I work for a diagnostic tool company (Ross-Tech, LLC) that makes an aftermarket pc based tool for VAG cars - VW, Audi, SEAT, Skoda, Bentley and Lamborghini. The purported John Deere rep told many things that are true and stretched some things that are not... I'd have to sit and go through it all line by line to state it all. I'd rather leave that for the moment for I don't see a purpose in doing so. The commenters on the video have done the job.
In auto and small truck repair, the reason Massachusetts independent auto repair shops demanded Right to Repair legislation was that the OEs were not permitting the aftermarket repair guys access to the same factory authorized procedures the dealers were using. Aftermarket tools exist for auto and small trucks. That was not the issue. Repair procedures were being controlled and restricted and the independents could not buy them at a reasonable cost.
The OEs were forcing the repair shops to buy the factory tool and pay a large subscription. The aftermarket guys lobbied the Massachusetts legislature and the OEs saw that the lobbyists were getting traction so they made a settlement proposal. It did not give the independents all they wanted. It did not protect the OEs as they wanted. It was a compromise and the industry societies decided to accept the proposal. Many of the independent repairers felt betrayed by their societies.
One of the outcomes was that the OEs had to put their diagnostic software and their procedures up on web sites where the independent could purchase access for a reasonable cost. We'll argue about the definition of reasonable some other day as the costs would not be attractive to an enthusiast wanting to work on their own car but the cost was low enough that the independent shop could afford it.
The OEs agreed to make their diagnostic software work through a universal SAE protocol named J2534. This meant that the independent shop could buy one tool - a J2534 diagnostic interface - and access all OE software off the web. The independent repair shop guy could now work on any brand car/truck he chose.
That software would allow the independent to do all things the dealer technician could do on a car. A module needs to be updated through a flash? Hook up the J2534 and run the flash portion of the OE's software. The programming information flows from the OE computer server farm, through the internet, into the J2534 and finally into the control module memory. Win for all!
That is still in place. But now the OEs are starting a new branch on the tree: the idea that data from the vehicle belongs to the OE not the user. The OEs are sending the data from cars starting around 2016 via GSM chips - cell phone chips - back to mother ship so the dealer can call and tell the owner that he/she is about to have a problem with your xyz car/truck. The independent shops see themselves being cut out again. So they are trying another round of Right to Repair. Stay tuned.
It's a never ending battle and it is about money. Most dealers - I suspect it is true of the farm equip dealers too - do not make enough from sales of the vehicles to keep their doors open. They need service revenue. The OEs know this. The OE knows that sales of vehicles most often happens through dealers. If they can't keep their doors open, then sales will suffer. The OEs choose to protect the dealer service centers.
With new data collection, a new revenue stream has entered the picture. If the OE knows where you go, how you drive, how you spend your hours in a car, they can sell information to advertisers and so on. They are doing precisely that. It will be billions of dollars to the OEs. Making an independent aftermarket shop buy access to their customer's data is another source of revenue.
How does any of this apply to tractors/farm machines? The market is much smaller so where will the income be for a business like mine to develop an affordable diagnostic tool? The Farm Equipment OEs are not going to share information. That then requires the independent tool manufacture to reverse engineer everything... big cost - long development time. When that cost is spread over thousands of machines rather than millions -- and perhaps my numbers are a bit off -- one can see why it is hard to get an independent to make a tool that is cost effective for a farmer.
Having a J2534 like device that would work with all tractor brands and that would allow the use of online software from the manufacturer, that would be a win for all I think. The question is, how much would the Farm Eq OE want to put his software up on the web and allow their customers or independent repair guys to use it? Could it be a cost effective solution?
Last, for the tractor dead in the field needing service, this J2534 idea may not be of any value as many farms may not have internet access in the fields. Even if one used their phone, how good would the data connect be in many fields?
The decision to put all these computers on the machines was made to give the machines more capability and to hold down the cost to manufacture. There is a constant push to improve things. The resultant cost has been all this need for diagnostic tools. We can't go back. We can try to live with simpler machines that do less but then that will also affect the farm's bottom line for it will take longer to do the same amount of work.
I'm not a farmer. I am a sparky engineer having spent my career designing lots of custom machines. My interest in tractors comes from me volunteering to manage 200 acres of land in Virginia for the owner of my company. I do as many of the repairs on our machines as possible and he and I have talked at length about branching our company into making a farm equipment diagnostic tool. We see an end coming for us in the auto world owing to this GSM technology and all data being beamed up to the mother ship. But thus far, we have simple farm machines for what we do - mowing, trail management, driveway management, simple processes.. We're not sure where we could get the info to start a tool for farm equipment. Any one know how many machines are sold a year? How long do you guys keep your machines?
Well, I hope this long post has not been a bore.. I hope some info has been transmitted. I hear your pain gentlemen...
If you want to know about our company, take a look here:
Ross-Tech: Home - do note our forum for our users.. our free self created pages of info not commonly found in VAG land called the Wiki.. and so on. We have been at this for 20 years and are recognized as the defacto standard in the aftermarket for VAG repair. We sell to virtually every country of the world to which our government allows us to sell. We know how to make cost effective tools for VAG but note we have not had success with any other OE.. In part it is because we can't keep up with VAG, but also we can't find a starting point with some of the others.
And please, we are not ready to talk about making a tool for farm machinery. We may never be. So please do not flood us with emails about doing so. If you want to talk about this subject, leave me a message here if the forum admins will allow.
