Photo: xevo.com
Most of the cars sold on the market today come fitted with so-called connected technologies. By marrying the automobile with mobile apps, carmakers have now made it easier to control a car from afar with ease.
Most manufacturers that offer such technologies usually rely on an app of some sort they developed to allow car owners to start the car, roll down the windows, set GPS data, check if the car is locked and more without having to step inside the car.
Such possibilities are heaven-sent for most, as they greatly simplify some of the tedious operations associated with driving a car.
Usually, to be able to control a car this way one has to download the app, create an account and link the respective car to the app by providing some type of data about the vehicle - usually a portion of the VIN.
Problems arise when an owner sells his connected car without unlinking the car from the account he made. According to blogger Mark Watts, this problem might be more common then we think.
Watts talks about how he purchased a used car, which had already been previously owned by two other people. The car, a Range Rover, came with an app that allowed the owner to its control various systems.
The app, however, was utterly useless for the blogger, as when trying to create an account for the task he was greeted with the “This vehicle is currently registered to another user” message.
It's not yet clear what exactly this means in the bigger picture, as although probably this is not the first time somthing like this happens, it is the first time it has been reported in such a manner.
Aside for the new owner not being able to use the full features, does this mean former owners could still control the car if they wanted to?
Is “have you logged out from the car?” to be added to the long list of question one must ask when purchasing a used car?
Such possibilities are heaven-sent for most, as they greatly simplify some of the tedious operations associated with driving a car.
Usually, to be able to control a car this way one has to download the app, create an account and link the respective car to the app by providing some type of data about the vehicle - usually a portion of the VIN.
Problems arise when an owner sells his connected car without unlinking the car from the account he made. According to blogger Mark Watts, this problem might be more common then we think.
Watts talks about how he purchased a used car, which had already been previously owned by two other people. The car, a Range Rover, came with an app that allowed the owner to its control various systems.
The app, however, was utterly useless for the blogger, as when trying to create an account for the task he was greeted with the “This vehicle is currently registered to another user” message.
It's not yet clear what exactly this means in the bigger picture, as although probably this is not the first time somthing like this happens, it is the first time it has been reported in such a manner.
Aside for the new owner not being able to use the full features, does this mean former owners could still control the car if they wanted to?
Is “have you logged out from the car?” to be added to the long list of question one must ask when purchasing a used car?
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