OTA Updates, and the Pre-Disposition of Many Pickup Owners Against Features and Changes

[RickLightning]

Thanks for setting up the poll, I think the results couldn’t be clearer. So, you’re basically talking about a tinfoil hat that’s big enough for the whole truck, right?

Exactly!

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[julian]

OTA can make your car faster. No need to watch the whole thing, I cued it where it should be around the 2min mark... I've had this happen to my Tesla and I now Mach e people have had improvments as well.

 

[beatle]

Most of the good points about OTA updates have already been stated: feature adds, performance improvements, potential to log data for good purposes, etc. But OTA updates also allow manufacturers to sell promises and not actual goods. Those that are delivered with the vehicle may be half-baked or completely non-existent. Look at Tesla's FSD for a prime example of how to sell a promise. I think Blue Cruise may be similar, though not nearly as egregious.

OTA updates can also strip features away and reduce performance. Most early Teslas could charge at a faster rate during the first few years, but now they charge slower - some incredibly slow. In some cars, they've had their battery cell voltages capped to help mitigate the potential for fire. This would be thoughtful if it were merely a stopgap before replacing the faulty battery, but Tesla denies the batteries are defective. After a long drawn out court battle, they eventually settled for about $625 per car - a slap in the face if you asked me.

I and a few others had Ludicrous mode remotely stripped away from the car post-purchase. When I put in a ticket with support, they told me there was nothing they could do unless that feature appeared on the motor vehicle purchase agreement (MVPA). Note that this was a feature added to the car post-sale and was not documented by Tesla when they originally installed it, so it was absent from my MVPA. Fortunately I saved correspondence with the sales advisor before I purchased it from them that confirmed the car did indeed have Ludicrous mode. Tesla has also remotely disabled salvaged cars from DC fast charging - even on 3rd party chargers, not just their supercharger networks. OTA updates have also rendered the original Tesla MCU incredibly slow and almost useless, prompting many owners to opt for an out-of-pocket replacement. Other small issues like limiting the speed at which the a car's air suspension lowers, and removing time elapsed/remaining from the media player.

I am hoping Tesla is a fringe case for how OTA updates are abused by the manufacturer, but even if so, I learned that auto manufacturers are not going to act in the consumer's best interest unless they have something to gain from it, and optimism of OTAs should be cautious. OTA updates are the future for better or worse.

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