@neil I have no idea about your skills, so it might not help in the slightest, but maybe there are shared garage-ey workspaces in your area? I know there's at least one that my son uses (in .nl so of no use to you), I can't imagine this idea being that geographically limited. At least it'd take care of the "have no garage / lift" issue, again, no idea if that's the biggest thing holding you back.

@neil many cars made up to 2018 generally lack the full implementation of the surveillance, or its been abandoned (alongside any useful features it might have provided!) as it was dependent on having 3G rather than LTE mobile connectivity

Tesla are rotten. CIA/Palantir surveillance platform.

@neil

@neil never vehicles also have critical components safety coded/locked via SERMI scheme, only certain garages and mechanics can work on these vehicles and its not trivial to get the registration

https://sermi.co.uk/

@neil @richardibbo Maybe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reliant_Robin ?

@neil out of interest what are you driving? And is it a manual or a heresy box?

@neil ah, a heresy box.

An auto box out a breakers is around £500ish for the 09-12 model. That might be easier to sort than a whole new car

@neil think I've mentioned in the past but the e-Niro First Edition model doesn't have a sim card connection. As long as you don't link your phone it can't talk out.
You will lose stuff like Android Auto, bluetooth music etc though but that's going to be the case with any non-connected car.
It's also a great car with an excellent battery. I have zero degradation after 7 years. Solid 200+ mile range even in winter.

Note: it *must* be the 2019 First Edition. Later models are connected.
Note 2: They are also just dropping out of warranty.
Note 3: obviously no app for controlling it

"Bluetooth music" meaning "Commercial streaming pay-per-view music from the cell phone company that coincidentally uses bluetooth to reach the speakers," I assume.

CC: @neil@mastodon.neilzone.co.uk

@neil You could make use of the current state of affairs with older Nissan

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/mar/14/nissan-leaf-app-shutdown-nissanconnect-ev-app

@neil @max they're somewhat common around here (SF Bay Area), too. I'd ask around some amateur racing types, they tend to use these sorts of spaces.

Nice!

CC: @joearisia@hachyderm.io

@neil fwiw my 2024 Kia Niro EV has an offline mode.

@neil Ah, and they mention it under Data Protection on https://connect.kia.com/uk/customer-support/faq/ - obviously not a 100% guarantee against future evil, but better than the approach many are taking...