Some household units and vehicles receive part of their upkeep through software. The unit may take firmware updates over a network connection, store a version number that a repairer will ask for, or tie its settings to an account in a phone app. None of this is a part you can see, and it is easy to leave out of a maintenance plan. This guide does not read any particular contract, seller form, or state filing. It sets out the questions to put to the paper and to the seller.
Start with the account. Ask who created the account that the unit or its app uses, whose email address it is tied to, and what happens to that account when the home or vehicle changes hands. An account that belongs to a former owner can stop the unit from receiving updates, or leave a repairer unable to read its settings. Write down the account owner and the recovery method, and keep them with the unit's other records.
Next, the version record. Note the software version the unit shipped with and each version it has moved to since, along with when each change was made. A repairer diagnosing a fault will often ask for this first. Some units show the version in a settings menu, some print it on a label, and some need a dealer tool to read it. Write down where your unit shows its version before anything fails.
Then the update schedule. Some makers publish a schedule of updates, and others issue them when needed and leave the timing to the owner. Ask the seller or maker which applies to your unit, whether an update can be declined, and whether declining one changes any term you are relying on. Ask also whether the contract requires the unit to run a particular software version or to accept updates when they are offered. Those terms decide whether a skipped update can later matter to a claim, so read them closely.
Ask the contract directly. Find the clause that defines the maintenance the owner must do, and check whether software, firmware, or app-based settings are named there. If they are not named, ask the seller in writing what the contract's position is on them. A written answer can be kept and shown later. A spoken answer is hard to show.
Keep one list for the unit that holds the account owner, the recovery method, the version history, the update schedule, and the seller's written answer on updates. Pass the list to any new owner with the unit. Whether a contract follows a sale is a separate question, but the software list is what lets a new owner run the unit at all.
This guide does not say which makers update which units, what any update changes, or whether a missed update affects any term. Those answers come from the maker and the contract. The state page for your state names the regulator and the statute or program for service contracts, and says whether that state publishes a roster. It does not rate any seller.