Car Companies Say Home Repairs Are 'Legally Problematic,' Seek Copyright Restrictions

a reply to: StratosFear

that's the car, except it was maroon with just as dark tint as i could get.
another thing about that car that caused me a whole heap of trouble, was before lights on for safety.
the gauges were all electronic and would light up when you turned the key on. at night that's not real good.
got pulled over a couple of times because of no head lights. one turned into a DUI.

the longer i had the car, yea it was a lot easier to work on because of the learning curve, before it was normally aspirated, sending units, and clutch fans. most of if not all cars and trucks i had the old automatic chokes with the heat raisers were gone or disabled.

a reply to: liejunkie01

I only favor local if the quality is on par. If it is, I'm ready to pay even a little more for local. In my personnal experience, american cars don't match the quality you get with some foreign brands. That's why my latest car is not american. I think the industry didn't do enough to innovate / revamp itself after 2008. Too much of the same.

a reply to: infolurker

In 1995, I knew this would come.

I used to work at a factory that made computer resistors. We manufactured the resistors for many companies, including Ford and GM. What they told me way back then was that these resistors weren't really meant for car codes. I was told then that the resistors were part of the on board computer system for the purpose of certain agencies to download the information to their servers. They would know exactly where your car was at, how fast you drove it, where you drove it to and what you talk about in your car.

At that time I had no idea what a server was. It was really at the beginning of the internet for most people. But I knew that it was happening.

The reason they don't want you to fix your car isn't for violations of the warranty, it disconnects the on board computer system from the servers. That is all.

They have been downloading your information since 1995 and the first vehicles that used this was the Ford factory in Janesville, Wisconsin. If the factory workers in Janesville weren't aware of what those parts were for, at my factory, we did.

I have been telling people about this since 1995 but people acted like I was nuts. But I KNEW about the capability BEFORE Northstar.

Since then, the company closed down operations in Indiana, I think they might still be in Singapore.

Let me reiterate, they download your information to their servers. That has nothing to do with the car codes to fix your car. Since 1995, CTS has been making these resistors.

I'm a gear head and I build and mod cars as a hobby. You can do about anything with new cars but it's beyond scre drivers and sockets nowadays. My 350z puts down about 472 hp @ he wheels...I keep a small netbook in the car for tuning. It's true that very little modification is done for efficiency, but what you can do know blows away the cars of old (even muscle cars) most muscle cars stock were less than 200 hp and had HORRIBLE gas mileage. An average car now Adams is over 200 hp and gets 25 mpg.
This reminds me of the John Deere story. They say you may own the car, but they own the technology so you never entirely own the vehicle (theses are more farm equipment). I would like to see farmers give the big middle finger to them and stop buying their products. Just like with the government, the people have the power at the end of the day.

a reply to: WarminIndy

This is the company I worked for CTS I have not worked there since 1998, so I suppose that it would not be illegal for me to tell you how it was when I worked there.

They don't say on the website that they make things for telecommunications companies. I worked in the department that made the 750 series.

If the car companies own the copyright to the software, CTS owns the copyright to the hardware. Will CTS come forward with that?

a reply to: Hr2burn

you don't know much about muscle cars do ya.

1970 Chevelle SS 396 came with lots of options for a engines, one was rated at 350 HP @ 415lbs of torque with a 4sp and one 375 hp 415 lbs torque with a turbo 400 automatic. from the factory before any body tweaked them.

hell there was even a small block small journal 327 that had 325hp. that's just one year and one manufacturer.
the 1970 Plymouth Barracuda had many options the lowest hp rating was a 226 with a single barrel carb @146hp up to a 426 hemi with 2 4's@ 425 hp. again before anybody tweaked them.
better go back and check your specs. start back in the sixty's and go to about 74 75.

i will give you this, when you stood on the pedal and the back barrels kicked in you could watch the gas gauge needle start moving towards the easy mark, and hear them sucking the gas out of the tank and they didn't handle well unless you beefed up the suspension.

and there is a reason you still see more muscle cars at the strip than tuners, i bet you can't guess why.




ETA: and sometimes they didn't stop that well.

a reply to: WarminIndy

did CTS design them or did the car manufactors and have CTS build them.
the welders i use to work on uses all kind or components that they designed and held patents on and had other companies build them. if i remember correctly OHMITE was one of these.

originally posted by: hounddoghowlie
a reply to: WarminIndy

did CTS design them or did the car manufactors and have CTS build them.
the welders i use to work on uses all kind or components that they designed and held patents on and had other companies build them. if i remember correctly OHMITE was one of these.

CTS designed them per specs from the customers.

