Will You Buy A Car With A "Kill Switch" Or Look For Something Used?

[eagle1462010]

 

[Oddball]

I'm hearing that the government may mandate that all future vehicles have a "kill switch" installed. I'm trying to find more definitive information but it seems to be all over the board. Some say that it would simply disallow impaired folks from starting the vehicle. Others are saying that the switch could be activated while the car is in motion (scary thought). Personally, I don't think I'd buy a car with a device that allows third parties or A.I. to determine if I'm allowed to drive or not. But that's just the stubborn freedom-lover in me standing against more government intrusion. People and A.I. malfunction all the time.

Thomas Massie has a few questions and seems to be opposed to the idea:

I recently heard of a trend where people are ripping all the electronic crap out of their vehicles, and dropping a carbeurated engine and a normal auto trans into them.

 

[1srelluc]

The so‑called “kill switch” legislation is actually a 2021 provision in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Section 24220).

In January 2026, an amendment to block funding for the mandate failed 164–268, keeping it in place

The “kill switch” is not a government‑controlled remote shutdown. It’s a factory‑installed, passive impairment detection system that could stop or limit a vehicle if it detects alcohol‑related impairment. The law is still in the rule‑making phase, and the technology is not yet ready for mass production legalclarity.org+2

 

[SaxonJackson]

5.3 Chevy engine? that will certainly do the trick. And in 2036 you could still purchase a 2019 model.

Yup. 5.3

I bought it brand new in 2003. It's been completely paid off for more than 20 years. The only issue I currently have with it is some electrical issues. There's a slow drain on the battery and nobody can figure out what's causing it. I think it has to do with a high end stereo system I had installed right before I moved from Colorado to Utah.

Anyway ... the good news is that there's no kill switch.

 

[The Duke]

Have half a mind to see if I can track down an AMC Eagle and drop a fresh motor in it.

You could drop a Chevy 400 in that. It's a scary ride.

 

[SaxonJackson]

View attachment 1250503

I hate to admit it but when I was in my teens, my very first car was a 1973 Doge Colt -- Bright Yellow. I promptly got into a couple of accidents with it and the second accident turned it into a total loss. Yes ... I was a dumb teen who liked to drive too fast -- even in a 4-banger, Dodge Colt.

Anyway ... my next car was an AMC Pacer. Here I was, a pothead hippy driving around in a light blue, AMC Pacer.

 

[Leo123]

Yup. 5.3

I bought it brand new in 2003. It's been completely paid off for more than 20 years. The only issue I currently have with it is some electrical issues. There's a slow drain on the battery and nobody can figure out what's causing it. I think it has to do with a high end stereo system I had installed right before I moved from Colorado to Utah.

Anyway ... the good news is that there's no kill switch.

I think they sell a switch that you can install to turn your battery off, but, as I understand it, the electronics in the car still need juice when you turn off your car.

 

[SaxonJackson]

I think they sell a switch that you can install to turn your battery off, but, as I understand it, the electronics in the car still need juice when you turn off your car.

I have a lever installed. I have to open the hood to connect or disconnect the battery but it works fine. And the good news is that I work 50 yards from where I live so I'm saving on wear and tear as well as fuel since I just walk to work.

 

[Crepitus]

maybe they will just have something that disables the starting?

"limp" mode limited to 15 MPH but you still have power steering and brakes. after you're down to 15 MPH then they shut it off. Plus your "onstar" or whatever they call it these days has GPS and will tell them where to come get you.

 

[Kruska]

View attachment 1250503

That's not a car - it's a rice cooker.

 

[Kruska]

Yup. 5.3

I bought it brand new in 2003. It's been completely paid off for more than 20 years. The only issue I currently have with it is some electrical issues. There's a slow drain on the battery and nobody can figure out what's causing it. I think it has to do with a high end stereo system I had installed right before I moved from Colorado to Utah.

Anyway ... the good news is that there's no kill switch.

Did you check onto your alternator/charge regulator? or corrosion on your engine compartment surrounding your battery?

 

[toobfreak]

In CA, staying on the roadway with a car that won't run could be a death sentence.

Well then as you run out of steam, you should pull the old wreck off onto the shoulder of the road.

 

[eagle1462010]

That's not a car - it's a rice cooker.

Got about 35 mpg

 

[Kruska]

Got about 35 mpg

Jezzus - your rice-cooker uses up more fuel then my 2019 BMW Touring 340dx with 340 horsepower. After 135,000 km my average consumption shows 37.4 mpg.

 

[22lcidw]

I've been forecasting their advent for years. None of my cars even have one of those underdash plugs to pull codes from the engine.

The kill switches are coming. Some uses:

1. Instead of chasing speeders/criminals, the cops just send a kill command to the car to disable you.
2. Kill your car if you don't pay child support.
3. Kill your car if you don't make car payments.
4. Kill your car if you owe back taxes.
5. Kill your car if you are wanted in a crime.

On top of that, the car will report its location at all times. Meanwhile, they can't even prosecute Hillary for selling secrets to the chinese nor punish congress for shutting the government down not doing their jobs.

Welcome to 1984.

Driving a car is one of the last bastions of freedom. Or it was. There is a lot of technology in them today to monitor us to where we are at and even perhaps hear us. Supposedly the air in the tire's computer monitor has another use also. Surveillance, tracking, monitoring, hounding, intrusion and emasculation of civil rights is the dictatorial powers of the all-powerful state. For everyone is a criminal. The state will spew the criminals caught when all are guilty. Eventually, if you do not act like the dictators want, you will not be able to purchase food or have a roof over your head. There is no reason for all of this except to imprison the whole population into a global gulag.

 

[Dekster]

I'm hearing that the government may mandate that all future vehicles have a "kill switch" installed. I'm trying to find more definitive information but it seems to be all over the board. Some say that it would simply disallow impaired folks from starting the vehicle. Others are saying that the switch could be activated while the car is in motion (scary thought). Personally, I don't think I'd buy a car with a device that allows third parties or A.I. to determine if I'm allowed to drive or not. But that's just the stubborn freedom-lover in me standing against more government intrusion. People and A.I. malfunction all the time.

Thomas Massie has a few questions and seems to be opposed to the idea:

I will, as I always do, buy the newest used car with the lowest mileage in the price range I am willing to pay. What features it has is up to fate though if given the choice among options, I will go with a ride with a fey instead of a fob.

 

[toobfreak]

Driving a car is one of the last bastions of freedom. Or it was. There is a lot of technology in them today to monitor us to where we are at and even perhaps hear us.

That is why I won't buy a new car. In the 1990s, I quit a good job because they wanted me to incorporate a "spy chip" into the circuitry of a device to collect information on the users despite it having nothing to do with its actual operation.

So I refused and quit. Companies collect that info then sell it to others and make a lot of money. Sometimes that customer is the government.

They actually design that spyware in your car so that if you are clever and disable it from working, it screws up something else necessary in the car preventing your disabling it, much like a puffer fish excretes a toxin to keep other fish from eating it.