As I was reading through the owner's manual for my new F150, I was surprised too see that my truck has a black box, something like the ones on commercial aircraft, that records information such as speed, brake application, etc. that can be retrieved and used in an investigation of an accident or other incidents. Talk about Big Brother! What about when you take your vehicle in for warranty work and the dealer pulls up your black box and says you have been driving at excessive speeds or braking too hard and uses that information to deny warranty coverage? Is this device something that is required by law? If not, can it be disconnected? I can't see many applications where this thing will work in the vehicle owner's favor.

 

Yes- the computer stores everything that's happened on your car, including speed, braking, and any other detectable electronic malfunctions, etc. for the previous 14 days, according to my service manager. Anything beyond that may not be retrievable.... May not be...

I guess the big-brother aspect didn't dawn on me; but, I'm not concerned... I don't rough-house my vehicles- nor do I do anything with them that Ford could possibly deny my warranty over.

 

Maybe not but, I heard that CIA-Agent runs the **** out of 'em.

 

This isn't new, in fact been around for quite a few years now. Some only record minutes some longer.

I don't like it simply because the government requires it. However if the individual car companies want to add it to protect themselves and their warranty costs I'm all for it. Save costs for the rest of us who drive with some sense. (I did the insane driving as a kid too, but I deserved to get caught and have my license taken, never did though).

 

This is actually a good thing if the gov't doesn't screw it up some how...

There have been several wrecks in this area where investigators determined how fast a vehicle was going, if they tried to brake, etc from the vehicle computer...

and yes, it's been around for while. But sounds like now they store info for longer...

 

HA HA

 

Anythingthat the governmetn does to require an invasion into personal privacy is inherantly insidious and should be fought whenever and wherever it pops up. I all about safety and that sort of stuff, but do not spy on me, do not monitor what I do, etc.

 

Well- that's true... But, I never exceed the red-line...

Why doesn't my truck have a red-line....?
It's a conspiracy I tell ya!!!

 

What year did ford start this?

Adrianspeeder

 

Does Ford check these kind of things when you bring it in for warranty repair?

Oh well, the speedo was just reading 95 mph because I was spinning in some beach sand. Duh!