How to make sure a used car is safe

Car dealers say it’s OK to sell a used car subject to a recall, as long as the customer is told. Consumer groups call that a ‘dangerous’ and ‘unethical’ practice.

Buying a used car is always a bit risky.

You don’t know how that vehicle was driven or maintained. It could have been damaged in an accident or by flood waters. Or it could be subject to an “open” recall — a safety problem identified by the manufacturer that has not been repaired.

Don’t assume the dealer has fixed the problem — or will even tell you about it, consumer advocates caution. read more »

Worn-Out Flash Memory Is Suddenly Bricking Tesla Cars

"When this burns out, you wake up to a black screen."

Some older Teslas are spontaneously bricking because their embedded flash memory is wearing out, according to three independent Tesla repair professionals who have studied the issue.

The issue is with a flash storage chip called the eMMC that is embedded on a board called the MCU1. According to experts who have studied the problem, Teslas are writing vehicle logs to this flash storage chip so much that it eventually goes bad. The issue has been known in the Tesla community since at least May, when Tesla repair YouTuber Rich Benoit spoke to another Tesla repair professional named Phil Sadow about it in a video.

“Tesla’s got a problem. They create so many logs in the car, they write to [the chip] so fast that it basically burns them out. They have a finite amount of writes,” Sadow said in the video. “When this burns out, you wake up to a black screen [in the car’s center console.] There’s nothing there. No climate control. You can generally drive the car, but it won’t charge.” read more »