Ford patents system for vehicles to repossess themselves

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On a list of all the jobs a robot might potentially take away from humans, you wouldn’t expect to find “repo man” — but never say never. It seems Ford has filed a U.S. patent for a system that could disable certain features or even see a vehicle drive itself away if you get too far behind on your payments.

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The automaker submitted the idea to the U.S. Patent Office in the summer of 2021, and it’s now been formally published as of late February. The patent is officially named “Systems and Methods to Repossess a Vehicle.”

The wordy description of the system boils down to this: If you’re not making your payments, a “first computer,” likely that of your bank or financial institution, sends a notice to a “second computer” – your device – reminding you to pay up. The message requires that you acknowledge it. If you don’t, indicating that you have no intention of contacting your bank about payments, that first computer will be able to disable some of your vehicle functions, or lock you out of using it.

The repossession would likely be multi-step and start out by disabling systems such as the heater, air conditioning, or radio, which may “cause a certain level of discomfort to a driver and occupants of the vehicle,” according to the patent. If that doesn’t work, the next step could be that the vehicle makes a continuous and annoying noise — a beep, a chime, a radio station you can’t turn off. If you still ignore it, the vehicle might disable its key fob and door locks, and you simply can’t get into it.

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Ignore all that, and an actual repo man may be sent out — and he’ll know where to go, because the vehicle will not only send out its location, but use its cameras to send photos of its surroundings, including if it’s locked in a garage.

And here’s the best part: If the vehicle is capable of autonomous or semi-autonomous driving, then once it’s remotely started, it could drive out a short distance to a spot that’s convenient for hooking up to a tow truck — or, under the right circumstances, could even drive itself to the impound lot.

But wait — there’s more! According to the patent, the repossession system’s computer could first have a little chat with the bank’s computer. Once the onboard computer sends over the vehicle’s mileage and condition, the bank’s computer can check it against the determined market value. If it concludes that it isn’t worth enough to impound it, the bank’s computer will instruct the vehicle to drive itself straight to the nearest scrapyard.

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Now, Ford isn’t entirely heartless in this. The patent description includes several circumstances where it could override the lockout, such as if someone needed to drive to the hospital or meet up with an ambulance to transfer a patient. Or if someone does intend to make the payments, but can’t due to such circumstances as job loss or illness, the vehicle could still be used, but with restrictions. You might still able to drive your children to school or go to the grocery store, but the vehicle would lock you out on weekends, or set a geofence area that includes the bare necessities, but then wouldn’t let you drive outside of that zone.

Of course, just because Ford has received the patent, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will ever install the technology in a vehicle, and may have protected it simply so that no other automaker can come up with a similar system — but as we say, “never say never.” And if it ever does, think of all the country stars who can now sing about how their loved one left them, their dog ran away, and, yes, their pickup truck left a note on the kitchen table and drove itself down the road and out of their lives.