Apps that remotely track and control cars are being weaponized by abusive partners. Car manufacturers have been slow to respond, according to victims and experts.

She stopped responding to him, she said, even though he texted and called her hundreds of times.

Ms. Dowdall, 59, started occasionally seeing a strange new message on the display in her Mercedes, about a location-based service called “mbrace.” The second time it happened, she took a photograph and searched for the name online.

“I realized, oh my God, that’s him tracking me,” Ms. Dowdall said.

  • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.worldEnglish
    31·
    11 months ago

    They have a useful life like that because people are whiny bitches. Any car ever made can be kept going forever. Something doesn’t work right with us. We see a 3 grand repair estimate and a 30 grand new car with high insurance premiums and high interest rates and decide to make the wrong decision.

    Buy a car used when you get your license. That is the last car you need for life.

    • Nindelofocho@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      Its less about the cost of repair and more about its ability to safely get you where you’re going. Even well maintained vehicles break more the older they get. You dont want a vehicle to leave you stranded and a vehicle prone to issues will be much less trustworthy on longer trips. Sometimes youll also spend a couple grand on repairs and realize that the issue was misdiagnosed or caused another latent issue to show up and then your vehicle is in the shop for even longer. Its one thing to have to pay a couple grand in repairs but its a whole nightmare to be without transportation for potential weeks

      • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.worldEnglish
        11·
        11 months ago

        While true unless you are in a very rural area it would still be cheaper to use a rideshare service for that month. As for longer trips you can rent a car. I don’t mean to be rude but I got to ask if you used those calculators I mentioned. I think if you see the actual numbers we are talking about your views would change. A new car insurance can be hundreds a month, the first ride you lose 5k, 10% car payment rates are common.

        As for misdiagnosing yes it happens but what I tend to see it happens more often with less common fancier cars vs your economy car the mechanic sees all the freaken time. I got a friend with a Buick Lacrosse and he has dealt with that quite a few times I have a Civic and never deal with it.

        But hey do what you want. I am confident that my tax dollars are going to bailout the industry again. So maybe I am the dumb one being responsible.

        • Nindelofocho@lemmy.worldEnglish
          1·
          11 months ago

          So my perspective may be a little skewed cause I used to do the song and dance with used cars until I just bought a new motorcycle and primarily use that for my transportation now but because ive gone that route my montly payment is really low and so is full coverage insurance even though my lender didnt require me to have full coverage insurance.

          No rudeness assumed! I didnt see mention of a calculator was it in a different comment on this post?

          As for the misdiagnosis stuff its purely anecdotal but it happened to me twice on an old F150 i had that blew the radiator, replace the radiator and then it had some wild overheating issue that was so sporadic i couldnt get it to happen in front of a mechanic, queue chasing parts down: tstat, temp sensors, etc it also proceeded to have a leaking heater core and then a blend door issue meaning the cracking dash had to come out or a hole had to be drilled into the air box to fix, until then no heat OR ac after all that it never quite worked right and then I started having issues with the brakes in which chasing parts ensued with that as well. Ive also had a 93 acura vigor with endless electrical issues and bad syncros, a 2011 Hyundai accent super base model with consistent upper end lubrication issues (that was actually common with that engine and they typically grenaded at 100k miles) It just becomes a huge headache and a lot of stress to deal with I even had an 04 Rav4 lose its transmission while I was trying to take my then gf out to a concert and that vehicle was meticulously maintained, I joke thats where my vehiclular trust issues started

          Most of my family lives 1-6hrs away depending on who i was visiting so getting a new sport touring motorcycle that I knew was going to work and get me there with no issues whenever I wanted is just the better move. renting a car would be silly and add a lot of cost just to go see family or to go camping. The last time I did rent a vehicle while on a trip it cost as much as the fairly cheap hotel i was staying at and essentially doubled the price of the trip