Should we be scared of this automotive trend?

Issue #152

I know I’m not alone when I say I don’t trust car computers much. 

I don’t know if it’s because I owned a Range Rover and we all know how that goes, or because I prefer to trust mechanical devices. 

We address this concern on this issue.

Market News

• Wait, what? The Porsche 718 is back, and with a gasoline engine?

• Buttons are making a comeback, but it takes a long time. Here’s why. 

• A four-door McLaren is coming and we don’t know how we feel about that. Here’s more. 

• The Jeep Gladiator 4xe Hybrid is officially dead. Read more about why it was DOA here.

• BMW gets into hydrogen with the X5, putting it in this very exclusive list.

• Warren Buffett made millions investing in Chinese cars. Here’s why he sold off these investments later. 

• This article explains how there are now more cars worth more than $100,000 than those worth $30,000. 

• Rivian offers cash in exchange for your rights (some of them). Here’s the strange strategy to avoid conflicts in the future. 

• Subaru has built the last Legacy sedan here.

Safety and Recalls

• Hyundai recalls more than half a million vehicles because of a seatbelt problem.

• Ford (sigh) recalls more than 100,000 cars because the doors fall off (literally).

• Polestar recalls 27,000 vehicles due to this camera issue.

Car Culture

• Are these everyday cars going up in value? Let us know what you think.

• A “Trouble Light” used to be a thing, now it’s gone. Here’s a small tribute.

• The father of the Mazda Miata has passed away and this tribute sums him up perfectly.

• This Dodge Charger concept just sold for $50,000. 

• This Chinese car is now the fastest in the world (with a caveat).

• The Chevy Iron Duke might not have been everyone’s favorite, but it sure was reliable, as this article remembers.

• The Toyota Camry entered the market forty years ago and changed the market entirely. Here’s more.

• Here’s the most expensive and cheapest gas by state, which is incredibly handy information. 

• Rumors of a hybrid Ford Mustang spring back into form. Will it happen?

• Buy these SUVs and they’ll likely last more than 15 years.

Video Of The Week

TFL just purchased a weird car I’ve always wanted.

Save On Car Shipping!

I’ve used UShip twice to take delivery of a Jeep from Idaho and a boat from Florida. Both were great experiences, so I wanted to bring this service to your attention.

👉 Check out UShip here (or click the image)

Yes, that’s an affiliate link. No, it doesn’t cost you anything extra. But every click helps support this newsletter and keeps the content coming. Win-win.

In The Know

Should we be scared of this automotive trend? 

Has this ever happened to you? You’re about to use your laptop or phone and, poof! It freezes. You needed to take a picture or reply to an important email, but you couldn’t do anything except restart it (or hope it would do it by itself). 

That alone is one of the most frustrating things that can happen during the day. Granted, it’s a small moment of frustration, but still. 

Now, imagine that happening when you need to rush somewhere or, worse, while you’re driving. As this article from last June highlights, BMW recalled more than 70,000 EVs in the U.S. because of a motor software glitch that could cut off power while driving!

For now, this kind of problem might sound like something out of the movies. But make no mistake—it’s about to become routine.

Cars aren’t just machines anymore. They’re rolling computers, which isn’t new, as highlighted in this 2023 article. 

In short, every feature, from driver assistance to safety systems, is run by code. That shift makes cars smarter, but it also makes them vulnerable. Again, we use the phone comparison: even the best phones glitch from time to time. 

As MotorTrend put it, more software means more glitches—yet in cars, the stakes are life and death. I, for one, feel somewhat confident that the mechanical aspects of my engine can slow down the car to a halt, in case I have sudden power loss. 

Oh, wait. That has already happened to me and to many others. With EVs, it’s an entirely different story. 

BMW insists they’ve got it covered. A company spokesperson recently told BMWBlog that their new technology “will not face software problems”. 

Forgive us for being skeptical. Tech giants from Microsoft to Apple—with decades of experience and armies of engineers—still roll out buggy updates all the time. The idea that carmakers can somehow avoid the same fate feels like wishful thinking.

That raises the real dilemma: how do you trust software in cars? 

That’s how we landed on this article, on why it’s impossible to guarantee perfection. Even the most basic automotive software has millions of lines of code. One of them failing at 70 mph is not motivating.

We’ve heard of automakers hype the idea of a completely integrated vehicle–a smartphone on wheels, if you may. Apple has insisted it can achieve this (but has failed to show even the slightest of progress), and so have Tesla and others. 

If history has taught us anything, it is that these cars would need countless updates. The problem is that we don’t pull over to the side of the road and “update to version 16.4.1” when a patch is released. We need them to work—every time, without excuses.

This vision of a software-first future sounds shiny in press releases, but in reality, it’s a nightmare waiting to happen. A recall caused by a Bluetooth bug? A highway pileup triggered by a software crash? Or, that one creative guy with plenty of free time deciding to hack hundreds of cars? 

The truth is, the more dependent cars become on software, the more drivers are exposed to problems they can’t control or repair themselves. In the past, a faulty alternator or brake pad could be replaced. Tomorrow, your $80,000 SUV might be sidelined because of a software patch gone wrong. 

As carmakers rush to out-innovate each other, we’d rather see them focus on reliability over gimmicks. Because when it comes to cars, we don’t need them to act like our iPhones, we need them to act like cars.