If you needed another reason to shun new cars (it’s weird for me – a guy who loves cars and has been writing about them professionally for decades – to type those words) I have one for you. Just two words, actually:
Component Protection.
This is what VW and Audi call the $300-$500 fee owners of their vehicles must pay to “unlock” the software lock embedded in the vehicle’s inscrutable maze of subroutines so that a used replacement part you bought, such as a body control module (these things control many functions in new vehicles, including the power windows) or the gauges or the replacement stereo you installed will work. The parts you got may be identical, original VW parts and in working order. You – or your independent repair shop – may have installed the part correctly. But they will not work until you cough up the $300-$500 fee to your local VW/Audi dealer, who is the only one that has access to the VW/Audi Hive Mind server that can interface with the inscrutable maze of subroutines in the vehicle, to “unlock” the system. 
It is of course all for our own good. A theft protection measure, you see. If someone were to take the audio system out of your vehicle, it would be of no use to the thief. But then comes a different sort of thievery.
The idea seems to be to effectively force VW owners to deal with VW dealers since no one else can “unlock” the vehicle’s inscrutable maze of subroutines. It is a kind of private sector iteration of the way the car insurance mafia forces people – effectively – to buy car insurance, at an exorbitant price because that’s what happens when you can’t say no to what you’re effectively forced to buy. The main difference is that in this instance – as regards the “unlocking” – the transaction does not involve the government. That means you at least have the option of not buying a new car that isn’t really yours, because how could it be if you must pay the manufacturer or its dealer network to “unlock” it?
This “unlocking” stuff is not the same thing as paying to get something fixed – because what you’re paying for is permission to be allowed to fix the vehicle. The vehicle you paid for, that is at least in a vague legal sense “yours.”
It is something like having to pay the government a regular fee – the property tax – in order to not be locked out of the house you paid for, that really isn’t your house for just this reason.
It is also a way to make it uneconomical to buy used original and aftermarket replacement parts to repair a vehicle since the money that might have been saved by purchasing a good used or aftermarket part is lost – and probably then some – via the “unlocking” fee you have to pay a dealer in order for it to function. The dealer will of course be happy to sell you a brand-new OEM part for what it would have cost you to buy the less-expensive used or aftermarket part, plus the “unlocking” fee.
And charge you the hourly dealer rate to install it, too.
Obviously, this amounts to an attempt to drive the used and aftermarket parts alternatives (as well as independent shops) out of business, not by the honest method of competition but by the got-you-over-the-barrel method of predation.
VW/Audi is not the only vehicle manufacturer that does this – or something similar to this. One of my professional mechanic friends tells me about the time he installed a new windshield wiper motor in a Ford vehicle and discovered it would not work until it was “paired” with the vehicle – by a Ford dealership computer. The same goes for headlights in some late model vehicles. 
Several automakers have made it very expensive for independent shops (and effectively impossible for the do-it-yourselfer) to even figure out what’s wrong with one of their vehicles by hiding the information – the data – behind a paywall. You have to have the “authorized” diagnostic equipment – or pay an exorbitant fee for subscription access to the data. The costs and fees are so high that many independent shops can’t justify paying them because they probably won’t make enough fixing the vehicles to make it worth fixing them. So they tell people who might otherwise have been their customers that they can’t work on that brand of vehicle and they’ll need to take it to a dealership.
You probably have heard about the way John Deere – the tractor company – also effectively forces people who own (sic) John Deere equipment to get it fixed by a John Deere dealer.
It’s very strange and vicious thing to assert de facto ownership over something that has been sold. Yet that is what it amounts to. The assertion is that while you own the vehicle, they still own the code – the proprietary software that runs the thing. Bill Gates was the pioneer of this business model. You buy the box but he – Microsoft owns what’s in the box. If you want to keep on using it, you must pay a licensing fee. The car industry saw this business model and liked it. It being more profitable to sell you a vehicle and then sell you permission to repair it.
There have been efforts to get what are called right to repair laws passed and one did – in Massachusetts – but until the principle is re-established that when a person buys something and has paid for it, it’s his – meaning entirely his own property and not subject to control by some other party – the very concept of ownership will continue to be something less than it ought to be.
. . .
If you like what you’ve found here please consider supporting EPautos.
We depend on you to keep the wheels turning!
