If you were a Millennial you would have not owned anything and rented your security system on the cloud
But like you I also think more like a GenX. Own a car instead of renting transport (or Uber)
So the Risco has noce addons to have a phone app with cameras, remote on/off, etc. but that all comes with quite a bit of montly rental. So I just have the basic system and RF remote activation. If I am in another town and needs the alarm activated I can still do it through my interactive cloud (I can my neigbour as I know his name and number) instead of the internet cloud
Me too. Technically I am GenX, but growing up in rural Namibia bestows a certain amount of Boomerism as well. Weāre a weird bunch, sometimes. We can make a fire without using Blitzā¢, but we do see the utility of a quick braai with blitz and charcoal. We use the internet (in fact, we practically built the thing), but weāll easily make a phone call to get something done.
But the one thing I see pretty consistently among GenXersā¦ we hate touch screens in cars. We want our tactile buttons back.
You must see my Dad (83) with his touch screen in his car. Man, if we could we would password-protect the damn thing ā¦ wonāt give it to him. His phone is the maps ā¦ we made him plug a USB cable in, why, cause he forgets to charge the phone and then gets lost.
That is if he did not touch the damn screen. He then gets lost again. Thank snot my mother likes her map books. Has a memory of an elephant with road names. That is if she cares to be interested. She likes new roads she has never driven before at 83. (facepalm)
Titbit:
I also have a āscreenā in my car too ā¦ with buttons. It is called a car radio with a removable face! Can even put a USB drive in it.
āCutting edgeā man ā¦ I feel so blessed.
But ja, @Louisvdw hit the button on the head ā¦ and my Geyserwise Tuya, I HATE IT! only works locally. I made it so. So what you cannot remotely switch on the geyser driving home. Regtig! All I hear is Blah Blah Blah
My Corolla Cross has a touch screen AND buttons. Who hoo! Its fantastic. You can either go through all the sub menus if you are a millenial, or just press the shortcut button like us GenX do - so much faster. And volume controll is a dial as well.
I like it
Another reason I like the i3 so much. Programmable shortcut buttons, and a dial for the volume control. You can also hold the āvoiceā button on the steering wheel, and that will kick the Google Assistant (or Siri) on your mobile phone in the pants, but use the vehicleās microphones (it has two) to record the command. Thatās a little Gen Alpha, I suppose, but so so sooo much better than a touch screen. I really donāt know what the world was thinking. Actually, I do. They were thinking ācost cuttingā.
This reminds me of an article I read, about car manufacturers wanting to integrate Facebook with your car ā¦ so the car can tell you who is nearby, and the car tells your FB contacts that you drove past their houses, or where they are.
Bugger stalking. Thought about that for 1 split second and decided on: Uhm, No.
And that in turn reminded me of how pals hacked their friendsā car remotely, whilst he was driving ā¦ whatever. Google it, it is a thing.
To be fair, that was a General Motors product, a Jeep if I recall, and they used a vulnerability in the head unit (radio, stereo) to gain access to the CAN-bus, from where they could then control anything. Only works if you have one of those cars, and it actually has internet access.
But on that topic, having authorised āstalkingā is a nice feature. When we travel long distance, we often share a live location on he family Whatsapp group, so they can see where we are. Of course, MTC Namibia broke it on the most recent trip, because they decided you can no longer just buy a sim at the service stationā¦ you need to do it at their shop, with the registration and paperwork, including a photoā¦ and now the queues look like the ones at Home Affairs (the MTC Shop in Mariental was empty, but to make the Home Affairs allusion complete, their system was down). No more cheap internet access in Namibia
Not exactly a remote hack but a possible vulnerability on most cars with keyless entry and the local neighbourhood hoodlum gets to for instance the headlight wiring:
CAN Injection: keyless car theft ( source for nice technical deets )
There are several ways to get to the wires for this CAN bus, the only requirement being that the wires need to come to the edge of the car so that they can be reached (wires buried deep in the car are impractical to reach by thieves trying to steal a parked car on the street). By far the easiest route in to that CAN bus on the RAV4 is through the headlights: pulling the bumper away and accessing the CAN bus from the headlight connector.
