Thread

1. hattar · 1790888358 · focus · HN ↗

   I currently drive a mid 2000s Ford truck, which runs great and meets my needs, but lately I got interested in minivans/people carriers. I pretty quickly realized that newer vehicles seem to not just record, but export a lot of driving data.

   The minivan market is small. There are really only 4-5 available and every single one sends telemetry data from the car and makes it hard/impossible to opt out of selling your data. Additionally, without pretty extensive work there is no means of physically disabling the telemetry, which forces you to trust they'll honor your opt out request (vs re-enabling it with some update).

   I'm clearly in the vast minority on this, but it's so frustrating that there are no options beyond buying and installing a third-party bypass to disable this type of tracking. Worse, I'm aware that the absence of data is data itself. Is my insurance going raise my rates because my vehicle won't provide telemetry for them to buy?

   1. detourdog · 1790890007 · focus · HN ↗

      Buy a slightly used one that has a 3g modem. My 2018 car no longer can phone home.

      1. asdff · 1790890949 · focus · HN ↗

         That is interesting that they fail safe and don't just brick the car though. Maybe you can still go with a newer car but just wrap the antennae in foil or maybe just unplug it.

         1. [deleted] · 1790892067 · focus · HN ↗

            [deleted]

         2. Rebelgecko · 1790892174 · focus · HN ↗

            IIRC, some brand (maybe Subaru?) had a problem where the car would drain its 12v after a few hours retrying its search for 3g towers

            1. [deleted] · 1790892473 · focus · HN ↗

               [deleted]

            2. slices · 1790946691 · focus · HN ↗

               yep. my mom's subaru ate several batteries due to this problem. She traded it in.
         3. MrDrMcCoy · 1790916175 · focus · HN ↗

            There are 50ohm antenna pigtails for just such a purpose.
         4. intrasight · 1790942785 · focus · HN ↗

            > just brick the car

            Consumer protections are strong enough to prevent that from happening.

            My vehicle of choice for the last 16 years has been the Volvo XC70 which, since it was last manufactured in 2016, only ever had 3G modems, which no longer work. It's luxurious, a great form-factor, safe and reliable, and can be had for less than $10K. The one I'm driving now was the proverbial old lady vehicle. It had only 30,000 miles on it when I bought it three years ago. It could be the last vehicle I ever owned since they're good for 200k miles.

            Funny story on my previous XC70. I sell my cars through a classic car restorer that also does consignment sales. The manager there wanted another vehicle, so he made me an offer directly which I accepted. I let them have the vehicle for a few days before the transaction. He called me and asked when the last time I changed the oil was. I said that I have no idea. He said it appears that there's no oil in the engine. That's how robust those old Volvo engines are. He went through with the transaction and is still driving it.

            Apologies for the long sales pitch on old vehicles and specifically Volvos, LOL.

            1. detourdog · 1790949446 · focus · HN ↗

               I started with 850 wagon and progressed to xc70. I loved those car but wanted an electric.

               1. intrasight · 1790959216 · focus · HN ↗

                  I want an electric too, but between also wanting a cheap car and one that doesn't spy on me, I just feel I have no choice but to stick to these older vehicles
            2. ls612 · 1791132828 · focus · HN ↗

               State level consumer protections don’t protect you from federal “this software is licensed not sold”
         5. detourdog · 1790949558 · focus · HN ↗

            It’s scary that in this day and age we are surprised when the big corps don’t brick products that impede advertising.
         6. kortilla · 1791046582 · focus · HN ↗

            You do know that places don’t have cell phone coverage at all still, right?

            1. detourdog · 1791142771 · focus · HN ↗

               I live in place that coverage frequently disappears.

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