Not That There Was Much Chance…
By Mitch Berg
…I was going to buy a GM car any time soon (over overall vehicle quality, not to mention the bailout)…
…but this adds wood screws to all the nails in the coffin.
7 Responses to “Not That There Was Much Chance…”
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May 27th, 2015 at 6:53 pm
If they can’t get the exemption closed they could sell you a car but only rent you the steering wheel. And design the car so it will ONLY work with their steering wheel.
Same thing.
May 27th, 2015 at 7:33 pm
This is just beyond stupid! A friend of mine works for a GM dealer and tells me all of the problems that have been inherent for years with several of their models. Things that they know are costly, but they keep making them the same way, like the steering gears and timing chain cover gaskets leaking at around 40,000 miles. But, hey; maybe this will work out best for the consumer, because if GM owns the car, they will have to fix everything that goes wrong with it.
May 27th, 2015 at 8:04 pm
if the fault in a fatal accident is not unequivocally “operator” then liability rests with GM – their software drives the car – their only way to prove it isn’t their fault is to release the code for the plaintiff’s review and you can bet they won’t do that
this could be a litigation gold mine for lawyers. Particularly once you start playing the what did you know and when did you know it game.
May 27th, 2015 at 8:22 pm
At some point, they will recognize that their business model needs to shift from selling you a car to selling you a transportation solution. (As in, sometimes I need an urban runabout, sometimes I need a luxury sedan, sometimes I need a pickup truck, sometimes I need a two seat touring car, etc.)
May 27th, 2015 at 11:10 pm
One problem with a car having its systems managed by software is that it can be hacked. In the near future they will likely be connected to the internet at least part of the time. It makes it easier to withstand hacking if the manufacturer can lock the software down. Do you want the neighborhood unauthorized mechanic to patch in that neat piece of code that giver you better mileage, but eventually ruins your engine? There is probably a happy medium somewhere.
The boing-boing guys & gals are cyber-marxist idiots anyhow. There was a great debate a few years back between Doctorow and SF author Jerry Pournelle. Pournelle likes copyrights (for writers, anyhow), and Doctorow hates them. Pournelle made the point that, for an author, copyrights represent wealth. Authors can sell copyrights to their works, they know how much they are worth. Doctorow’s plan to eliminate copyrights will result in only certain kinds of authors the ability to make a living by making paid appearances, selling signed copies, etc.
May 28th, 2015 at 9:19 am
http://www.jegs.com/i/Chevrolet+Performance/809/19259914/10002/-1?CAWELAID=230006180000976510&CAGPSPN=pla&catargetid=230006180000849367&cadevice=c&gclid=COb0n6LO5MUCFcITHwodDB8Ahg
Problem solved.
June 2nd, 2015 at 9:03 am
I am guessing that Toyota and Honda are not far behind in this, to be fair to GM.
(and they make great big vehicles, which are wonderful for a big family like mine…..but they’re simply outmatched when they go smaller than my Acadia)