In an age of zero downpayments, low ‘all-in’ prices, and pasalo, it’s easy for people to get lured into these schemes then realize they’ve bitten more than they can chew in finances. The result is delinquent payments and, eventually, repossession and bad credit scores. If that’s not bad enough, some owners go as far as hiding the car to keep it out of sight from the repo man (or woman).
But Ford reckons it has a solution for that. No, the company won’t sell its cars for a lower price and even lower amortization rates. Instead, the American automaker has patented technology that allows its cars to repossess itself. Wait, what?
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Yes, you read that right. Ford has filed a document for ‘Systems and Methods to Repossess a Vehicle’ to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). In essence, this piece of technology gives the a few warnings and inconveniences as a gentle reminder to the owner. And if all else fails, the car will just drive itself to the bank (or lending institution) or bring itself to a spot where the repo man can easily access it.
Don’t worry, the car won’t drive itself to the repo yard after the first missed payment. The car will remind its owner that they have to catch up on their amortization. But for those who are a little bit more stubborn, the system can take away conveniences such as power windows, the radio, cruise control, and even the air-conditioning.
If that’s still not enough to annoy the owner, the car can play an ‘incessant and unpleasant sound’ while it’s being driven around. So, just imagine driving around with no radio, no air-conditioning, and no ability to wind down the windows while having your ears assaulted by high-pitched buzzes.
But for those with an extreme tolerance for discomfort, we’re not even in the final stage yet. Just before the car finally drives itself away from its (delinquent paying) owner, the car can keep itself locked to restrict its usage. At that point, you’ll probably wish you made those payments earlier or just drove yourself to the repo yard.
Mind you, this technology is still a patent, so it might be years before any Ford product will have this feature. Still, it’s rather interesting that Ford even came up with this idea in the first place.
