There are plenty of parts of the US with really poor cell coverage. Even if everything's working perfectly, there's no guarantee that your car can update. Having a car die because it couldn't phone home is both a lawsuit waiting to happen and a potential PR nightmare.
What about satellite? What if the ping isn't time based but mileage based... what are the odds you drive 500-1000 miles without passing a cell-site? The car doesn't have to go completely dead either. It can go into a "limp mode" or just have features disabled.
Going back and forth with measures and counter-measures besmirches the point. Cars have to be serviced and this may be considered just another aspect of it.
I'm not suggesting that this sort of thing is necessarily a good thing(tm) but, it may be viewed as such by some and it's possible.
Isn't it the consumer's prerogative and responsibility to decide?
Not to mention, lawsuits and PR nightmares can be factored into a business case analysis. VW actually went ahead and defrauded the US government in diesel-gate and they're still an almost $100 billion company.
