Software that created some issues

[Sump]

Have a mate that had an issue with with his transmission module or something. So his solution was to get a second hand one and instead of taking it to a dealer to flash it he decided to buy the software kit and flash it himself.

Found some kit on ebay that was being sold as the actual dealer diagnostic software but the (private) seller says that he only sells it as that and doesn't sell it as being able to flash or reprogram due to complications that can arise ( like this I imagine) / lack of training.

Well the end result is that he can no longer connect to any of the modules in the car and maybe the ecu is fried or worse. It needs to go to a dealer to actually get a diagnoses. He thinks the kit is to blame, I personally think he shouldn't have tried any of this in the first place and he's looking to blame the seller etc.

Does he actually have a leg to stand on here?

[Pie with sauce]

What is the actual question you're asking? Read the post twice and can't work it out.

[Durzel]

I'd think he'd have about as much of a leg to stand on if he chopped off said leg with an axe bought from B&Q, whom he thought were to blame for selling it to him.

[Sump]

Pie with sauce said:

What is the actual question you're asking? Read the post twice and can't work it out.

Last 2 sentences?

[divetheworld]

So rather than get someone with the right kit and competence to use it, he decides to try and code a CAN system himself and the modules no longer work. It all goes wrong and he thinks the kit he bought off ebay is to blame....

I think the lesson to be learned here is saving a few pounds by buying stuff like this ends up costing a lot more when you cant reflash the modules and have to buy new ones.

[TooMany2cvs]

Durzel said:

I'd think he'd have about as much of a leg to stand on if he chopped off said leg with an axe bought from B&Q, whom he thought were to blame for selling it to him.

Beautifully summed up, Sir.

[Sump]

Well his theory is that his kit killed the car so he is to blame, if he sold a proper legit kit it wouldn't have killed the car thus making that seller liable. I think at one point the hardware had a serious malfunction or something and was replaced by the seller, I think that's what caused the biggest issue as he couldn't connect afterwards.

I'm going on and off the fence with this, I can see why he wants to blame the seller but at the same time the seller just gave the kit, that's his only involvement.

[davepoth]

Unless he can prove that the kit he bought was at fault, and prove it in court, he's got nowhere to go apart from the dealer, with a very sheepish expression on his face.

[TheEnd]

He wants to take responsibility for his own actions.
I've seen loads of threads from people bricking modules on cars, and I've never seen one person try to lay the blame on anyone else but themselves.

[Sump]

I did point out to him that he did pay £50 for it not £2500 as he was treating the seller like his own support unit whom was clearly struggling anything beyond having it up and running which I thought he shouldn't do. It's clearly unreasonable to expect a private seller to be able to offer the support of a £2500 company but he wasn't getting it.

I can't see how he would prove it in the court, the car had issues to begin with, how would he prove the car wasn't completely knackered beforehand, infact how would he even prove anything, he wouldn't even be able to prove he took the basic correct steps when using the software.

[liner33]

TheEnd said:

He wants to take responsibility for his own actions.
I've seen loads of threads from people bricking modules on cars, and I've never seen one person try to lay the blame on anyone else but themselves.

Didnt brick mine but very nearly made it think it was a toaster , the system lost connection with all the sub systems like brakes , steering, etc . Very very easily done , caused by a missing tick in one of about 40 boxes and I would consider myself fairly competent with mapping and coding

Sounds like incompetence as likely as software error

[the_lone_wolf]

What manufacturer is it?

I can't speak for others, but Volvo lock down their software network so only dealers can use the system to upload software to the car

Still plenty you can do with a ching chong unit from ebay and a hookie copy of Volvo's diagnostic software though

[Dodsy]

Modern car computers are too complex to really mess with. My Local garage have all the Jag software but will only use it in passive mode for diagnostics, they are rightly scared that if they do something wrong it will trash the computers and end up with a bill for thousands of £££. They always point me to a specialist or dealer when it highlights a software upgrade is required.

I've heard plenty of tales of people who thought they knew what they were doing causing systems crashes by pressing the wrong button or doing things in the wrong order.

[silentbrown]

Durzel said:

I'd think he'd have about as much of a leg to stand on if he chopped off said leg with an axe bought from B&Q, whom he thought were to blame for selling it to him.

Except in this case he's done it with a knockoff chainsaw bought off a dodgy geezer in a pub.

[SLCZ3]

It would, I think, depend on wether the guy he bought it from was selling it as a business sale or as a private individual , SOGA and all that surely unless he was warned that failure to follow the instructions etc would fk it up big time.