Miss a loan payment? Your car will shut down

A new technology may give automakers the ability to shut down a vehicle's power or turn off selected features, if warranted. Ford Motor Co. has received a patent for a technology that would allow it to shut off air conditioning, radio, cruise control, remote key fobs or other systems for whatever reason — a safety issue, perhaps, or a customer has neglected to keep up with car loan payments. Conceivably, the future technology could even cause the vehicle to "emit an incessant and unpleasant sound" when the owner is inside until action is taken to address the issue, according to the patent filing. Ford told Bloomberg it has no plans to use the technology, which has come under fire from consumer advocates who view its deployment as an overreach. But the technology is there now.