I will not EVER buy a car from VAG.  Some years ago I had a Passat (diesel) that went in for its annual service the day prior to the end of it's 3 year new car warranty expired. The following morning, I started the car and didn't get more than 10 yards when it simply cut out. AA recovery to the dealer. Turns out that they had messed up the timing belt, which slipped, causing some considerable engine damage.  I was assured by the dealer that it would be fixed under warranty and that I was lucky as it was the last day of said warranty.  Later that day, I was contacted by VW UK to inform me that, as the car hadn't arrived at the dealer until after midday, the warranty had expired and any repairs would be at my expense.  It's fair to say that the dealer was mortified and did the best they could, arguing my corner.  Long and heated arguments followed over a couple of weeks, with VW UK coming up with different 'reasons' as to why my warranty claim was invalid.  Their last 'reason' was that the car had been purchased in a leap year, so the warranty had expired a day earlier. They were eventually forced to cave and accept full responsibility.  Hence, I immediately sold the car and will never, ever go near a VAG car again. Shameful behaviour.  Also, remember the emissions scandal involving them. Charlatans.

@morgan, much as I like the cars they produce, I can't disagree with you. I have some modifier to my conscience that I've never bought a car from them so much as bought secondhand cars with their badge on it, but I do find their morals and ethics distasteful to say the least.

It seems Skoda at least are working with Home Assistant with an official customer API

Posted by: @old_scientist

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It seems Skoda at least are working with Home Assistant with an official customer API

I know. It seems Audi too, and I'm not sure about SEAT/Cupra. However, the Home Assistant integration for VW was updated most recently two weeks ago and worked for under one day before Volkswagen shut down that authentication method again. This is a VERY targeted and active decision on Volkswagen's part and can only be to try to control a customer's access to their own data.

Moreover, even if they stop playing unacceptable power games right now it has damaged my faith that they won't try something else next time. I am now actively recommending to anyone I know that they do NOT buy a Volkswagen.

Disgusting behaviour.

OK, so just to be clear then, this appears to specifically be a VW thing, not a wider VAG thing, and individual members of the VAG Group appear free to set their own policies.

Time to sell the ID3 and upgrade to an Elroq maybe?

Posted by: @old_scientist

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OK, so just to be clear then, this appears to specifically be a VW thing, not a wider VAG thing, and individual members of the VAG Group appear free to set their own policies.

Time to sell the ID3 and upgrade to an Elroq maybe?

VW, Audi, Seat/Cupra and Skoda all use the same IT infrastructure and so this is an issue that has affected owners of all those brands to one extent or another. However, Skoda in particular have been far more prepared to back down than Volkswagen and so have been much more supportive of the range of ways individuals interact with their API. As you say, the different constituent companies have flexibility in how their policies are enforced.

That said, the trust is gone. If Volkswagen are prepared to play these games, what confidence do I have that Audi or Cupra won't change tack and do the same in a year or two? I like my ID3 and I like what I've seen when I've test driven an Enyaq. Unfortunately, both are part of the VAG stable and the fact VAG could allow any of their brands to treat customers in such a high-handed way damages the VAG reputation overall - irretrievably for me. Dieselgate showed they prioritised profit above the law and this API issue shows they prioritise profit over customer goodwill. What more proof do I need that they are morally bankrupt and disinclined to learn from historical lessons.

I'll dismount my hobby-horse now. Not a pop at you, btw, @old_scientist; you just lined up the platform for me and lit the touch paper.

Posted by: @majordennisbloodnok

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I'll dismount my hobby-horse now. Not a pop at you, btw, @old_scientist; you just lined up the platform for me and lit the touch paper.

No worries, I can't really argue with your logic and I think you have every right to feel how you feel about VW. I just hope Skoda is better than that, but I could be wrong.

@majordennisbloodnok , I feel for you..

We had a similar "issue" with BMW. But after a few weeks after they locked any attempt to reverse engineer access with ultimately unsecure methods, HA had connected to their new API (cardata) with a proper authentication method. Teething issues were solved in a month or so. 

It now can be a bit annoying to reautheticate every few months, but when we think about the fact these APIs expose all sort of data about the car use, location, etc, I see it as a price worth paying. And they have allowed free access for HA use. It seemed the developer was very aware of how hot things had become on the forums, some of the API stuff was initially only exposed under the .de domain, but all good now. A very sleek integration.. 

I was about to look into hacking something onto the car bus, to expose the battery charge level, but it looks like BMW listened to users and provide at least a subset of the telemetry data for no additional cost..

As for VW, does this help? https://github.com/robinostlund/homeassistant-volkswagencarnet/issues/977

Thanks, @batpred. That integration is the one I have installed and I’ve posted a couple of times on that very discussion thread.

When VW cut off access, the effect is almost immediate. I am currently considering the MeatPi device that plugs into the OBD port, but won’t do anything until the developers have also released the 4/5G comms module too.