Our donate button is here.
If you prefer not to use PayPal, our mailing address is:
EPautos
721 Hummingbird Lane SE
Copper Hill, VA 24079
PS: Get an EPautos magnet or sticker or coaster in return for a $25 or more one-time donation or a $10 or more monthly recurring donation. (Please be sure to tell us you want a magnet or sticker or coaster – and also, provide an address, so we know where to mail the thing!)
If you’d like a Baaaaa hat or other EPautos gear, see here!
![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://www.ericpetersautos.com/2026/03/15/time-to-pay-the-component-protection-fee/&media=https://www.ericpetersautos.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/component-protection.jpg&description=The idea seems to be to effectively force VW owners to deal with VW dealers since no one else can "unlock" the vehicle subroutines.){kind=link}
You do not need a dealer to work on your VW. There’s an excellent aftermarket solution to diagnose and work with your VW computers.
https://www.ross-tech.com/index.php
The reason VW encoded the VIN on modules was originally was an attempt to thwart chop shops and car theft. Whether this is true or even works is questionable.
It’s also not hard to believe VW would force you to use a dealer but I don’t think that’s the case here. The E.U. is ahead of the USA on protecting the owner’s right to repair. These laws don’t mean the manufacturer has to make it simple or cheap to do personally but they have to make it possible. The effect is mainly that an independent mechanic have access to the tools. If you have the money you can buy the tools individually.
FWIW, I now the Ross-Tech software works, I own and use it to work on my Jetta. There are a couple of specific tasks it will not do, such as making new RFID keys.
It’s not that it can’t do this but it’s a liability issue for them. There are programs that will do this but they are not sold commercially for the obvious reasons.
My other vehicle is a Toyota and they offer a way for the owner to access the tools, Techstream in their case, through a 3-day subscription that costs $75, as opposed to their normal annual subscription like a dealer or shop would use that costs about $1500. The interface box I was able to find used on eBay from a retiring mechanic.
Correction, the lite subscription that gets you access to the diagnostic software is now 2-day and $80.
https://techinfo.snapon.com/TIS/Register.aspx
Texas state passes laws of mandated auto insurance works with insurance company’s to rip people off. We have a very disabled child and when she turned 18 we her parents became her legal guardians. She qualified for disability so we needed to get her a state ID to start her a bank account. She can’t get into a car by herself much less drive one. A state ID is just that but not a drivers license. The state makes this public information and our insurance company tried to force us to put her on our auto policy. We refused to on the phone and in writing. We dropped the insurance company and it’s one of the ones that advertise nonstop. We have been with them for many years no citations or accidents, ever in our lifetimes. That insurance company wants $97 dollars because we have a disabled daughter living in our home. Side note: my wife was a charge nurse BSN/RN and had to quit her job to take care of our daughter. Which cost us about 1.5 million in her loss wages. Now we have an insurance company turning us over to a collection company. They should have given us 30 day notice and cancelled us when we refused the additional policy changes but didn’t and when renewal came along less than 90 days after the Shake Down aka: pathetic money grab, we didn’t renew with them. This is a deliberate targeting us to hurt us financially because many of the insurance companies run credit reports and base rates on the credit report. The state of Texas Department of Insurance refuses to acknowledge receiving our online complaint and one we mailed return signed of receiving that mail. Here’s the big evidence of a criminal scam to steal money from us over a very disabled child. I have motorcycles and I’m the only driver in the household on the policy. No one but me. The reason is no one other than me has a motorcycle endorsement on our license. But wait!! A state ID is not a drivers license. Everyone knows who this insurance company is, they advertise the most and do little skits with the group of regulars who are in the commercials. Not the one with the guy who is around all the crashes, the other guys.
I bought my car.
I don’t rent it.
Holding my car hostage after I own it so some software can enable a valid part before I can use it again – is a crime. No, really. It’s a crime. It is theft. It is blackmail.
This is no different than RANSOMWARE.
Ransomware is illegal under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. And this practice is as well.
Love how they call it “protection”….criminal extortion is exactly what it is.
If you don’t buy that extortion enabled German crap then it shouldn’t be a problem. DUH!
>Several automakers have made it very expensive for independent shops … to even figure out what’s wrong with one of their vehicles…
You have to have the “authorized” diagnostic equipment – or pay an exorbitant fee for subscription access to the data.
