Is it possible to retrofit a used "computer" vehicle and remove all digital tech to make it electromechanical again, where the owner has complete control of what they purchased?
this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2025
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"All" digital tech?
I don't think most people realize that any powertrain new enough to even have fuel injection is going to be a "computer vehicle" in some capacity. How are you with carburetors?
That's not really true. The first fuel injection systems were mechanical. The first one of those used in a gasoline-powered 4-stroke car engine was in 1955. Bosch mechanical FI systems were common in higher-end European cars from then on. Digital electronic fuel injection controllers weren't common until the 1980s, though there were some EFI systems controlled by what were essentially crude analog computers as far back as the late 1950s. I know that Volvo had such a system in the late 60s since I owned one. It was extremely reliable.
I'm great at carburetors. Especially the Holley 4 barrel carb. Trial and error made me good at it. I had the freedom to try. We no longer have that. So, yes, all digital tech. Just electromechanical so we can save huge amounts of dollars by not getting involved in the "repair industry". Transmissions are a different beast but if all the "Chilton's'" auto repair manuals have not been secreted away and completely destroyed then I at least have a fighting chance to figure it out.
they dont charge those paywalls to dealers, this is just a way to force consumers to service their cars with expensive partners
It'll be reverse engineered and a tool on AliExpress for $50 within a few months. Dealer software will be cracked.
Then it's just an arms race between the OTA updates and the pirates.
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Yeah we definitely need open source vehicles/transportation initiatives for everything: trains, trams, hsr, cars, etc
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And that's when I switched a while ago from a modern Bentley to an "ancient" mechanical car from a past long forgotten. Every electrical gadget is local, and it just has android auto (dedicated isolated phone just for the car) with a fake google account for navigation. Everyone thinks we're broke lol, but I'm so fed with this shit. Even a silly backlight went from 5 bucks for a replacement-bulb to 1500 bucks for the whole led-package. Parts alone, add the mechanic and the many hours needed.
Heard that all brands do this shit though. Like even disabling things remotely that are there but you didn't subscribe to. This is bonkers.
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I guess that's one way to make people give up cars in favor of public transportation.
You must not be american. It is literally not an option here.
that's just sad. I have about 4 bus stops within a 5 minute walk. a bus transfer station (with maybe 30 different routes) 10 mins away, and a train station also 10 mins away. I feel bad for americans having to rely on a car :/
You stop at a bus stop here and youre getting stabbed or robbed. They're very unsafe.
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Making them unaffordable for the majority by jacking up car insurance prices, seems like a super efficient strategy.
This isn't a new thing. Almost every car that has an electrical park brake advises you to use software to change change out your rear brake pads, as when you release your Electric Park Brake (EPB), the EPB motor doesn't wind back enough, to give you the space required to install new pads and/or rotors, it only winds back enough to release pressure off the piston pushing the pad, which this has been in production cars since 2001 (some cars have brake maintenance modes which can be activated without software, Mazda first comes to mind with this). This whole Hyundai/Kia deal reminds me of Volkswagen back when they were intoducting proprietary software for vehicle maintenance, which led to a guy getting mad and making his own software that does everything the factory software does for a fraction of the cost and arguably better (Rosstech/VCDS) which I feel will happen soon with Hyundai. But being mad just at just Hyundai for this is the wrong mindsent, almost every car manufacturer does this and for a long time, and needs to stop. Even for dealerships this is horrendous because it uses a always online software that if you live somewhere with bad internet or GPS connection, stops you from even just resetting the service interval, which as usual is explained as being a good thing for "safety reasons" by the manufacturer.
The new thing is that the user bought a professional scan tool and license and he still couldn't do anything because he didn't have a business license. Hyundai said the software was "not for DIYers".
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