Used car dealers specializing in sales to car buyers with bad credit, simply installs one of these devices underneath the dashboard. In order to start the car you enter a 5-digit code for each pay period. The pay period is entered into the unit by the salesman after a sale is made. Some of these type of bad credit used car lots might enforce loans payable every 2 weeks, for example. As you approach the end of your payment period, green lights on the unit start blinking red and a chirping sound also occurs. They have a 4-day grace period to make their car payment. If they don’t make the payment the unit will not allow the car to start. If they do make the payment they are issued a new 5-digit code that they punch into the keypad of the Payteck so the car will continue starting.

Use of this unit has been very successful. In this niche of the used car industry, repos can run as high as 50% — meaning ½ of the cars sold are typically repossessed. One dealer using this device in Virginia (Patriot Sales) has 500 of the units and claims to have lowered his repos from 45% to 15%.

I grew up in rural America, but moved to Houston, our fourth largest city, 24 years ago.  When I visit my parents in rural Louisiana I am reminded just how slow dialup Internet connections really is these days because websites are being designed for broadband access, not dialup access.  Just loading up a page on Godaddy with an average connection speed at their house of 42 to 50 K mbs takes minutes, not seconds.  I gave up surfing the web from my parents home 3 years ago.  So, I can really appreciate our government taking an interest in bringing broadband to rural communities.  Notice, I didn’t say I agree with it or think it will be a moneymaker, I just said I can appreciate it. 

So why I’m I knocking or questioning the USDA’s action.  Take a look at Open Range’s website and you’ll know first hand.  Just visit http://www.openrangecomm.com/ for a second and you’ll see it’s nothing more than a one-page place holder with an email address on it.  The email address is for a PR guy with a small company called Percepture.com.   Is this a wise investment of our tax dollars?  Gee, I wish I could come up with and idea and a placeholder domain and get $257 million dedicated to my next cause. 

Check it out and tell me what you think.