My current car is old. I had a lot of repairs done on it recently. If I get a new car, I don’t want features. Lane assist, backup camera, DUI Camera, telemetry, auto breaking or other frankly silly features. Call me grumpy, but I find modern cars very distracting.
Can I ask a dealership to disable these at purchase? Is there a car that works best for being private besides just older cars?
I drive very little in a year. No, I can’t ride a bike.
Adding to your point… “impaired driver detection” is already federal law, however it is still held up in the federal rulemaking process. There were (if I recall) deadlines in 2024 and 2026, but the rule making process can take a long ass time, so for now, it is still a future thing, but I mention it to say that there is broad congressional support for in-car surveillance tech. It’s definitely coming.
Manufacturers cannot void the warranty because of aftermarket modifications. They can deny claims for failures that are caused by the aftermarket modifications, but they cannot “void” a warranty. In several years of working on this stuff, the only times I ever saw voided warranties was when cars were salvage branded titles, such as from total loss accidents, flood recoveries and so on. And even in those cases, federal emissions equipment warranties remained in effect. There are reasonably strong consumer protections for aftermarket modifications that go back several decades. They don’t entirely stop manufacturers from doing dodgy shit, but it has limited it.
Good point, and a good thing to add to things to consider. Thank you.
I was more thinking along the lines of the different classes of warrantable repairs and different classes of recalls.
You could absolutely have a recall pertinent to your vehicle that turns out to be voluntary and the automaker refuses to honor it if that system has been deactivated, tampered with, or modified.