Independent shop which maintained my used BMWs (I owned 3, in sequence) told me it cost $10,000 per manufacturer, per year, for the diagnostic software. They serviced German makes exclusively, of which there were five, namely VW, Porsche, Audi, Mercedes Benz, & BMW, so that meant there were down $50,000 each year before they could even do business.
They did have a profitable business, and their charges were reasonable.
YMMV.
“You’ll own nothing….and be happy”
….(because (((we))) didn’t kill you…yet)
Where have we heard this before???
Ah yes, the WEF and related (((elites)))…
Prepare accordingly….
Above you write that paying property tax effectively makes the house NOT yours. NO, that is the way an idiot perceives it. You can live in the desert were there are no property taxes because there are no service, school, police, hospitals, fire department. Good luck, but don’t expect others to pay for the services you consume. Americans want free stuff, and vote for free stuff, nothing is free.
Hello, Night –
Your premise is false. I do not “consume” such unwanted (by me) “services” such as the local government schools, the hospital, nor the government bureaucrats nor even the police. If you want these services, you have every right to pay for them. But you have no right to make me or anyone else pay for them.
I may be an “idiot.” But I am not a thief.
I do not want “free stuff.” But I do not want to pay for stuff I do not use. Can you understand the difference?
My state actually did something good with the “Right to Repair” act, but last I heard it’s still tied up in the courts by the auto manufacturers and stealerships lawsuits. They’re not going to give up that gravy train easily.
This is why I currently drive a 2007 model year vehicle and will be purchasing something older than that when I need a replacement. I don’t want their computerized junk and don’t need it.
Same here, Joe –
I have been advising others to do the same for several years now. I am glad more and more people are catching on!
Until spare parts become the next choke point…
2006 Toyota Corolla, has just under 60K on the clock. Best five grand I ever dent!
Daughter has a 2006 Elantra, not yet 50,000 on the odo.
Cost all of $5,000 too with a tick under 35,000.
VW has had VIN-encoded computers since at least 1999. Toyota has used OBD-2 interfaces since 1996. Getting a 2007 doesn’t really help with respect to needing a laptop. On my Toyota I needed to get Techstream to do the brake bleed on my 2003 4Runner. This is because the truck has a complex master cylinder that controls the 4 wheels individually for ABS and traction control. The procedure requires putting the brake control system in a special mode, there’s a whole flow chart in the factory service manual for this. If there’s a small positive it’s that the pump in the master cylinder does the pressurization for you so you don’t need the vacuum pump or to have someone pressing the pedal for you. You do need to match the reservoir level, though.
If you get a popular vehicle, such as my 2002 Silverado, spare parts are easy to get and inexpensive compared to a rare vehicle. Lots of reviews regarding which model years to avoid if any, and why, and lots of info available from on-line forums and videos to help you keep it running. I’ve spent almost $5,000 for a rebuilt transmission and rear end work on my ’02 Silverado in the last six months, and I consider it money well spent, even with ~250,000 miles on it. And when it finally dies, I have an ’04 Silverado waiting to replace it parked behind the shed.
If offered a brand new 2026 Silverado as a trade for my ’02, with the proviso that I had to drive the new one and couldn’t sell it, I would decline the offer. My old ’02 hauls gravel, firewood, and grandkids just as well as the 2026 would, and my old truck doesn’t spy on me, nag me, annoy me, or cost me a fortune in insurance and taxes.
As he has successfully done for several similar coding “lockout” situations with other products, Louis Rossman should establish a bounty for this one. Check out his YouTube channel as well as the Consumer Rights wiki he and other contributors have developed.
Consumer Rights Wiki:How to help – Consumer Rights Wiki https://share.google/AHWfzMMfLopwqiXyx
Soon, we won’t be able to replace light bulbs, without having to “pair” them to our light fixtures. Because, “progress”!
The article mentions that Bill Gates started the idea that you buy the box, but don’t own the code. I would point out that that has been the record companies’ model forever – you own the record / tape / CD, but not the music on it.
The difference being, you can always play the LP if you have the equipment. Unlike software that is forced to aged out as time goes by. I have 50 year old LPs I’m giving to my grandson. I have 20 year old software that can’t be run on any computer. As the internet “advances” old hardware becomes inoperable.
