3G network shutdowns this year may affect your not-so-old car...

[Ace-Garageguy]

"Connected car features could be the big loss: systems that notify emergency services of crashes, contact roadside assistance, download navigation updates, or even remotely start the car may use 3G. And while the 3G shutdown mostly affects older smartphones, it can affect relatively new cars. Some automakers were using 3G systems as recently as the 2021 model year. These newer vehicles often have 4G radios, which just need a software update to work. Some connected car tech may already use newer 4G or 5G networks, or even access online features using a connected smartphone. But what exactly is affected will depend on your car's make, model, and year — if you aren't sure whether your car's features rely on 3G, you'll need to contact the manufacturer. Your car will certainly continue to be drivable, but you may lose some safety and convenience features if your car connects with 3G.

(But) cars, in particular, are a conundrum, with different automakers taking wildly different approaches to how to keep cars connected. Your car may just need a software update, it may need a physical hardware upgrade to connect with new networks, it may need a third-party device to provide the same features that used to be built in, certain features may just not work, or everything may be just fine without any changes. The cost associated with upgrading varies: it may be free, it may cost hundreds of dollars, or it may require an ongoing subscription fee. Consumer Reports has a good list of affected cars and the manufacturers' solutions, but if your vehicle requires service, you'll need to contact your dealer."

SOURCE (and more info on other potentially affected systems):  https://www.techlicious.com/blog/3g-cellular-shutdown-att-t-mobile-verizon/

Edited March 6, 2022 by Ace-Garageguy
CLARITY and ACCURACY

[SfanGoch]

It'd be a real shame if the heated seats in some people's late model cars stop working.

[Smoke Wagon]

Planned obsolescence.

Since cars’ powertrains last longer these days, manufacturers have to find different ways to get you to trade in and buy new.

Edited March 6, 2022 by Smoke Wagon

[Ace-Garageguy]

51 minutes ago, SfanGoch said:

It'd be a real shame if the heated seats in some people's late model cars stop working.

Or the remote emergency toilet-flush feature that's there in case your phone flush-app subscription charge doesn't go through because your wife maxed out the card tipping the pool boy.  

Edited March 6, 2022 by Ace-Garageguy
TYPO

[SfanGoch]

This effectively wiped out the 2010-2020 used car market.

[Ace-Garageguy]

10 minutes ago, SfanGoch said:

This effectively wiped out the 2010-2020 used car market.

Hmmmmm.....seems like I saw a thread on here a while back about tech-gadget-laden cars not being all that great over the long haul. I wonder where that was...

[Rodent]

Ford and Mazda, for instance, connect to a driver’s cell phone for crash notification. 

We are fine. The spouse got in a minor kerfuffle in 2018 that left Focus 1.0 (a 2014) perfectly driveable, but the knee bag deployed. It called 911 using the cell as it was programmed to do in a crash.

My 2016 Mazda3 has the Millenial Anti-Theft System (shown below), so it doesn't have the 3G-based remote start system that Consumer Reports seems to have overlooked in their panic article.

 

 

When I saw my first GM OnStar system I thought it was dumb, and manufacturers like VW, Audi, and Subaru that have built this kind of baloney into their vehicles over the years were asking for it to be obsolete. GM went through the same thing not long ago when 2G went away. Several generations of OnStar became obsolete when that happened. I think it's short sighted to build these kinds of things into the car instead of using the customer's mobile phone.

My 2 cents. I know that some of you miss manual drum brakes, window cranks, and 3-on-the-tree with unsynchronized first gear and I respect that. I have a 72 year old friend that has four running 56 Fords, one that needs reassembly, and a parts car. He just put a set of (used) radial wide whites on one of them and was amazed at how much better the car drove than on the bias-plys he has been hoarding all these years for replacements.

[Russell C]

38 minutes ago, SfanGoch said:

This effectively wiped out the 2010-2020 used car market.

And my daily driver from the mid 1980s just experienced another hike in value. Yay!

[1972coronet]

1 hour ago, SfanGoch said:

It'd be a real shame if the heated seats in some people's late model cars stop working.

That also means that the Hanson : Greatest Hit iPod MP3 album I'd just bought won't be able to interface with my 2002 Prius' Mr. Wizard screen. I can't get enough of those rascals singing Mmm BOP! in seventeen different mixes (studio outtakes, and alternate mixes).

[Ace-Garageguy]

10 hours ago, Rodent said:

... I know that some of you miss manual drum brakes, window cranks, and 3-on-the-tree with unsynchronized first gear and I respect that.

