That is interesting that they fail safe and don't just brick the car though. Maybe you can still go with a newer car but just wrap the antennae in foil or maybe just unplug it.

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sippingabonedry 22 minutes ago | parent | next [-]

Seems you can unplug it and it won't complain or anything:

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/disabling-fordpass...

Likely because Ford was a latecomer to this always-online telematics crap, so the design was an add-on to an already completed and functioning car.

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Rebelgecko 20 minutes ago | parent | prev [-]

IIRC, some brand (maybe Subaru?) had a problem where the car would drain its 12v after a few hours retrying its search for 3g towers

	▲	sippingabonedry 15 minutes ago \| parent [-]
		Subarus were notorious for doing that if you left the dome light on. I hope they have since fixed that in 2026.