There have been several threads lately that brought my mind back to old familiar territory… I know I’ve said similar things in the deep past, but I feel they still apply.
Consider your car. Would you sign a contract that allowed the manufacturer to “upgrade” parts of your car while you were asleep at night? Especially if you were installing non-manufacturer parts yourself? Say a third-party transfer case to give you 4 wheel drive.
Over time the manufacturer installs new fuel injectors, wheel cylinders, even updates to the engine control unit (Your car’s O/S). Everything’s working great. Then one night a new drive train is installed. Your 4-wheel drive no longer works. (Or maybe you installed a new part yourself that modified a component of the drive train) You contact the transfer case manufacturer to complain. They ask what kind of car you drive. A Ford. They tell you, “we’ve tested our transfer case on Fords and they will work.” You b*tch and moan about the transfer case manufacturer and their terrible product and support.
Is the transfer case manufacturer at fault here, or the person who allowed all the upgrades (or installed new components himself)?
This is tricky territory to navigate, especially when some users understand the entire workings of every part of their vehicle, because they NEED that transfer case on a daily basis to make their living. Others really don’t know what’s under the hood. They like to use 4 wheel drive occasionally and just expect it to work no matter what. Neither the car manufacturer nor the transfer case manufacturer has the guts to tell their users they need to take responsibility for what they’re letting go on under the hood. That would cost them both customers.
Consider your car. Would you sign a contract that allowed the manufacturer to “upgrade” parts of your car while you were asleep at night? Especially if you were installing non-manufacturer parts yourself? Say a third-party transfer case to give you 4 wheel drive.
Over time the manufacturer installs new fuel injectors, wheel cylinders, even updates to the engine control unit (Your car’s O/S). Everything’s working great. Then one night a new drive train is installed. Your 4-wheel drive no longer works. (Or maybe you installed a new part yourself that modified a component of the drive train) You contact the transfer case manufacturer to complain. They ask what kind of car you drive. A Ford. They tell you, “we’ve tested our transfer case on Fords and they will work.” You b*tch and moan about the transfer case manufacturer and their terrible product and support.
Is the transfer case manufacturer at fault here, or the person who allowed all the upgrades (or installed new components himself)?
This is tricky territory to navigate, especially when some users understand the entire workings of every part of their vehicle, because they NEED that transfer case on a daily basis to make their living. Others really don’t know what’s under the hood. They like to use 4 wheel drive occasionally and just expect it to work no matter what. Neither the car manufacturer nor the transfer case manufacturer has the guts to tell their users they need to take responsibility for what they’re letting go on under the hood. That would cost them both customers.