and get parts flown in from Detroit. They are too heavy and wear out components on the dirt. They are built for highway only

      If you want a “truck” in Aus, you buy an Isuzu or Mitsubishi cab-over truck which is like US$35,000 with a tray or box.

      • youmaynotknowOP
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        25 days ago

        Isuzu diesel engines are immortal, you can’t break them even if you put gasoline in them 🤣

        • @[email protected]
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          They are brilliant. Those little NPR light rigids are much easier to drive than people realise. Available with an automated manual, good turning circle and great visibility. Sure at 100kmh they are pretty loud and bumpy (the little 3L 4cylinder at 2800rpm), but if your in say Melbourne or Sydney, most driving is 80kmh and below. If you do a lot of highway, the 5.2L 4 cylinder goes well with a 6 speed and much more aggressive engine breaking.

    • lime!
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      56 days ago

      the cybertruck does that. it’s still allowed.

      • 𝚝𝚛𝚔
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        86 days ago

        No wonder they don’t sell it anywhere else - wouldn’t meet local safety requirements.

        I liked a recent BYD Shark teardown video by some American mob… Their biggest complaint was that it was “overbuilt” lol

        Fire up them tariffs lads, protectionism is the only thing ensuring sales.

    • @[email protected]
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      They’re also cheap so many people buy more frequently and the older ones get exported overseas to less wealthy nations which is why you don’t see them here.

      As for the blinking brake light, that is almost never done at the factory, it’s a symptom of our stupid dealership model where dealers will add useless aftermarket crap to differentiate themselves from other dealers of the same car. None of that would be needed if it was legal to buy directly from the manufacturer.

  • @Peffse
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    196 days ago

    I haven’t followed Kotaku for years. Did they give up on covering video games? Car manufacturing isn’t even adjacent.

    • Zagorath
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      126 days ago

      Here’s an article from last year. It’s Australian, but I think it likely that car brands have the same or similar privacy policies wherever you go.

      In short: Tesla and Korean brands are the worst. Japanese brands apart from Mazda are the best for privacy.

    • @[email protected]
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      56 days ago

      Not really, they’ve all had telemetry for probably 20 years.

      The cars with satellite radio are even worse (which isn’t saying much, since they put modems in cars about 20 years ago)

      • @[email protected]
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        96 days ago

        My 2016 doesnt have a modem. It has a Sirus radio…but sirus operates one way and has no way to communicate back.

        • @[email protected]
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          26 days ago

          My Japanese export 2016 doesn’t either. Aside from the fact that we flashed the head unit with custom software, there’s nothing for it to connect to in my country anyway.

            • @[email protected]
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              11 day ago

              Its Xanavi. I don’t know if they’re still around as we did about 3-4 years ago now. There might be alternatives by now. I know its not as simple as just flashing an OS as unfortunately each head unit has a unique key that has to be preserved (else it stops working, I assume for anti-theft purposes)…

      • with chicken
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        16 days ago

        But i think its exploded how intrusive the car factory’s are. Just because its a “new” tech, and the politics struggle to control it, or maybe don’t wanna, because they also need the data. I want to buy a new car, e vehicle, but I haven’t done it yet because of the privacy concerns. It feels like nobody, in my country, cares about it.

  • @AeonFelis
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    86 days ago

    The heck is “instant opt-out”? As opposed to what? Not being able to close the ad unless you buy the product?

    • youmaynotknowOP
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      35 days ago

      That’s the easy “justification” used 99% of the time. Every single company. Fuck them all.

  • @friend_of_satan
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    55 days ago

    I had literally just recommended that my brother in law check out jeeps for his next vehicle. I have just corrected that recommendation! No jeeps.

  • @PunnyName
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    86 days ago

    Start advocating for more walkable/bikable areas in your city, with more train and bus options, too.

    • @[email protected]
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      126 days ago

      I agree with the principle of it, but it’s also a slow and tedious process, one that the complainer won’t benefit from for years, if ever.

      Not that you shouldn’t do it, but it’s not a solution to what happened here.