Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by Fnord666 on Wednesday February 12 2020, @11:57PM   Printer-friendly
from the fine-print-giveth-and-small-print-taketh-away dept.

People Are Jailbreaking Used Teslas to Get the Features They Expect:

People have certain expectations when they buy a car. For example, they expect it to work for years afterwards needing only basic maintenance. They also expect that the purchase price includes ownership of not only the physical car itself but all the software that runs it.

Tesla doesn't agree.

Last week, Jalopnik ran an article about a person who bought a used Tesla from a dealer—who in turn bought it at auction directly from Tesla under California's lemon law buyback program—advertised as having Autopilot, the company's Advanced Driver Assistance System. The entire Autopilot package, which the car had when the dealer bought it, costs an extra $8,000. Then, Tesla remotely removed the software because "Full-Self Driving was not a feature that you had paid for." Tesla said if the customer wanted Autopilot back, he'd have to fork over the $8,000.

Tesla clawing back software upgrades from used cars is not a new practice for the company. "Tesla as a policy has been doing this for years on salvage cars," said Phil Sadow, an independent Tesla repair professional. One former employee, who used to work in an official Tesla service center and asked to remain anonymous because he still works with Tesla in another capacity, said he was told to put the software features back if people complained to avoid bad publicity. He left about a year ago.

But that doesn't mean Tesla owners are helpless. Sadow and others have ways to push back against Tesla by jailbreaking the cars and getting the features owners feel are rightfully theirs.

"As far as I am concerned removing a paid-for feature, regardless of the state of the car, is theft," Sadow said. "It's as if a bunch of guys show up in a van and take your upgraded 20" wheels. Just because it's software, it's no different."


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 2) by fido_dogstoyevsky on Thursday February 13 2020, @11:20PM

    by fido_dogstoyevsky (131) <axehandleNO@SPAMgmail.com> on Thursday February 13 2020, @11:20PM (#957916)

    What's a mechanical kill switch?...

    A switch with contacts; one that can stop the fuel pump and fuel injector (and ignition of a spark ignition engine). And given the choice between stuck full throttle and dieseling I'll take the latter with its reduced power.

    --
    It's NOT a conspiracy... it's a plot.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   2