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A man took a car for a test drive in Massachusetts and took off westbound with the unwilling car salesman in the car. The salesman jumped out in a traffic jam. The driver was arrested in Wisconsin 15 hours later.

The "shopper" is charged in two states (so far) with speeding, reckless driving, kidnapping, car theft, larceny, and assault and battery.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/ ... eld_h.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Jim

seamusTX wrote:A man took a car for a test drive in Massachusetts and took off westbound with the unwilling car salesman in the car. The salesman jumped out in a traffic jam. The driver was arrested in Wisconsin 15 hours later.

The "shopper" is charged in two states (so far) with speeding, reckless driving, kidnapping, car theft, larceny, and assault and battery.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/ ... eld_h.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

- Jim

It was a Honda. Had it been one of the new GM's with OnStar they can shut down the engine.

Can they really?

The police would love to be able to do that.

- Jim

So is he going to buy the car or what?

Wisewr wrote:So is he going to buy the car or what?

seamusTX wrote:Can they really?

The police would love to be able to do that.

- Jim

Yep. Check out http://www.onstar.com/us_english/jsp/pl ... /index.jsp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If I bought a car with such a device installed, the device would have an unfortunate breakdown because of the coastal climate.

I try not to boast, but I am an electrical engineer with 15 years' experience in automotive electronics.

The salt-water atmosphere is quite harsh on electronics (and ammunition).

- Jim

seamusTX wrote:If I bought a car with such a device installed, the device would have an unfortunate breakdown because of the coastal climate.

I try not to boast, but I am an electrical engineer with 15 years' experience in automotive electronics.

The salt-water atmosphere is quite harsh on electronics (and ammunition).

- Jim

I agree Jim, If my car had such a device, It would be because I installed it, and only I had access to enable/disable it.
Would actually be pretty simple to do, in multiple ways.

dicion wrote:

seamusTX wrote:If I bought a car with such a device installed, the device would have an unfortunate breakdown because of the coastal climate.

I try not to boast, but I am an electrical engineer with 15 years' experience in automotive electronics.

The salt-water atmosphere is quite harsh on electronics (and ammunition).

- Jim

I agree Jim, If my car had such a device, It would be because I installed it, and only I had access to enable/disable it.
Would actually be pretty simple to do, in multiple ways.

Honey, where's the hammer???

Yeah, I bought a Chevy pickup new in '04. I specifically wanted one without OnStar. (Which was pretty difficult to find since I wanted XM satellite radio and most of those pickups came with both or neither.)
While I liked some of the features of OnStar, the stuff they advertise, I just wasn't comfortable with the Big Brother aspect.
So if they can locate and shut down your vehicle if you report it stolen . . . tell me they can't locate and shut down your vehicle if they decided they need to find you? ("They" intentionally left vague, but think any federal agency with badges and guns.)
I'm not a fugitive and don't intend to become one. But, assuming the FBI or whoever could get OnStar to give them the location of a vehicle so equipped, now what if your psycho ex-girlfriend has a brother who works for some agency with access to it? I know it's far-fetched, but if it's there, then there are ways it can be abused. I may not want to be found.

Allow me to add to your OnStar paranoia....

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/24/vide ... ulls-99-g/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

On its way to doing the 1/4-mile in 11.07 seconds at 128 mph, a Hennessy-tuned 700-horsepower Cadillac CTS-V hit .99 longitudinal G as it left the start line. By the end of the run the phone inside the car was ringing, and it was your friendly neighborhood OnStar representative wondering "What ... do you think you're doing?" Ok, not quite... but they did have some questions.

There's a video at the link in which you can hear the OnStar rep calling the driver...

ELB wrote:Allow me to add to your OnStar paranoia....

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/24/vide ... ulls-99-g/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

On its way to doing the 1/4-mile in 11.07 seconds at 128 mph, a Hennessy-tuned 700-horsepower Cadillac CTS-V hit .99 longitudinal G as it left the start line. By the end of the run the phone inside the car was ringing, and it was your friendly neighborhood OnStar representative wondering "What ... do you think you're doing?" Ok, not quite... but they did have some questions.

There's a video at the link in which you can hear the OnStar rep calling the driver...

Actually it said 'vehicle event detected, connecting to Onstar Emergency' as in, like a crash or something, and then called on-star itself.
The Vehicle automatically called on-star after it thought it had been in a crash, due to some sensors that were tripped by the launch, people at onstar were not 'watching' the vehicle and decided to call them after they saw.