We had government contracts, part of our plant had security clearance. They mass produce the resistors because they were bought in bulk by the customer.

My department, 750 series, made resistors for Swedcom and AT&T, there were other departments like 725 and 740 series. The 105 series made the trakstick for IBM laptops, we had a plant wide vote on what we would name it.

The car manufacturers discussed with CTS about what they wanted and then helped design them, we just manufactured them.

There were some resistors sold for general purpose for the public and you could get those at Radio Shack. I know the other plants were in Glasgow, Matamoros and Singapore.

We were one of the first companies to get ISO certification. CTS patented resistors, but they were always manufactured per customer specs.

originally posted by: pheonix358
Don't buy US made cars. It is that simple.

A smart guy in Australia made a plug in module that allowed any laptop able to read any car's fault codes. The manufacturers claimed he was copying their plugs that were copyrighted. It ended up in a big mess for a while as they tried to run the guy out of business.

It is actions like these that move people away from buying their brands and for this and many similar things that have driven them to the wall. Plants are closing down and the Japanese manufacturers are now our best sellers.

This sort of behaviour by car manufacturers, already gasping for survival, is just plain stupid.

Serves them right when they go out of business.

Another case of greedy little bastards getting what they deserve.

If I buy a car ... it is mine and I will damn well do what I want with it including messing with their precious computer systems. It is mine!

P

US made cars? Are there any?

I thought China bought up most of the brand designs.

Wouldn't touch an American made product with a barge pole anyway.

originally posted by: bullcat

originally posted by: pheonix358
Don't buy US made cars. It is that simple.

A smart guy in Australia made a plug in module that allowed any laptop able to read any car's fault codes. The manufacturers claimed he was copying their plugs that were copyrighted. It ended up in a big mess for a while as they tried to run the guy out of business.

It is actions like these that move people away from buying their brands and for this and many similar things that have driven them to the wall. Plants are closing down and the Japanese manufacturers are now our best sellers.

This sort of behaviour by car manufacturers, already gasping for survival, is just plain stupid.

Serves them right when they go out of business.

Another case of greedy little bastards getting what they deserve.

If I buy a car ... it is mine and I will damn well do what I want with it including messing with their precious computer systems. It is mine!

P

US made cars? Are there any?

I thought China bought up most of the brand designs.

Wouldn't touch an American made product with a barge pole anyway.

I heard there were still a few Yugos around.

Maybe a Diahatsu?

Being a mechanic for a long time I've seen some pretty shoddy repairs on cars. To make it illegal for someone to repair their own car is a bit of a stretch. On the lighter side, how do you double the value of a Lada ?(Russian car). You put gas in it

a reply to: Helious

And how do they think they can enforce this?

originally posted by: liejunkie01
I guess patriotism is telling people to buy foreign products?

Poor me, nah, I'm thinking poor everyone else that loses their jobs because the manufacturing sector gets shipped over seas.

Which could be slowed if people bought domestic products.

But hey what do I know, you are the economics expert?

Part of patriotism in regards to free markets is making sure your businesses are competitive with the rest of the world. Buying American just because it's American doesn't help your business, it harms it. Buy American when it's a good product, even if you pay a few dollars more but when the company stops representing your interests and is making inferior goods it does far more damage to the country to not give the company an incentive to change.

Keeping all service and repair work with the manufacturer with make for a more reliable used car market. I would feel better knowing that the trade-in sitting on the lot has been serviced there as well.

Dealer serviced used cars hold their value better. I think this is a good move for consumers. I do not take my car to the dealer even though they make it very easy. I cancelled it but normally I would get a call to book an appointment whenever my km reached the service limit.

originally posted by: MALBOSIA
Keeping all service and repair work with the manufacturer with make for a more reliable used car market. I would feel better knowing that the trade-in sitting on the lot has been serviced there as well.

Dealer serviced used cars hold their value better. I think this is a good move for consumers. I do not take my car to the dealer even though they make it very easy. I cancelled it but normally I would get a call to book an appointment whenever my km reached the service limit.

Complete rubbish.

Perhaps you need some protectionist laws for the consumer over in America.

We can get our cars serviced by any competent service center and have the book stamped and the manufacturer MUST honour the warranty.

All this claim of America being land of the free and all that huff puff, and socialism is evil. Well, it sure seems to work out better for us here in Europe for the consumer. That is why the yanks are trying to ruin it with TTIP. We will burn American companies before we let TTIP take hold.


American companies cannot compete in Europe so they throw in the towel and flee, because they realise they have to respect their customers over here to survive. They can't handle that. I am quite happy for American car manufacturers (and indeed any American company that won't play by our rules) company to stay the hell out of Europe.


