In the future:
I don’t understand why anyone would voluntarily purchase a car with this “feature.” Seems like the marketplace should be able to sort itself out on that.
On the other hand, imagine the secondary market for tech specialists who know how to reflash the car’s firmware to disable this stuff.
The obvious reason would be because the lender would offer a better interest rate. And it could make sense for a lot of people who have poor credit ratings but are in fact diligent and responsible. I don’t see what’s wrong with it at all. It means that all borrowers are not forced to pay for the people whose behavior necessitates a repossession infrastructure, the cost of which is built into the loan.
The salesman might not tell the customer about it.
Well, until somebody uses this ‘feature’ to repossess a car that for which the loan is in good standing or is owned outright. But when would that ever happen?
Stranger
I am a terrible pessimist, granted, but I can easily envision a future in which this is required among many other dystopian nightmares. We’ll want to drive an old Chevy from the 1970s to avoid being tracked in everything we do, but the new features will be mandatory and the old cars will be gradually outlawed.
We already have the infrastructure in many places to issue speeding citations automatically – the roads will know, and the cars will know. That we don’t already deduct automatic fines from the driver’s bank account may only be a temporary state of affairs.
You’re linking to examples of how this already happens with traditional methods of repossession. I think the fact that a car can autonomously repossess itself would make this less likely to be a problem.
With conventional repossession, the repo guy is not going to give any prior warning, and he is not going to knock on your door to double check the paperwork, because people will often fight with the repo guy and try to move and hide the car.
Whereas if the lender knows that the owner cannot abscond with the car, that risk goes away, and there less risk in giving prior warnings to the owner that could catch errors before the repossession takes place.
Of course this is just the beginning. I’m sure banks will start installing pressurized tanks in mortgaged houses that release clouds of poison gas when you’re sixty days behind.
Thanks for the perspective. 
I’ll be driving the red Barchetta out at my uncle’s country place that no one knows about.
It’s hardly a radical new concept that when the collateral for a loan is more secure, a lender has less risk. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing for borrowers, because it allows lower interest rates.
Could be a Chevy.
Could also be a Red Barchetta:
ETA: the short story from which the Rush song originated
ETA2: and a totally cool story about the short story’s author meeting, and taking a motorcycle ride, with Rush’s legendary drummer, Neil Peart.
[Because rabbit holes]
What could possibly go wrong, yes? An emergency comes up and the family can’t take their injured child to the hospital because the car malfunctioned and locked them out. Lawyers are praying this goes into effect.
How is this any different from the present-day situation in which a car is erroneously repossessed by a guy with a tow truck?
Actually, it is different. As @Riemann pointed out upthread, an autonomous car can be directed to give its owners ample warning that it’s going to drive itself back to the dealer on X date unless the owner takes action.
Poison gas might leave an unpleasant residue to clear out. Just displacing the normal atmosphere pure nitrogen works just as well, and once your janitormech clears out the bodies and personal belongings the house is ready for the new suckers owners.
Stranger
It’s different in that hiring a repo man is expensive, it’s troublesome, and it’s vastly less likely to work, since there is no entirely relaible way to know where most currently existing cars are.
The scenario in the OP is one in which a person can click a mouse and your car drives away.
If there’s an aftermarket way of changing this or blocking it, I’m paying for it and encouraging everyone I know to do the same.
I can see this only being done with new cars sold though authorized dealers that are tied into the car companies network. Not by used car dealers and other secondary markets. Otherwise it would be easier to hack the system to steal cars.
The argument would be that it keeps overall car prices down and perhaps insurance rates. If the car could be disabled and tracked once reported stolen people would be less inclined to steal them.
I’m sure that somebody said this already but manufacturers/dealerships/banks have been installing GPS trackers hidden in new cars for years. After you pay off the loan and show the dealer that the lien is off of the title, they are supposed to remove it ( if you ask ) free of charge.
Supposed to.
Many will ply you with double-talk about wanting to buy it and sell you a new car. Many will lie and say, “What GPS tracker?” 
.
Does anybody know for sure whether an old school The Club
Would render this self-repossess impractical/impossible?
IOW, is the mechanical coupling between the steering and the steering wheel – at least, today – the same as it is on lesser cars?
No they wouldn’t, its acutally a selling point feature. The GPS tracker is actually a cell phone connection that comes with many upscale models so that you can have internet services and hotspots in the car. It’s not some lo-jack system or device you stick on the car like in Breaking Bad.
I don’t think any farmer wanted to purchase a tractor they’re not allowed to repair, either. If they wanted other features, they didn’t get a choice.