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Cars Are Rolling Computers Now. So What Happens When They Stop Getting Updates? (www.wired.com)

submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by jeffw to c/technology

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[–] [email protected] 175 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I hate these proprietary systems because companies have very bad track records in terms of maintenance, since they'd rather you buy a newer product.

In 2022, the automaker told drivers of the affected cars, some only three years old, that a technical solution was delayed by the pandemic. Now, more than two years later, those drivers still don’t have access to telematics services. [...] Vehicles from Hyundai and Nissan, some as late as model year 2019, also lost some features after 2022’s 3G sunset.

In a country with good consumer rights, this would be a valid reason to return it and get a replacement or refund: It's no longer offering functionality that was advertised and that you paid for as part of the purchase price.

[–] [email protected] 37 points 5 months ago (3 children)

In a country with good consumer rights, this would be a valid reason to return it and get a replacement or refund: It’s no longer offering functionality that was advertised and that you paid for as part of the purchase price.

In the EU this would probably be a no-brainer.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 5 months ago

Same in Australia, where I'm from. I'm living in the USA now and it's a lot harder to get refunds for things like this.

[–] norimee 14 points 5 months ago (1 children)

The mandatory warranty for any product in the EU is 2 years. It doesn't take into account products like cars that you would expect to be usable for 10+ years.

I doubt you could claim anything in the EU either after more than 2 years.

I'm not an expert on this, if there are some regulations I didnt take into account, please correct me.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

The mandatory warranty for any product in the EU is 2 years

I don't know a lot about EU policies. In Australia, products must last for as long as a reasonable consumer would expect them to last (for example, 10 years for a large appliance like a fridge), including advertised features or features a sales rep told you about, regardless of the warranty period. A company removing features only three years after purchase would absolutely qualify for a refund or replacement.

I think Australia's policies are stricter than the EU though. As far as I know, Australia is the only country where you can return games on Steam if there's a major bug, even if you've had it for months and have hundreds of hours of game time. Valve got sued by the government and fined AU$3 million because they tried their "no refunds after 2 hours of game play" approach in Australia, which is illegal there (you can't have conditions like that on refunds if the refund is for a major issue). https://www.pcgamer.com/valve-posts-a-notice-about-australian-consumer-rights-on-steam/

[–] norimee 5 points 5 months ago

products must last for as long as a reasonable consumer would expect them to last (for example, 10 years for a large appliance like a fridge),

I never heard about anything like this in the EU. If my fridge or washing machine breaks after 2 years and 1 week I have no legal claim towards the manufacturer.

Actually most big electronic retailers try to sell you additional warranty with the product you buy. So you pay extra to extend warranty to 5 years.

I like the Australian aproach better, though.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

No, it wouldn't. The same thing happened when 3G was shut off here and there was no recourse for consumers.