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When heading out for a road trip, there's always a chance something could go wrong with your vehicle on the road. Maybe the oil level gets too low, or maybe a battery dies. If you have a car built in the past few years, you may have yet another issue pop up: a software update. Just like your phone occasionally needs an update to improve security or fix bugs, today's cars greatly rely on software to function. One of the biggest problems with the use of software in cars is the potential for the car to outlive its software support, making repairs much more complicated.

If you've ever kept a device for many years, you may have an idea of how this works. As newer models of the device come out, focus turns to keeping the latest devices updated. Eventually, the new tech becomes so different that the company stops supporting the software of older models because they cannot provide the support forever.…