(Boring) video of 2021 RAV4 being stolen through CAN-injection
One way that manufacturers already deal with this, is by having multiple CAN-buses. The security system is not on the same bus as the rest. There is a āgatewayā somewhere in the vehicle that copies messages between buses, should it be required. I cannot remember exactly which vehicles has this, but I do remember BMWs had separate buses going back as far as the late 90s, and cars like the Ford Falcon from the same era had the engine computer and security computer crypto-signed to each other and would not auth the car to start if you didnāt have the private key programmed into the security computer. Which an attacker would not have.
I donāt really agree. Cars have had multiple CAN-buses for decades already. Itās established tech. It really just means designing the wiring loom so these things remain separate, and adding one extra module.
Even the simplest of cars typically have two buses already. Safety critical stuff is not on the same bus as the in car entertainment.
VW has three buses. One for drive train (real-time priority), one for convenience (this will likely include keyless entry), and one for infotainment. See how the Jeep-attack mentioned earlier already has a problem here: Infotainment is on a different bus.
I think it has more to do with brands and whether they use established tech or just dump it.
I have a friend with an Opel Corsa Utility (bakkie). He cannot find parts for it. GM has left the country. Even scrap yards donāt want to spend the time and space to keep spares for the old ones. The car is a mere 10 years old (or so), and it is essentially unmaintainable.
ā¦ but the electric windows, man, they tick me off. Geez!
And can get new AND 2nd hand parts anywhere. Like Dec Suzi got all new bushes and things on the front suspension after 23 years. Man, she now drives again like a feather. Can use your pinky to turn.
And I still get Ā±11km/l in the city.
And I still get Ā±11km/l on the open road, loaded or unloaded.
And the brakes last forever.
Top speed? Ā±2950rpm. (ok, that is useless ā¦ for the non-Isuz people, Ā±100kmāh
But I donāt have a heater inside the vehicle. Aircon clears the frost near instantly on cold wet days. IF an opportunity presents itself one day ā¦ maybe it will be rectified.
Story, CAN-bus ā¦ so this new Millenial mechanic says to me, Suzy has a port to plug in the computer, hence the R1.1k extra charge to service. I say really ā¦ where? No, he says, it is there, no here, no Iāll show you. Wanna bet a case of beers, I said ā¦ the beers tasted nice.
EDIT: And you can hear me coming a mile away ā¦ open the gate so long. I donāt use brakes often ā¦ I drive it like a truck.
My boet bought a 1979 MB, the big 350 ship ā¦ boot the size of a small car. Then the computer packed up ā¦ R18k quote.
Then he got a big 740 BMW ā¦ awesome car ā¦ till the gearbox sensor started giving issues.
He likes old big cars ā¦
But you are right ito the Corsa story.
But Iām thinking more of the latest cars, like my dadās new Muggie, Datsun thing (Magnite), 900c or whatnot, all electronicsā¦ Over. My. Dead. Body.
If that thing breaks, all that electronics, that puny little engine designed to last the warranty period, after that warranty, just throw it away.
The more tech you install, the more things that can break, and the more you can charge for repairs.
Context.
We all drive in Suzy, we know the destination, arrival time. You can plan.
We stop, switch the vehicle off, all get out ā¦ then the infamous: Oooo, my window is open ā¦ so you get back in, switch on the ignition.
Or you sit in the car waiting, someone knocks on the window ā¦ switch on the ignition.
Did I ever mention, hint even, that electric windows are a pain in the arse?
Why do people close manual windows, but not electric windows? I have not been able to answer that question.
Because Isuzu used the same basic parts (as do all Japanese manufacturers, that is just how they do it) for absolutely ages, across many models. Toyota did the same. Even some Euro-makers do that, quite a few of the VW/Audi/etc parts fit across on other models, and people fix their Lamborgini Galardos with VW parts once they know how. That is the ticket.
Those old cars sometimes had that. ODB1, the first version. Some shops may even have the old scanners, but usually you read the codes by shoving a wire between two terminals and counting the flashes of the check-engine light.
But in your case, odds are you have a good old Diesel engine with completely mechanical injection (like the Toyota 2.4 diesel with the 2L engine), and there is probably no ECU anywhere.
Now there is an interesting topic. In 2009, I owned a BMW 320d. One of the issues those cars had (all E46s actually) was failing window regulators. This is what the regulator looks like. It is two rails, with steel cabling to move a plastic bracket that is bolted to the window itself. Those plastic brackets break. The steel cabling (which is not unlike the stuff on a bicycle) gets tangled up. These things are pretty horrible, and while they are now super-cheap aftermarket, they are and were very expensive from the dealer.
