JimW
Active Member
The recent charging problem thread is a good example that car companies will need to transform their business model, in order to solve efficiently. Most customer issues will be software bugs and incompatibilities. The days of running diagnostics and replacing parts on a "closed system" car are quickly going away. When an app on my smartphone, which is plugged into my car, which is running Android Auto, has a problem, who will take responsibility to get it fixed? Honda, phone manufacturer, Android, app developer?
I hope that Honda becomes a leader in this area, but signs are not good so far. I have called their tech support twice, with well-defined, reproducible software bugs, and in both cases was told the only approach is to take it to the dealer. This is the old-school model - do they really want to clutter up their dealerships billing them for hours doing software updates, while the unhappy customers sit and wait? For both of my problems, I found fixes myself through searches and forums like this. However, I am an EE and technical person who likes to tinker. This is not something the typically consumer is going to want to mess with. It will be interesting to see which car companies come out ahead in this new world.
I hope that Honda becomes a leader in this area, but signs are not good so far. I have called their tech support twice, with well-defined, reproducible software bugs, and in both cases was told the only approach is to take it to the dealer. This is the old-school model - do they really want to clutter up their dealerships billing them for hours doing software updates, while the unhappy customers sit and wait? For both of my problems, I found fixes myself through searches and forums like this. However, I am an EE and technical person who likes to tinker. This is not something the typically consumer is going to want to mess with. It will be interesting to see which car companies come out ahead in this new world.