Re: its obviously on the dirty network
The article is indeed along similar lines, at least in terms of manufacturer strategy, although the deal with farm machinery is different - a purchase like that usually remains in use longer than passenger vehicles, and they don't change hands like used cars do.
And yes, the same tricks are deployed by some car brands, and it is not even about cheap unsafe knock-off parts. There are ways to actually block minor, simple repairs / maintenance. Examples: BMW requires new batteries to be "learned" into the system after replacement, after an oil change the "nag counter" has to be reset etc. If access there is blocked your car might be just fine but keeps nagging you. Worse than that is automatic parking brake setting on some brands which can make replacing brake rotors / pads a pain, a dealership will just hook up their diagnostic tool and tell it to release the parking brake.
This is not a safety "feature" but an attempt to lock people into the dealership rates, with ridiculous parts markups and hourly rates. Thankfully, for most of these nuisances the aftermarket quickly finds workarounds or hacks because demand is high.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
