[belorn]

If the car crashes, I don't see how it would be easier to replace the offending physical part, or replacing the offending digital part.

However, its true that you might have a easier time to see a giant crack, but would you see material fatigue? would you see improper engineered breaks? Would you notice if instead of using steel in a critical point, they happened to use a more weaker metal like aluminum?

I guess the big difference is in user behavior. No one would go and buy BillyJoe's breaks from some alleyway, especially if it looked like they manufactured the stuff out of paste. However, some people might happily install breaks from an email attachment, sent by fishy Joes Nigeria email service. Especially if it said "Cheep UpGrade to the car braks!".

Im not sure if that should matter in the long run. It shouldn't require that government create a new law, like a Motor Vehicle Owners' Right to Repair software Act.