U.S. Farmers Are Being Bled by the Tractor Monopoly

Re:U.S. Farmers Are Being Bled by the Tractor Monopoly by mrguyorama on Monday May 13, 2019 @12:57PM (#19901216)

My understanding is that ford is really really bad for this as well, requiring incredibly expensive computers, software packages, and training to repair even basic things without it pissing off the ECU

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Re:U.S. Farmers Are Being Bled by the Tractor Monopoly by navigatesol on Monday May 13, 2019 @03:21PM (#19902922)

>My understanding is that ford is really really bad for this as well, requiring incredibly expensive computers, software packages, and training to repair even basic things without it pissing off the ECU

As a family who has owned Ford cars and trucks for 25+ years, this is news to me. Do you have a link or anything to substantiate this? It would be surprising if true.

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Re:U.S. Farmers Are Being Bled by the Tractor Monopoly by mrguyorama on Monday May 13, 2019 @03:27PM (#19902987)

An example of how Ford tried to shut down third party repair efforts: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/01/ford-tries-shut-down-t...

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Re:U.S. Farmers Are Being Bled by the Tractor Monopoly by navigatesol on Monday May 13, 2019 @03:37PM (#19903090)

This is Ford suing someone for, essentially, trying to break their DRM. While I don't agree with the practice, it's Silicon Valley 101. I guess the ICE dinosaurs can learn new tricks after all?

But I don't see how it relates requiring "incredibly expensive computers" as the original comment stated, nor do is it unique in any way to Ford. I can only speak from personal experience, but I've owned a ton of cars from all makes and models, and my Fords have been average or better when it comes to repair frequency/cost. I'm sure it's partially a byproduct of the vehicles being relatively "plain".

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Re:U.S. Farmers Are Being Bled by the Tractor Monopoly by stochastic_monk on Monday May 13, 2019 @01:02PM (#19901266)

This is why I will never again own a Ford. (That, and the endless recalls.)

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Re:U.S. Farmers Are Being Bled by the Tractor Monopoly by jacquesm on Monday May 13, 2019 @01:38PM (#19901650)

And the bits falling off the car within the warranty period, that turn out not to be part of the warranty after all. In my case: a transmission brace that broke under light use in under a year on an F150.

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Re:U.S. Farmers Are Being Bled by the Tractor Monopoly by mywittyname on Monday May 13, 2019 @04:02PM (#19903343)

Or the aluminum hood on my car that has a massive paint defect that isn't covered by the paint warranty because it needs to "rust" through for them to cover it. They added that clause to the warranty agreement knowing that aluminum will never rust, rather than fixing an issue they knew about for over a decade.

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Re:U.S. Farmers Are Being Bled by the Tractor Monopoly by navigatesol on Monday May 13, 2019 @03:26PM (#19902976)

I just finished up the second of back to back Ford leases this month (2010 F-150, 2014 Fiesta ST) and didn't have a single issue with either car. 8 years, 2 cars, only oil changes, tires and brakes (on the ST).

I guess your mileage may vary, literally.

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Re:U.S. Farmers Are Being Bled by the Tractor Monopoly by mrguyorama on Monday May 13, 2019 @03:28PM (#19903003)

I know ford is currently having SERIOUS issues with a certain automatic transmission essentially exploding at the slightest provocation.

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