Way way OT: Auto subscription to use remote start or heated seats??!?!??!!

[david n]

I may be late to the party on this, but WTH???


https://www.theverge.com/2022/7/13/23206999/car-subscription-nightmare-heated-seats-remote-start

 

[FamilyTradition]

One of the many reasons I refuse to buy a car from this century, and still drive a beat up old Ford pickup. Family and friends always make fun of me for keeping it around.

Well I suppose I do have a subscription for driving it - just need to give it a little bit of oil every now and then.

 

[gustafson]

remote start is pretty commonly a subscription offering now
pretty hard to get around it with the near field key thing

 

[Comatose]

When the established players move from developing compelling new offerings to bullshit rent-seeking to bilk customers, it opens the door for new companies. Ask Detroit how that went in the 70s and 80s. Cherry Motors and BYD must be reading shit like this and licking their lips.

 

[gustafson]

Remember the good ol days when you could buy software?

 

[Joe Gwinn]

Remember the good ol days when you could buy software?

Yeah. This is a big driver behind the move towards open-source software for technical users.

In the machining world, this would be a good reason for use of Linux and open-source control software, which does not expire just because the original maker has expired or wandered off.

 

[jim rozen]

Heated seats: put on a sweater
Aircon: take the sweater off
Remote start: 'hey go start the car for me'
Onstar assistance: better get out the toolbox
Satellite radio: plug in the 8-track

Geeze. Kids these days.

 

[L Vanice]

This week, my car turns one year old. That means the free period for live destination assist, help after a collision and remote start/door locks expires and the maker wants $8 per month each to continue any of the three features. I have not used any of the three, so I will not be paying the fees. They are not trying to charge me to turn on the heated seats and such things.

I willingly pay for SiriusXM radio in the car because the service extends to all the Alexa devices in the house, where I spend a lot more time than in my car. And last month the only local radio station that we listened to went off the air.

Larry

 

[triumph406]

This week, my car turns one year old. That means the free period for live destination assist, help after a collision and remote start/door locks expires and the maker wants $8 per month each to continue any of the three features. I have not used any of the three, so I will not be paying the fees. They are not trying to charge me to turn on the heated seats and such things.

I willingly pay for SiriusXM radio in the car because the service extends to all the Alexa devices in the house, where I spend a lot more time than in my car. And last month the only local radio station that we listened to went off the air.

Larry

One would think that help after a collision would be in the base price of the vehicle. $8/month to turn those options on isn't outrageous as value goes, but still just another expense

 

[jim rozen]

Brakes, you want BRAKES??
That's extra.
Don't pay the subscription fee, we show up and unhook the steering wheel. Fuck you customer.

 

[eKretz]

I saw an article about this recently. Apparently anyone who purchases the option outright when they buy the vehicle would have the option enabled forever at purchase. The subscription model is supposed to be for those who didn't purchase the option and want to enable it later. That's the automaker's way of subsidizing the cost of installing the option even though it wasn't paid for originally.

I think it's crap just like the rest of you. It'd be a cold day in hell before I'd pay a monthly fee to use part of a car I own. I might be inclined to enable the option myself instead. Wouldn't be too hard to add a switch or two for heated seats for instance if the hardware's all there already. Just cut the computer out of the equation.

 

[L Vanice]

... So, I'd tell the dealer, I want a car with no heated seats, and expect to see that "option" not in the price of the car at all...

My first car was ordered from the factory with my choices of model and features. For instance, I said no radio because all they had was AM and the only station I listened to was FM. That was in 1965. I kept one of those newfangled portable transistor FM radios in that car. And I had to buy and install an aftermarket driver shoulder/seat belt to replace the standard seat belt. Fortunately, the factory had welded in a nut to anchor a shoulder belt, hidden by the headliner.

Every car and truck I bought since then was already built when I got it, so there was no way to configure it to my taste except to add aftermarket items. For instance, my last four or five cars had sun roofs, which I never opened after one test cycle. Sun roofs reduce head room.

Larry

 

[DDoug]

I may be late to the party on this, but WTH???


https://www.typical spamming drivel.com

Who worries about heated seats in July ?...

I sure hope they are "EE Rated".

 

[gustafson]

One would think that help after a collision would be in the base price of the vehicle. $8/month to turn those options on isn't outrageous as value goes, but still just another expense

Well, there is an ongoing cost to those services, and while I agree with the sentiment, at least there is a rationale
Heated seats?
really?

