Comment Audi is already doing it (Score 1) 1196
So I'm walking my dog one morning, and I see my neighbor has Joe's Garage tow truck in her driveway, and she and the mechanic are standing infront of her brand new Audi, staring defeated into the open hood compartment.
"What's up?" I say.
"It wont start and we can't find the battery" says my neighbor.
"What in hell kinda car is this" says the mechanic.
So I walk over there to see what it looks like under the hood. I was dumbfounded to see everything had a plastic shield over it. Nothing was exposed. It was like there was a hood under the hood.
I later learned that Audis are NEVER to be worked on by ANYONE unless they are an Audi Authorized Repair Mechanic. And apparently, day one of Audi repair school is how to get those darn plastic shields off (without breaking them).
Apparently, these shields have interlock switches on them. If one is removed, it sends a signal to a snitch computer. Only an Audi mechanic knows how to clear the snitch computer. If there is ever an uncleared snitch signal, BYE BYE WARRANTY.
"Oh, you threw a rod and need a new engine? But you pulled a shield off on your own because you wanted to jumpstart your car one morning? Well, too bad shucka, cause you payin for your own motor now!"
Audi's motivation is understandable, but the extreme they went to is condescending. Sure they want to protect their warranty, but all other manufacturers have been honoring their warranties since the dawn of automotive without locking the customer away from their cars innards.
Maybe Audi is incapable of manufacturing a car using common technologies readily understandable by the rest of the automotive community?
And from a capitalist point of view, this prevents local mechanics who know what they are doing from performing routine maintenance on these cars. Need an oil change? Gotta go to the Audi dealer. Smack of a trust perhaps?
I'd never buy an Audi or Volvo anyway, but my Ford is just the opposite. Not only do I have full access to the innards under the hood, but routine end user maintenance things are clearly labeled in raised yellow letters.
"What's up?" I say.
"It wont start and we can't find the battery" says my neighbor.
"What in hell kinda car is this" says the mechanic.
So I walk over there to see what it looks like under the hood. I was dumbfounded to see everything had a plastic shield over it. Nothing was exposed. It was like there was a hood under the hood.
I later learned that Audis are NEVER to be worked on by ANYONE unless they are an Audi Authorized Repair Mechanic. And apparently, day one of Audi repair school is how to get those darn plastic shields off (without breaking them).
Apparently, these shields have interlock switches on them. If one is removed, it sends a signal to a snitch computer. Only an Audi mechanic knows how to clear the snitch computer. If there is ever an uncleared snitch signal, BYE BYE WARRANTY.
"Oh, you threw a rod and need a new engine? But you pulled a shield off on your own because you wanted to jumpstart your car one morning? Well, too bad shucka, cause you payin for your own motor now!"
Audi's motivation is understandable, but the extreme they went to is condescending. Sure they want to protect their warranty, but all other manufacturers have been honoring their warranties since the dawn of automotive without locking the customer away from their cars innards.
Maybe Audi is incapable of manufacturing a car using common technologies readily understandable by the rest of the automotive community?
And from a capitalist point of view, this prevents local mechanics who know what they are doing from performing routine maintenance on these cars. Need an oil change? Gotta go to the Audi dealer. Smack of a trust perhaps?
I'd never buy an Audi or Volvo anyway, but my Ford is just the opposite. Not only do I have full access to the innards under the hood, but routine end user maintenance things are clearly labeled in raised yellow letters.