Hi Elusive,
Yeah, but you can easily make copies of CDs/songs. I understand you’re not supposed to. But that is different from not being able to – and being made to pay a fee in order to do so.
The law is one can copy their music for own use such as to play CDs in their car for example.
Roger that, Kram –
And it makes the point; i.e., one cannot legally give a copy of Microsoft software to your kid or a friend, etc.
The legality of making copies for personal use is well-established.
If I don’t pay my property tax, my house, which I own outright can be taken from me and sold. If I don’t buy insurance, I’m liable in ANY accident. Software companies charge me to use their product AFTER I pay a fat sum to purchase it. And the auto industry has now caught on.
The backyard mech is rare these days on newer cars. Just the diagnostic tools will set you back thousands. No more a 9/16 and 5/8 wrench to do a lot of your own work. Or metric if you have a foreign car.
Makes my old PC on windows 95 (my newer one is win 8.1) and my old pickup and my 35 year old stereo and my wind-up clocks and watches look better each day.
“ Just the diagnostic tools will set you back thousands. ”
Uniformed commenter as usual. There are plenty of diagnostic solutions that don’t cost thousands.
Find ways to rationalize that the technology has passed you by and that you’re too lazy to learn if you will but cost of OBD diagnostics isn’t what’s keeping you from doing DIY repair.
Hi Dunning,
I have two professional mechanic friends who both own their own independent repair shops. They have told me they cannot (economically) perform repairs on certain brands of cars because they cannot justify paying for the subscription access to the data they need or the proprietary diagnostic equipment, etc.
Those cheap code readers accomplish nothing, you pompous ASSHOLE.
If “your” computer has an UEFI BIOS you CANNOT change the Operating System of “your” computer. I know. I tried to delete MSWIN to put Linux on it. Fool around with it long enough and Bitlocker locks you out of “your” own computer… It’s a POS world.
Jeff, just look up “legacy boot in uefi systems” and then boot your system from a CD/DVD or flash drive. Lots of tutorials out there on how to change your OS on newer hardware.
Just do what I do: build your own PC. That way, you have complete control over what components you want, as well as the OS. It’s really not as hard as some people make it out to be. The next time I build one, I plan on using a Linux OS. Fuck Microsoft and Apple!
Try Ubuntu Mate with the traditional Gnome 2 interface.
I rec Linux Mint. Been using it for years. Highly recommend it. Been using Linux exclusively for 12 years. There is NO reason to not use Linux unless you are a big PC gamer. And if that is the case then have a dual boot system.
RE: “It’s really not as hard as some people make it out to be.”
And: “There is NO reason to not use Linux”
TIME.
It takes TIME to understand all that you guys do and know. Time, is valuable.
That said, carry on.
I think you’re confusing UEFI with Secure Boot. Windows 11 requires a TPM chip and Microshaft account because of this but there are work arounds to this signed OS requirement. You can also install Linux on a UEFI/Secure Boot/TPM crippled machine. You can actually turn all these things off if you’re using an x86 PC and use Linux or alternatively Windows 10 or older but you cannot turn off these features on an ARM machine.
I see something about Subaru going to charge 150 per year to use some options I say take the new cars out and shoot them there like the government always taking your money and nagging you .
At least with microsoft, I could replace Gates OS with a Linux version and keep on truckin.
Let’s not forget if the battery is disconnected or the system voltage drops too low that you can get the same problem. I’ve never had that happen on my car when I’ve disconnected the battery but it can happen. Sometimes the code for your radio has been written down in the cars manual by the dealership that sold it originally.
Of course the reason why all this theft protection is needed is because GovCo has little desire to go after the hood rats that commit crimes against the regular tax paying citizens.
This is the kind of thing Jefferson alluded to in the Declaration of Independence. That is, GovCo is set up to protect our Rights to Life, Liberty and Property. This means people outside of GovCo can also violate our Rights, not just GovCo.
This sort of thing borders on fraud because the dealer “sold” you the vehicle. They didn’t say you were just renting or using it so long as the manufacturer permitted. To sell something with an implied use, in this case transportation, and then deny you the right to use it in such a manner without further payment is deceitful, duplicitous and fraudulent.
