Hackers Remotely Kill a Jeep on the Highway—With Me in It!

[Randy P.]

Well this is rather concerning:

Hackers Remotely Kill a Jeep on the Highway—With Me in It | WIRED

[David Tilston]

I am loving my 1995 Firefly more and more.

[Bob Miller]

"Black Hat" hackers are the same bad guys that steal personal information files so as to be able to hack into bank accounts and credit cards.

[floyd]

I just bought my latest "new" car... a low mileage 1995 Mustang convertible.
I drove a 2015 but two things put me off the new car lots probably for life...

1] Failure to deliver at a reasonable price/discount.

2] Touch screen controls and altogether too much electronics.

When we bought our 2008 I commented that I may never buy another new car due to mandated ABS,ETC,ESC, TPM, etc.
Anyone could have seen this coming and it has now gone too far.

I want my car to do only what I tell it to do through conventional controls only... and do EXACTLY the same thing with the same input EVERY time.

[Borrego Dave]

Originally Posted by floyd

I just bought my latest "new" car... a low mileage 1995 Mustang convertible.
I drove a 2015 but two things put me off the new car lots probably for life...

1] Failure to deliver at a reasonable discount.

2] Touch screen controls and altogether too much electronics.

When we bought our 2008 I commented that I may never buy another new car due to mandated ABS,ETC,ESC, TPM, etc.
Anyone could have seen this coming and it has now gone too far.

I want my car to do only what I tell it to do through conventional controls only... and do EXACTLY the same thing with the same input EVERY time.

[Glenn Baglo]

I want my vehicle to pay for its own maintenance.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Glenn Baglo

I want my vehicle to pay for its own maintenance.

Maintenance is chump change, I want it to sneak off by itself at night and steal gas!

[Lora]

After our latest round of checking out new vehicles, I had to shake my head. With all the hoopla about texting and driving, let alone the increasing requirement for hands-free phone use, it is amazing to me that the vehicle manufacturers are all touting touchscreen this and touchscreen that.
It seems counterproductive to me to have a lot of safety devices and then require/encourage a driver to take his/her eyes off the road to look at a screen to adjust something.

[Mike Magee]

When I was strongly considering a Grand Cherokee, I concluded that a 2011-2013 would be somewhat preferable to a 2014-2015 because the latter model years include a highly integrated electronic stack that controls everything. If it goes down, one can lose the speedometer readout, the climate controls (imagine not being able to turn off the heated seat when your butt starts cooking), and other important stuff. The 2011-2013 setup was much simpler and less software-dependent, and much less problematic too.

I am liking my '08 vehicle better and better.

[Randy P.]

I'm a bit put off by all the electronics in vehicles now as well but I must admit that I have found some to be to my liking. We have a 2011 Dodge Durango -crew trim package and the keyless entry with driver setting recall has proven to be a very nice feature. I also like the tire pressure monitoring and the electronic engine/transmission gauges and the rear view camera.

I have no need for OnStar, DVD players or satellite radio and bought a Garmin GPS unit in place of the integrated GPS to avoid the access and map update fees.

Some of these new features will stand the test of time and others wont but with ongoing innovation we have much safer, more comfortable and reliable vehicles then ever before and we all can appreciate that.

[Burtim]

Well, I have a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Iove it. I didn't really care about the extra packages but I did get the larger touch screen for what it does for the GPS Navigation. If you are worried about being hacked, you can simply do what I did. Don't pay for Uconnect and they will shut it off. Never needed it and don't ever expect to. The rest of the vehicle is superb for my needs.

[Glenn Baglo]

Have you priced map updates for your Jeep Grand Cherokee? Buddy bought a Highlander and found the maps are only updated once a year and cost $250 for the install at the dealer. That's for the west coast. If you want the east coast, that's another $250.

[Burtim]

I got a thing in the mail awhile back and I'm pretty sure it was about $150 period. To be honest, in the other car I have a ten year old Garmin that has never been updated and it has never really been a problem.

[David Tilston]

In my 95 fly, I have a $100 Tom Tom with lifetime free map updates. Lovin it. Since I can't lock my car doors, the Tom Tom come in the house with me.

How the auto manufactures justify charging for map updates is a mystery to me.

[Carol H]

There was a news item last night regarding the hackers who proved they could take control of the jeep.

What was clear was auto makers need to rethink how they have set up the autos that they have built internet access into. They need to separate out items such as starters, transmissions, lights and steering etc from the internet enabled devices.... suspect as more people become aware of how some automakers have the systems set up and how they can be hacked & what the hacker can do, the purchase of a used 2015 cars with internet access in the future may not be a good thing unless the auto makers do a recall and fix the issue. Something tells me they will not though.

Have a hunch though that a few auto makers are scrambling to fix the issues with the way they have everything wired into the internet on their 2016 model years.

[Ken C]

Today, Chrysler just recalled 1.4 million because of the hack.

[Carol H]

Good to hear. In reality they did not have a choose - it was a *big* safety mistake on their part not to have separated out the systems. Wonder what other auto manufactures will need to do the same.

[Randy P.]

Here's a link to the recall article for those that are interested:

Fiat Chrysler will recall vehicles over hacking worries

Fiat Chrysler will recall vehicles over hacking worries

[rbryan]

Originally Posted by Carol H

Good to hear. In reality they did not have a choose - it was a *big* safety mistake on their part not to have separated out the systems. Wonder what other auto manufactures will need to do the same.

Yes, and an even scarier prospect - hackers could theoretically commandeer certain aircraft through their WiFi system, because their data and avionics networks arent properly separated from passenger WiFi.

Hackers Could Commandeer New Planes Through Passenger Wi-Fi | WIRED

[floyd]

Originally Posted by David Tilston

In my 95 fly, I have a $100 Tom Tom with lifetime free map updates. Lovin it. Since I can't lock my car doors, the Tom Tom come in the house with me.

How the auto manufactures justify charging for map updates is a mystery to me.

Using a "TOM-TOM" is high tech, I have friend with an old Chevy who uses smoke signals!