I would rather buy Russian and from other places first. In fact I do buy Russian parts, America is no longer the top dog in the economy. That is why they are doing everything they can to prevent the rest of the world from succeeding, they are sticking a wedge between Europe and Russia, they are trying to ruin our system with TTIP etc.

Why would I buy American cars?

What have they got over a Kia with high MPG, 7 year warranty and a very good service.

The only EX-American car that seems to be succeeding over here is Jeep (and that is now owned by Fiat Lol).

You cant compete with Audi, VW, Kia, BMW, Mercedes etc over here.

I have saved thousands on fixing my own vehicle, like changing out the half shafts in front wheel drive, brakes, and other things. You can even use for free the computer tester that reads service engine codes at your local auto parts stores, albiet, those readings don't always accurately show what should be repaired, and the auto parts store people do not know how to interpret those codes. At least not in my experiences.

For example: A code that points to a knock sensor doesn't always mean the knock sensor is the problem. And the store will just see knock sensor and try to sell you one.

I wonder if a law like this would cause these stores to halt the offering of those code readers?

A law like this is utter nonsense and should be a laughing stock on the manufacturers pushing for this. What a bunch of MORONS.

Maybe they think they will station auto parts store police enforcers, or new cars will send a signal to some brown shirt with your GPS location and send a SWAT team when you pull out a few fuses or start pulling sensors or what have you.

I will have a tire iron ready for any idiots of the future who tell me not to fix my car. (humor)

"Do you tie it up with wire, just to keep it on the road?"

The relationship between the Auto brands (nobody MAKES cars, they just assemble them. ie: Denso = Toyota, Bosch = Mercedes, Mattel = Ford, et al.) and the military industrial complex is what we need to acknowledge here. The car companies are all about leasing patents to each other and dont actually give a fk about selling cars to consumers, they realised in the late 70's that there was more money in leasing technology to other companies than there was actually building cars people wanted to drive.

Look at some of the patents that the car companies own and you realise they basically have a licence to print money because every government relys on the internal combustion engine to some extent.

Look at the "Foundations" some of these patent holders have established over the years... they are all part of the military industrial complex. These are the "industrial" side of it.

On a less ranty note: You have nice cars some of you!.

Edit to keep ranting:
There will only be badge engineering in the future, the auto companies dont want to spend time developing their own ideas; we have all heard the maxim "dont re-invent the wheel", well this IS the apathetic attitude they have toward developing new cars that people want to drive.

If I cowered and acquiesced every time someone said "Don't do it", I never woulda gotten that extra cookie. shhh...

I worked in a body shop for 3 years. After leaving there and seeing thousands of real life wrecks, not the standardized tests car companies can build cars specifically for, I will only own american cars. Obviously every crash has it's own variables, but you see enough of them, you notice trends. That thought pattern might of saved my life when a semi truck didn't want to stop and turned my 15 foot long mustang into a 10 foot long mustang. Some onlookers ripped my door open and I walked right out with only a bloody nose from the air bag. I have no doubt the same situation would of killed me in some other cars.

as for the OP, didn't something similiar to this come up with people modifying their electronics like phones and tablets and what not? Didn't it end with the courts laughing at the manufacturers?

originally posted by: Pilgrum

When it comes to mechanical repairs, there's some really shonky work done in backyard sheds still which make for some very unsafe vehicles on the road and that's what 'they' are trying to curb for good reason. The average car owner these days does little more than change the oil because the sytems (engine management, ABS, etc) appear so complex to them. Most new car owners have extended warranties that require regular servicing at approved workshops to keep the warranty (some up to 7 years now) so I know many motorists who hardly ever do any more than wash the car and check the tyre pressures.

when it comes to mechanical repairs there is a LOT of shoddy work done by North American manufactured car dealers, which make for some unsafe and high emission spouting vehicles on the road. i have seen my fair share of shoddy dealer work over the years especially repairs done under warranty. car dealers love to use duct tape, bailing wire and zip-ties for repairs. and the lies they try to tell you to get out of warranty work can be classic, "there is nothing wrong with your car, it's supposed to do that". my favorite was a guy who i called in to show he had no oil on his dip-stick. he was surprised and said he had already put in 4L of oil (the car took 4.25L of oil, when i drained the oil he only had under 1L still in the car), since his last oil change, and he changed his oil on time due to being under warranty. i told him that was insane, there is no way he should have needed to add any oil. and told him to take it in and let the dealer fix it since it was under warranty. he replied that he did that already. they told him "it is perfectly normal for the car to need the oil all the time, due to it being a "high performance" engine", ("high performance engine" my ---).

if they need to "curb" anyone, it should be the dealer shops.