To add to Matt's statement, the aftermarket shops like us also have to deal with ever increasing difficulty to get affordable access, or access
at all, to these software based challenges. Some are worse than others, but none of them anymore are easy. Toyota's Techstream functionality wise has remained the same, but the price keeps going up. I forget what it is up to, but maybe closing in on $2k/yr. Which isn't too bad for a larger high volume shop that uses it. Ford's has remained the same, but the Ford ex-wives (Mazda, Rover, Jaguar, Volvo) that no longer use IDS as it was lost in the divorce have become woefully aggravating because they now use what is essentially a back door bootlegged spin-off of IDS on many models. And Ford made SURE that NONE of their later updates will talk to these cars.
Oh, and their subscription price has nearly doubled despite the lack of brand coverage.
GM now has this idiotic "per-VIN" strategy, in addition to the [not cheap] subscription. So it is $40 per-VIN, and that VIN unlock works for a year. But still, if we need to update anything, or in many cases INSTALL anything, since most GM modules do not come with software (like transmissions that have the TCM integral), you have to load the software before you can complete the fix. HVAC control heads, clusters, radios, body modules, ABS modules, heck even in some cases if you replace an SRS component you need to do an update to the SRS module or it won't recognize the new part. So, an extra $40 and an hour long ordeal to get the electrons dancing across the internet to and from the car to complete the job that would have otherwise taken 10 or 15 minutes. And we HAVE to charge the customer for this, we cannot work for free.
And the bastard whore manufacturers that get raped and pillaged by other manufacturers with seemingly endless "regime changes" (Chrysler, Nissan, for example) cannot seem to coalesce around a permanent scan tool software protocol that will remain and work across all their half-breed models. I mean seriously, what type of CAN bus trainwreck lurks inside of a Fiat Spyder? It is a Mazda Miata with a [kinda-sorta] Fiat engine with a Fiat skin stretched over it. The Techstream has this weird "alternate dimension" it taps into once it detects the Subaru-built FRS/86 is at the DLC, and I assume the Mazda-built Yaris sedan does something similar... who knows what happens with the BMW-Supra love child. Heck, at least Volkswagen didn't even try to integrate the ill-fated Routan, they just made all the dealers buy the Chrysler software, LOL.
And there still seems to be no fix for the stupid Promasters and Promaster City cursed with leftover minivan powertrains or the wonderful MB/Mitsubishi/Hyundai "world engine" topped with a modified Fiat Multiair cylinder head bolted to a German 11ty speed ZF automatic that have the random charging system stop working. We get those in all the time. Dealer cannot figure them out. Half the scan tools you plug into the DLCs, including sometimes our own state inspection OBD system, crashes their system and just lights the dash up like a Christmas tree and all communication stops. It is ridiculous.