But, if you think GovCo will come to your rescue, guess again. If people realize that the car companies are doing the same thing as GovCo does with property taxes, annual licenses, etc. they might finally wake up and realize how we’re getting f’d every day by that “defender” of our Rights and an actual uprising might occur.
I dunno. Lotsa angst in the John Deere tractor world, re: right to repair, … Who knows?
“If people realize that”
“they might finally wake up”
“getting f’d every day by that “defender” of our Rights”
Time to Pay the “Citizenship Protection” Fee
Turns out there’s some fine print in the Repuke party’s SAVE Act, comrades:
‘The list of qualifying documents in the SAVE Act for proving citizenship appears long, but many of them come with qualifiers.
‘Under the bill, a REAL ID -compliant driver’s license would have to indicate that “the applicant is a citizen.” But only five states — Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont and Washington — offer the type of enhanced REAL IDs that explicitly indicate U.S. citizenship.
‘Standard driver’s licenses, generally available to both citizens and noncitizens, often do not include a citizenship indicator. Some states, including Ohio, have recently added them. The stipulations continue, buried in the fine print.
‘While military ID cards are listed as qualifying documents under the act, they will not suffice on their own. The bill says a military ID must be accompanied by a military “record of service” that indicates the person’s birthplace was in the U.S. A DD214, the current standard-issue certificate of release or discharge for all military service branches, does not currently fulfill that requirement.
‘A passport would most effectively meet the requirement, but only about half of American adults have one, and the SAVE Act requires the passport to be current. An expired one does not count.’
https://apnews.com/article/save-act-documents-requirements-citizenship-voting-congress-dfb43bcdd0255d3665da588a60286b4e
Talk about bait and switch. Ever since George W Shrub signed the REAL-ID Act in 2005, the US fedgov has been pestering us to get REAL-ID. Now that maybe half of American adults have one (the actual numbers are curiously elusive), the R-party tells us ‘that don’t count’ — suddenly you need an ‘enhanced’ REAL-ID, which means a whole new paper chase with associated fees and time wastage. Many won’t be able to ‘comply’ in time, as proved by the 20 years it’s taken for REAL-ID to propagate.
I have a passport, which I used to get my stinkin’ ‘not valid for voting’ REAL-ID. It just pisses me the hell off. Nahn-‘leven, comrades: it’s the gift that keeps on giving for our fedgov tormenters.
I think the “SAVE act” might come around to bite the Repugs in the ass, I doubt many of the red state red hats who would vote for them have passports. Can’t wait to see how this plays out, file under “be careful what you wish for”.
Funny, my brother reacted the same way. Residents in big, leftist coastal cities are more likely to travel internationally (and thus have passports) than the MAGA faithful in their Skunk Hollers and Bidonvilles [bidon = ‘tin roof’ in French; no relation to ‘Biden.’]
Moreover, the five states that offer ‘enhanced’ proof-of-citizenship REAL-ID are all blue states (Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont and Washington).
Thus, the SAVE Act may disenfranchise more Republicans than Democrats. It wouldn’t be the first time that the Stupid Party (or is it the Evil Party) shot its own fool feet off. Let it bleed.
The Demonrat Party is the Evil party. They hate America and the Constitution.
In most States, getting a copy of birth certificate sent to you is an easy process. If you can’t negotiate it, perhaps you’re generally not good at even simple tasks and shouldn’t be voting?
Hi Thomas,
Yes, but the GOP is at best only marginally better and arguably worse – in that never stands on principle and often is just as aggressive as the Democrats when it comes to defenestrating us of our liberty as well as our money; viz, the Patriot Act, the so-called “war” some drugs, and property taxes to support “the schools.”
A great Alabaman and American, George Wallace, when he ran as an independent in 1968, and carried five states and got 46 electoral votes, the last “third party: candidate to do so, is quoted as saying, “not a dime’s worth of difference between Democrats and Republicans “.
If this were a free society we wouldn’t need ID.
We should ge able to come & go & transact business without one.
‘Component protection’: it has the same hollow ring as ‘defending ourselves from Iranian attack.’
It’s no conundrum for car buffs to hate new cars. Auto makers have turned evil. Soon car buffs will be extinct.
The ‘smart appliances’ they offer today are as exciting as washing machines. But they won’t clean your damned clothes. 🙁
We won’t be extinct but real cars will become increasingly rare and precious. I’m hoping to leave a good one to each of my kids.