The remote start systems now operate on an app on your phone. of course the automaker chooses not to put a wifi hub in the car, only a cell hub, so they did it on purpose. Many places have poor cell reception but it is right in your garage, so wifi would be preferable.
Many of the 'infotainment' systems are android based, so they are getting hacked, and eventually there may be a way around this in the aftermarket.

 

[BoxcarPete]

Who worries about heated seats in July ?...

I sure hope they are "EE Rated".

You might be surprised. When I worked in automotive Tier 1 design for power distribution boxes, we had to argue HARD with GM about the rear defroster function. The relay fried itself during the 105°C lifecycle test on account of it being customer-defined as a "constant draw" circuit. They argued that theoretically someone could, when the vehicle was warmed up and ambient temperature was hot, hit the rear defrost button. Every ten minutes. For hundreds of hours. And then the relay would fail. We finally got them to switch it on 25% of the time only, and re-ran the test (thankfully it passed).

 

[GregSY]

I think it's a brilliant idea. It goes hand-in-hand with all the other stupid shit the sheep of today are swallowing. Subscriptions are the next level of criminality pioneered by the likes of Microsoft and other software companies. It's a concept so stupid and so offensive it has no chance but to be a smashing success.

 

[Freedommachine]

If someone here would have raised concern about this issue before the information was made public, a few of you would have most certainly called that person a fear mongering conspiracy theorist.

A few more would have likely replied with exaggerated sarcasm to belittle the OP's concern; or tried to explain how corporations only manufacture products that consumers want, followed by; "If you don't like it, don't buy one."

Funny how the conversation changes when information comes from "official" sources.

Anyway, who honestly did not see this coming? It seems like the natural progression of the subscription based world our society has come to embrace. Heated seats are just the beta test. If consumers accept it, does anyone believe it will be the last?

Consider children between the ages of 6-12. In 10 years when they begin driving, does anyone honestly believe they would get upset about paying a monthly subscription for anything?

They will likely accept it without much thought and just move on. Even now, people will complain about such things but the majority will always take the most convenient path.

After all, no one complains about built in gps tracking anymore. No one cares about planned obsolescence, value engineering or inability to service your own vehicle - even after paying $53,000 for a basic 4x4 truck.

So, where do we go from here?

What is the next subscription based step for the consumer pre-owned transportation market?

Or more importantly, where does the financial slavery stop?

 

[Joe Gwinn]

In Heinlein's novel "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress", there was an air tax. If you didn't pay, they ejected you out of the nearest airlock, to let you try breathing vacuum. Recidivism was rare.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_Is_a_Harsh_Mistress

 

[adammil1]

Who worries about heated seats in July ?...

I sure hope they are "EE Rated".

Who worries about heated seats in July ?...

I sure hope they are "EE Rated".

Pretty sure the electronics in a heated seat should be rated Class 1 Div 1 group D based on the environment, ATEX zones are always a little more complicated!

 

[eKretz]

If someone here would have raised concern about this issue before the information was made public, a few of you would have most certainly called that person a fear mongering conspiracy theorist.

A few more would have likely replied with exaggerated sarcasm to belittle the OP's concern; or tried to explain how corporations only manufacture products that consumers want, followed by; "If you don't like it, don't buy one."

Funny how the conversation changes when information comes from "official" sources.

Anyway, who honestly did not see this coming? It seems like the natural progression of the subscription based world our society has come to embrace. Heated seats are just the beta test. If consumers accept it, does anyone believe it will be the last?

Consider children between the ages of 6-12. In 10 years when they begin driving, does anyone honestly believe they would get upset about paying a monthly subscription for anything?

They will likely accept it without much thought and just move on. Even now, people will complain about such things but the majority will always take the most convenient path.

After all, no one complains about built in gps tracking anymore. No one cares about planned obsolescence, value engineering or inability to service your own vehicle - even after paying $53,000 for a basic 4x4 truck.

So, where do we go from here?

What is the next subscription based step for the consumer pre-owned transportation market?

Or more importantly, where does the financial slavery stop?

If you read my earlier post, you'd see that this isn't going to cost anybody anything unless they want to activate the option on a car that wasn't purchased with it activated. For anyone who buys the car new with the option it will be a one time cost just like usual. Personally, I could give a hoot about that as long as they aren't charging everybody for unwanted equipment. If they ever tried to charge people a monthly fee on options for the life of the vehicle I don't think that would fly. I sure wouldn't buy any vehicle like that. Rather have a pre-computer vehicle at that point.