I know that some can't find their way from to the mall and back without talking GPS-satnav telling them every turn to make, and couldn't drive a manual gearbox if their lives depended on it...and I don't respect that.

Edited March 6, 2022 by Ace-Garageguy
TYPO

[keyser]

1 hour ago, SfanGoch said:

This effectively wiped out the 2010-2020 used car market.

Absolutely. They’ll only sell for 40-45% over book now. ??‍♂️

[BeakDoc]

[Mark]

If I owned one of the affected vehicles, I'd drop a short note to someone at the manufacturer, also to the dealer where I bought it.  

"This problem, your knowledge of it, and your proposals (or lack thereof) for solving this problem, will carry considerable weight in future decisions I make regarding vehicle purchases..."

Probably won't affect their decision making one way or the other, but then again in ten years someone there might just figure out why their sales dropped like a stone...

As recently as 2021?  There are going to be a bunch of people screaming about this, as they are still making payments.

[Classicgas]

9 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

I know that some can't find their way from the mall and back without GPS talking-satnav telling them every turn to make, and couldn't drive a manual gearbox if their lives depended on it...and I don't respect that.

Best response yet lol. If this computer bs isn't a good reason to love pre computer cars I don't know what is.

[slusher]

if your car has a factory warranty then any problem is on them.  My van had a starting problem not long ago but my warranty replaced the computer..

[Plowboy]

The only feature that will be affected by the the 3G shutdown is the crash notification and the vehicles that have it, the SOS feature. Gee, I wonder how people will survive without that? Oh yeah, they'll do the same thing millions of others do that don't have that feature anyway. 

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

12 minutes ago, Plowboy said:

The only feature that will be affected by the the 3G shutdown is the crash notification and the vehicles that have it, the SOS feature. 

Guess you didn't actually read the article.

In addition to the systems you mention, quoting again: "systems that download navigation updates, or even remotely start the car may use 3G."

"Your car will certainly continue to be drivable, but you may lose some safety and convenience features if your car connects with 3G."

Edited March 6, 2022 by Ace-Garageguy
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

[deuces wild]

4 hours ago, BeakDoc said:

That's ok.... I'll park it myself....?

[iamsuperdan]

Meh, technology becoming outdated is nothing new. Things progress, and sometimes the old things can't keep up.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Just now, iamsuperdan said:

Meh, technology becoming outdated is nothing new. Things progress, and sometimes the old things can't keep up.

Oh so true.

But interestingly, not a single one of my vehicles will be affected any way, shape or form.

[iamsuperdan]

Just now, Ace-Garageguy said:

Oh so true.

But interestingly, not a single one of my vehicles will be affected any way, shape or form.

None of ours will either. My daily is too new, so not obsolete...yet.

Wifey's Volvo is a 2006, and doesn't have connectivity at all. Well, except for the nav system I guess, but it's an old Navtech based system that requires DVDs. And we haven't updated the maps since using our 1 free update...in 2007. 

The 99 Tahoe is of course too old to be affected. 

[Plowboy]

57 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Guess you didn't actually read the article.

In addition to the systems you mention, quoting again: "systems that download navigation updates, or even remotely start the car may use 3G."

"Your car will certainly continue to be drivable, but you may lose some safety and convenience features if your car connects with 3G."

I did. Everyone must be skimming over the word may. It's in almost every sentence in the last paragraph of your original post. It's in both quotes in this post. "May" doesn't equal fact. There's a huge difference between may and will.

[Tabbysdaddy]

It's Y2K all over again. 

[Ace-Garageguy]

7 hours ago, Plowboy said:

Everyone must be skimming over the word may. It's in almost every sentence in the last paragraph of your original post. It's in both quotes in this post. "May" doesn't equal fact. There's a huge difference between may and will.

The word "may" is contextual as it's used here.

What it means in this case is that particular cars WILL be affected in particular ways, and some will not.

Hence: "your car MAY be affected"...so people need to figure out if they will or will not be affected by referring to the attached list for openers, and preferably checking with the car dealer directly.

The list attached to the article spells out briefly what's what in particular, what the time limits are (cars that update their software via 3G MAY already be SOL, as AT&T shut down 3G on February 22...but if a particular car is on another network, it's not dead yet...so if you don't know what network a particular vehicle uses, it MAY be affected).

 

 

Edited March 7, 2022 by Ace-Garageguy
CLARITY

[martinfan5]

I havent noticed a loss of features in my '17 since the 3G shut down ,  I am guessing they were all features that were a part of the "connect" app that I didnt use,  my heated seats still work too!!!!

* I did lose the automatic crash notification, but I really didnt use that one very often.