Cars used to be a simple thing. Buy one, maintain it, and it basically stays the same until you sell it. The features you drive off the lot with are the features you have five years later.
That’s no longer the case. Cars are computers on wheels, and guess what? Computers need updates. This one thing has changed what it means to own a car in ways that most people don’t realize until it’s too late.
Your Car Can Improve (And Suffer) After You Purchase It
This is the strangest thing. A software update can literally improve your car by providing features that were never there in the first place. Tesla made headlines for its updates that improved acceleration overnight, added new games to the screen, or updated autopilot functions that changed what the car could do.
Other manufacturers have followed suit. Over the air updates can fix bugs, improve fuel efficiency, change navigation systems and improve Bluetooth compatibility. It is really cool when you think of it; your car is a little more current without your doing anything.
However, it’s no longer just something that could improve your vehicle without you asking for it; it could suffer too. An update could suddenly remove heated seats or block certain radio stations. An interface could change, forcing one to relearn where things are once again. An update to fix something could break something else. Unlike a glitchy app on your phone, a glitchy car becomes a massive problem on the road.
The Subscription Model Came into Your Driveway
Software updates have thrust a possibility upon buyers that they never thought before: ongoing costs for features already embedded in the car. Heated seats have been a staple of many cars for many years but now, some manufacturers want you to pay for monthly subscriptions for the heated seats that you could turn on because they are already physically part of your vehicle. Advanced cruise control, performance modes, enhanced navigation – even if the hardware is there, paying an addition monthly fee every month is what makes a manufacturer see dollar signs.
Ultimately, it makes sense to them for recurring revenue instead of one-time sales. However, to those who paid $40,000 for their vehicles and only realized after the fact that they need to subscribe to get what they paid for is false advertising at its best – or at least against ethical business practices.
Therefore, when exploring car sales options through salesmen, it’s important to note which features require subscriptions (and how much those subscriptions may be) and how those incremental costs add up over time. A car that seems like a better deal at $20 or $30 a month for a subscription may not be worth it in the long run if another car’s features are all included with the initial price.
Updates You Want vs. Updates You Need
Not all updates are optional – safety recalls are more often applied through software than replaced in parts these days. This is actually great – as your car gets promoted without your actively seeking out dealer time – your car gets safer. However, it also means that you need to be aware of updates.
If you fail to recognize your ability to get a certain safety update to prevent something known from occurring down the line could leave you wondering what happened when the insurance claim comes in. Or worse – your warranty coverage reduced because you chose not to get updates as they became available.
For whatever reason (and it’s usually unsubstantiated), some manufacturers drop support after a time period. Your infotainment system that worked great in 2018 might stop being updated in 2024, and subsequently leave you with outdated map systems or Bluetooth connection capabilities. The hardware is fine; the software becomes obsolete.
When Updates Stop, Value Drops
This is something no one ever realized before – but now vehicles become increasingly valuable based on how long their manufacturers provide them updates after they leave the showroom floor. Two identical vehicles from two different brands could ultimately be valued very differently five years down the line if one gets abandoned while the other continues to receive support.
Consumers care about this – used cars still receiving regular updates feel newer and safer while vehicles that have been abandoned feel like they won’t work even if they do work perfectly fine – as there’s something no longer there when they’re treated like older generations of vehicles.
Thus, this is something that buyers now need to research before purchasing; certain brands offer years and years of continued support while others offer five years (or less). This could become a big part of how much your car is worth when you decide to sell it or what support you receive in the interim from service people who want to recycle cars regularly instead of needing to keep providing updates based on recalled specs.
The Requirement of Connectivity
Most updates require an internet connection – whether it’s built into your car or tethered through your phone. While this was never an issue in old cars, now it opens up new vulnerabilities because it’s one more thing you need to make sure you have at all times.
If you’re parking underground or in an area with spotty connectivity, it’s hard to get updates. Some connections require hours and need your vehicle parked in a safe space with stable signal power – it’s not a huge inconvenience but instead it’s another complication of driving and owning a vehicle these days.
Additionally, when networks upgrade, this has consequences for vehicles with internal modems or custom parts – 3G capabilities disappeared when 3G connections were dropped; eventually 4G will disappear too; 5G will not be around forever either – it means that once connected modems now have lifespans as well instead of operating forever as they should’ve in past generations of vehicles.
Privacy and Data Collection
Updates don’t just bring new options; they bring data collection with them as well – modern cars keep track where you go, how you drive, how fast you brake – all countless metrics – and those metrics get sent back home through similar connections that provide updates as well as consumer personal data they’ll use against you (for insurance company benefits, targeted advertising or forms of storage you didn’t sign up for).
While many manufacturers will use these metrics to learn more about their products and compile general updates based on common themes, not selling this information is wrong – but opting out isn’t always as easy as putting up a red flag either; sometimes you can’t even opt-out of accepting their sharing if it’s required for certain features to work at all).
Therefore, this new-to-the-market trade-off between functionality and privacy is important for buyers now more than ever – car buyers should focus less on performance ratings now and instead how much privacy will be invaded to keep the vehicle running optimally?
What This Means For Buyers
Buying a car means thinking about what’s going to happen with its software during its lifecycle – not just the components – that means ongoing questions include: How long does this manufacturer support vehicles? What subscription fees apply? What features are available over-the-air vs through dealer visits? How do software programs fare when cellular technology upgrades?
These are questions that didn’t exist ten years ago – but now they do – and they matter because if a mechanically sound vehicle could exist perfectly for 15 years but at year seven it becomes outdated from its software perspective and has poor ownership afterward due to all these unforeseen incompatibilities, then what’s really the point?
Software-defined vehicles legitimately benefit from this major transition – they can fix your problem without bringing you into the dealership, they can supplement problems with added features and keep vehicles safer – but it also creates complexities that change what it means to own a car forever with incremental costs that weren’t there before – car buying educated sellers from the start will see they’re not getting what they thought only later down the line!
Read Dive is a leading technology blog focusing on different domains like Blockchain, AI, Chatbot, Fintech, Health Tech, Software Development and Testing. For guest blogging, please feel free to contact at readdive@gmail.com.
