Pay that bill On Time… or your car won't start
By Ryan Block 
posted July 25th 2005 8:00AM
posted July 25th 2005 8:00AM
Bad credit! No credit! We're practically giving these things away… but make sure you pay that bill, or the little
black box connected to your brand new used car's electrical harness will prevent the thing from starting. Yup. So while
used car dealerships may have been rolling with Payment Protection Systems' On Time device for a while now, we can
understand why since at least one dealer's delinquent payment rate went from down from 35% of customers to an
astounding 5%. Hey, used car dealers usually have names like Crazy Larry, not ones like Stupid Larry.
[Via SPTimes]
in other news...
citizens are outraged to learn that if they did not pay their bills, their electricity, water, and cable services could stop working.
more inventors need to get some common sense and make stuff like this.
Still, this has to be illegal. There are different laws for collections of goods vs. services. If there's an accident and someone can't use their car to get help, we're going to see lawsuits.
I had a roommate with a car that had one of these. I can't even count how many times I had to drive his stupid a-- to the payment center because the car wouldn't start. Then he had to wait until the payment center opened the next day before he could even get the code to start the car up again.
Then there was the time he was out of the state and realized he had forgotten to pay the bill/enter the code.
not that i do not pay my car bill but i wouldn't buy a car with this. That is ridiculous. What if i did forget and i was out of town. I wonder what type of warning / grace period they give. These guys think that life revolves around paying them money. but let them owe you money and you have to wait six months .. ridiculous .. oh well .. thank goodness for Auto Bill Pay.
Those "buy here pay here" places do that often. They've had these for many years now.
I have a friend that has this; thought it ws strange at the time. she called me LD (me, in da Chi, she in Hotlanta) and had me pay the bill via credit card to get it to start!!
I have one of these on my car. It's been about 2 years and we've never run out of the code. If something happened there's an emergency code, and our dealer always gives us extra days for a grace period. For us it was a good deal because the interest rate is better than the other places we went.
Hmmm seems ripe for the hacking.....
Does anyone else think "changing behavior through technology" is the creepiest fucking motto EVER.
I've heard of these type of devices, but it has been a while. I never put much thought into it. I really think that they SHOULD have some type of policy in place BEFORE shutting someone's car off. I pay my truck payment on time. But once I forgot, but I had a ten day grace period to pay it, so I was okay. But for those who are hard for their money and/or forget, I feel there should be a warning or notification of five days before and after. Life does not stop for one to just go and pay bills. This idea is something that could slowly lock the breaks - say a police officer chasing a reported stolen car - that would be GREAT!
bring it on!!... so easy to bypass.. thank you mecp haha
My car has one of these devices, and until this month everything was going well. First my electrical system started to short out because of this device, and I cannot remove the box to fix it because the finance company won't allow it. Then I call to get my code from the finance company (after making my payment)and they tell me that not only do they not have any record of my current payment, but they have no records since April, so I send them copies of my receipts and still they refuse to give me a code for my car. My question to everyone is how do you protect your investment when the finance company/dealership is 3000 miles away and has obvious problems with there accounting records. Now I have a car that is going to require expensive work to fix, and currently won't start.
The truth is that these devices have helped thousands and thousands of people with bad or no credit get financed. People who would be walking otherwise. This in turn allows them to improve their credit rating and enjoy the lower interest rates that come along with that improved rating.
The truth is that these devices have helped thousands and thousands of people with bad or no credit get financed. People who would be walking otherwise. This in turn allows them to improve their credit rating and enjoy the lower interest rates that come along with that improved rating.
I've had one of these devices for a year. Best thing I ever did... building my auto credit again. Instead of paying weekly, I now pay every 2 weeks (next day after I get paid). Takes less than 2 minutes by phone to make a payment, and I never forget. Have a better warranty than I would on a regular car, and after 2 more years, I can buy my car for $1,000. My grace period is 4 days. I don't know how one could forget to pay though. When it's time to make a payment, a little light on the box flashes red to remind me.