1/ Is there an economist out there who can help answer my question? Say I want a car costing $90k, but paying that much feels like a stretch. So the manufacturer sweetens the deal by throwing in "Autopilot" & "Full Self-Driving," said to be worth $7k.
2/ Just to make the example more concrete, let's say that car is a $TSLA. A Model S, for instance.
3/ I like the sweetener and buy the car. Now, of course I realize there's no such thing as FSD yet, but I'm happy because the CEO says FSD is imminent.
4/ Even better, the CEO (who was also Chair of the Board of Directors at the time) later repeatedly promises my car will appreciate in value. And not just appreciate a little bit. It will appreciate three-fold, or five-fold, by some time in the fourth year after my purchase.
5/ Some years later, I decide to sell my car, expecting the Autopilot & FSD will make it more valuable to the buyer. But after selling, I learn $TSLA stripped the car's Autopilot & FSD capabilities. Worse, my buyer is quite unhappy about that. (I hope he doesn't sue me.)
6/ So, here's the question: Is $TSLA's behavior - taking features I understood I owned when I bought the car, and stripping them away after I sell the car - likely to enhance or diminish the resale value of other cars like mine?
7/ Also, is there a lawyer who can advise on two closely-related questions? First, do I have any recourse against $TSLA for inducing me to buy the car by throwing in Autopilot & FSD features, but with no notice it would remove those features on resale?
8/ Second, do I have any legal recourse if the car does not actually achieve the "Full Self-Driving" promise this year, but instead fails to emerge from its chrysalis as a revenue-generating "robo-taxi" worth three to five times what I paid for it?
9/ And after the economist & lawyer answer those questions, is there a psychologist who can advise me what emotions I might appropriately feel about all this?
10/ Btw, for some $TSLA owners, these questions are not hypothetical. electrek.co/2020/02/07/tes…
