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A comment on Why I think Tesla is building throwaway cars. Parent comment

Re:Why I think Tesla is building throwaway cars by atomical on Sunday March 06, 2016 @12:27PM (#11234565)
I think it's possible to buy an ECU from a parts dealer. You wouldn't have to necessary go directly through the manufacturer. You might also be able to get one from a junkyard.
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Re:Why I think Tesla is building throwaway cars by chrisbennet on Sunday March 06, 2016 @01:02PM (#11234709)
It's not uncommon for modern ECU's to need to be "coded" to work with the car.
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Re:Why I think Tesla is building throwaway cars by sschueller on Sunday March 06, 2016 @02:16PM (#11235067)
Yes but there are also 3rd party tools available to code ECUs, keys etc. Like the VAG-COM for VW and Audi cars. I don't need to ask vw's permission to add a new key to my car.
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Re:Why I think Tesla is building throwaway cars by lttlrck on Sunday March 06, 2016 @05:06PM (#11235781)
Actually you do need to go to a VW dealer to get a new key paired to the immobilizer. It's been that way since at least 2002.

Edit: http://www.myturbodiesel.com/wiki/key-and-remote-replacement...

Tldr: You need the SKC to do it, only VW knows what the SKC is. Or you can hack the immobilizer.

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Re:Why I think Tesla is building throwaway cars by feld on Sunday March 06, 2016 @01:19PM (#11234772)
Yes, and if there's a problem with your car that needs an ECU firmware update ... you tend to have to have that done by an authorized dealership.
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Re:Why I think Tesla is building throwaway cars by atomical on Sunday March 06, 2016 @06:15PM (#11236081)
Not if the update is released. You can buy a cable from China and download the software to do the update.
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