Ford seeks to remotely repossess cars after missed payments in US patent

Jul 20, 2023

Automaker would remotely disable the vehicle or a component of the vehicle if delinquency notice isn't acknowledged

Behind on your car payments? Your car could soon be driving itself to the pound. Ford Motor Company has applied for a patent that would enable a computer to disable a vehicle or component of a vehicle over delinquent car payments and could lead to cars self-driving themselves to repossession lots.

The patent application published last month claims to seek a solution to car owners being unwilling to have their vehicles repossessed by remotely disabling the vehicle or a component of the vehicle if a delinquency notice isn't acknowledged over a certain period of time.

"When an acknowledgement is not received within a reasonable period of time, the first computer may disable a functionality (radio, air-conditioner, etc) or may place the vehicle in a lockout condition," states the patent application published in February as part of a public review of the patent process.

The patent describes a repossession system computer configured to communicate with the vehicle computer and/or smartphone of the driver and lists various optional components of the vehicle it could be connected to, such as cruise control, automated window controls, seat controls, radio and GPS, door locking system, and air conditioning.

"Disabling such components may cause an additional level of discomfort to a driver and occupants of the vehicle," stated the patent application. The application is still pending approval and could be installed on any future vehicle in Ford's lineup with a data connection.

The application cites various possible scenarios for the repossession computer to use, including "configuring the audio component to emit an incessant and unpleasant sound every time the owner is present in the vehicle" and "placing the vehicle in a lockout condition". The patent cites a vehicle camera that can be used to determine if there's an emergency to unlock the car and that the computer can be used to alert the police with GPS location if an owner attempts to block the repossession effort.

Car repossessions in the US have been on the rise since drops in the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. In May 2021, the number of subprime borrowers, individuals with lower-than-average credit scores, at least 60 days behind their car payments hit a seven-year low of 2.58% but had increased to 5.67% as of December 2022.

Between July 2020 and July 2022, new car prices increased about 20% and used car prices soared by about 40% during the same period.

A spokesperson for Ford said in an email: "We don't have any plans to deploy this. We submit patents on new inventions as a normal course of business, but they aren't necessarily an indication of new business or product plans. We were granted 1,342 patents last year (more than three a day), spanning a wide range of ideas."