With consumer credit ratings plummeting, more American car owners could soon be driving around with an electronic Big Brother on board.
Business is booming for makers of shut-off devices, which turn engines off when car payments are late. Sales at one manufacturer, Littleton, Colorado-based Passtime, are up 33 percent over last year. CEO Stan Schwarz says the company is cranking up production to meet the demand…
While the devices have mostly been used in the subprime auto loan market, other lenders are looking closely at the technology, manufacturers say. It’s no mystery why interest in the gadgets soaring: the creditworthiness of American consumers is declining as they lose jobs in record numbers and find it harder to tap into home equity…
Consumers could increasingly find themselves in cars with shut-off devices if their credit turns bad and they are forced to shop at dealerships serving the subprime market. These sellers range from small mom-and-pop, “Buy Here, Finance Here” outlets to major dealerships…
The products also include global positioning, or GPS, to speed up the repossession of the vehicle, if necessary.
I still wouldn’t want to be the guy who shows up to repo the car.
Seems to take a page from the utilities industry. Also certain software will stop functioning if not renewed (ex Skype). Interesting concept.
However, an auto can be considered a critical equipment in an emergency so lawsuits may get in the way.
Definitely agree the guy doing repo is at risk. However, I would gladly see that QT pie on the above passenger seat!
Even with the monster liability policy required of outfits making these devices, I’d hate to be subject to the lawsuit that can derive from a car slowing to a nice, safe, gradual halt – in the middle of a freeway.
I can see it now. Mass havoc created by Auto shut off device hack. ** Freeway crippled during rush hour. LOL
#3 – The understanding I have is that it will not shut the vehicle off while it is running or moving. It will not allow the vehicle to restart later though.
But what if someone gets hurt or killed because the car would not start and they could not get a person to a hospital and such? The liability, not mention the MASSIVE hacker crowd will render these devices useless.
And just like homes that are being foreclosed and destroyed by the owner, the same thing will happen to cars. Hopefully that GPS is waterproof so they can find that car in the bottom of a lake.
Also, what happens if they shut a car off on the interstate and causes death or severe injury? Ol’ Stan Schwartz will be somebody’s bitch.
Great picture. I watched that movie dozens of times in my youth…
“I walk into someone’s place of work, they shit scared. They know I’m not a cop, think I’ve come to kill ’em. And I would. I’ll kill anybody who crosses me. Know what I mean?”
Classic.
We had a dealer here in Detroit about a year or two ago that I seem to recall got into trouble using these devices.
It would be simple to just have the units shut down the car the next time the engine is shut down. There is no reason that it should happen while they are driving down the freeway.
cant see that product taking off in a sue-happy America. too much risk involved.
-however, i bet there is someone itching to underwrite a derivative bomb for that market nonetheless.
-s
“Repo Man” — Emilio Estevez’s last good movie.
Seriously, this is the movie (pictured above) I first saw him in and thought he had such great potential. Then he just was in so many crappy movies!
Normal man spends his life avoiding tense situations, repo man spends his life getting into tense situations…
Hey wait, Estevez was da bomb in that Stephen King based classic Maximum Overdrive. – but then you can’t go wrong with a script by King and soundtrack by ACDC!
They’ll be shut off anyways in a liberal world.
12,
Yes. Of course they would. Because there are no other countries in the world that are different than yours that still have running vehicles.
Can’t you get over the election yet? Don’t you have an illegal nanny to pay or something?
I don’t think this is true. I’m having a hard time believing this. What if the car gets shut off on the highway? Roadblock. What if the car gets shut off while on a tight exit ramp? Car flys off the street and crashes. No way… bring out the BS meter.
#13, Al Gore called the internal combustion engine the enemy of mankind. Reducing the number of cars is certainly on the agenda. The EPA is set to rule that CO2 is a pollutant, in other words ‘Pay up or your engine stops running.’
#15 MikeN The internal combustion engine served us well.However, it’s time to let it go. It pollutes and it uses fuel produced by people that want to kill us. Does that make sense why it needs to be replaced?
We need to go to an ALL ELECTRIC SOCIETY. Does that make sense? The only thing that is not now electric is to haul our asses around. That too must go electric. Why is this philosophy wrong or at least so difficult for many to grasp?
# 16 Dallas said, “We need to go to an ALL ELECTRIC SOCIETY. Does that make sense?”
Sounds good. Better tell O’Mama, he seems dead set against that idea. At least as evidenced by a lack of a proposed viable plan to head us in that direction…
No sense in throwin’ out the baby with the dirty bath water. Internal combustion’s brought us a long way. Electrical, while being an excellent objective for the future it isn’t ready yet. There’s a lot to be done to make internal combustion vehicles more efficent. I saw an excellent paper on inertial accumulators for braking and pulling out, and numerous papers on hydrogen enriching fuels, hybridization, and an endless list of etcetera. Seems to make more sense to set industry standards for higher efficiency and work towards the goal.
I didn’t know Sharpton was the guy repod.
What could ALSO solve this, is IF’ they would drop interest rates so the POOR MAN dont have to worry as much about paying the money BACK…
#8 and #14 – Why wouldn’t they shut off the car while it’s running? What if it were during a high speed police chase? What if Domino’s were delivering a booger laden pizza?
My friend will remove the device for $200
CASH ONLY.
MikeN,
In a liberal world, we’d see the end of foreign oil dependency
In a conservative world, we’d see the end of the world.
The liberal world is better.
I think the government should require everyone to wear a tracking device that is equiped with a “non lethal” stun device. That way, if any of us steps out of line, the rest of us will be protected by our supervisors.
This idea brings a whole new meaning to the term stimulus.
I think the government should require everyone to wear a tracking device that is equiped with a “non lethal” stun device. That way, if any of us steps out of line, the rest of us will be protected by our supervisors.
This idea brings a whole new meaning to the term “stimulus package”.
>In a liberal world, we’d see the end of foreign oil dependency
That’s why they are against oil drilling in Alaska and off the coast.