Another unwanted sub - gouging cash almost like daylight robbery. Glad I'm not in N.America!

Features made to be hacked.

I can think of many regions of the US where getting a jury to convict someone for hacking their own property would be near impossible.

Just say no & buy something else.

> Just say no & buy something else.

As long as you still can.

Because chances are everybody will do this at some point, the whole point being to make more profit without spending more money. "Mandatory options" like the steering wheel and a driver seat are the obvious way to go, and since they're mandatory you can charge as much as you want for them...

Now somebody might wonder what's the difference between that and simply raising the car's price by that same amount. Well, it's that on paper the car seems to be much cheaper, thus much more attractive than it really is. $20k for a brand new mid-level car? Sounds great, and the salesperson will know how to sugarcoat the additional $20k of mandatory options...

This is why I have a motorcycle. I got screwed trying to get the ABS brakes fixed in my car, and my roommate in college got screwed $4,000 when they ran out of ammo for the parts cannon and found out it was a $1 relay after all. Did they refund him for all the parts they swapped out in place of actual troubleshooting? Are you daft?

Not only is my bike easy to maintain, it doesn't have a ton of useless electronics. The only fancy thing is the windshield goes up/down with a switch.

(Of course, I then completely went against all that by getting an electric bike, but I digress)

> This is why I have a motorcycle.

Unfortunately there is no way motorcycle makers will remain on the side of the road weeping. They will find ways to do the same, and given more and more stuff is electronic they don't have to look too far.

My bike was pure old time mechanics, carburetors and all, unfortunately it was destroyed...

My '59 Pan laughs at all their latter-day gee-gaws. On her third ground-up restore as I type.

Try restoring an old bike, you might like it. (Warning: It becomes addictive.)

Motorcycles: the only industry that has never even considered planned obsolescence!

@Gene Cash

Subscription stuff is probably very close for motorcycles - particularly electric ones.

I've had a Zero SR/F since November 2019.

Now they've released the to Cypher III+ operating system you can now buy more range, or more power, or Sat Nav sync for the main screen, and some other stuff (reverse gear?)- it's all over the air updates as well

So far it all looks like one time purchases but suspect it won't be long until a sub based features appears on their Cypher store.

Still love my bike though :)

Don't you have any consumer protection law to force price visibility in left-pondia ?

""Mandatory options" like the steering wheel and a driver seat are the obvious way to go"

Those two are usually the first to be replaced in any car I purchase. The factory offerings are built for everybody, thus they are comfy for nobody. They are also super easy to swap out.

n.t.

"These microtransactions only unlock access to capabilities already present in the vehicle."

It makes one want to stop buying NEW from these companies. Let them sit on a glut of subscription inventory. If you live in an area with good transit give them a stiff middle finger or perhaps a backhanded archer's salute if that is your style and use public transit.

Subscription features other than the radio / internet / opt in safety, is going too far.

I see there’s going to be a market for non-dealer activations following each vehicle service.

non-dealer activations

…instantly voiding your guarantee, your insurance, the resale value of the car

Then followed by the car being instantly immobilised for “safety” reasons, because they’re only concerned for you and your family, obviously

If something is mandatory it is not an option.

IANAL but if they claim it is an option and stop your car working because you didn't pay, that is criminal abuse of a computing system.

Yeah, but you’re forgetting that we’re now Brexit’d and on the slippery slope to duplicating the US laws that give companies more rights than us consumers.

Not even sure it is legal in the state?

Everything is legal in the states until someone sues and wins. And even then Big Business just keeps appealing until the other side dies first or goes bankrupt.

-> BMW's options include enabling heated seats for $18 a month, $8.50 for automated high beam switching, and more. These microtransactions

Since when is $18 a month a "micro transaction"? Relative to the cost of the vehicle it may be, but $18 a month is not what I would call "micro".

For people who can afford the haberdashery known as "a brand new BMW", 18 bucks per month is probably so low as to be off the radar. Let's face it, BMW isn't targeting you with their toys.

Of course not. But what happens once absolutely everything becomes "subscription only"?

BMW luxury features are just the stalking horse for generalising the model in the market.

Just as Adobe were the stalking horse in the software market and as the years pass fewer and fewer non-subscription options exist as the model takes a stranglehold on the market, including far less specialised markets than Adobe's. Of course, the tech-savvy can always find alternatives, but that really doesn't generalise. Most consumers when faced with a fait accompli, end up complying.

"Your brakes operate at 50% of the optimal possible efficiency until you subscribe to the 'super-brake' feature.

Possibly, but the opposite is:

"I buy a new BMW because I am far too rich and important to fsck around with $18 transactions every so often and other poor people problems."

So if it is not for the rich guys, and it isn't for us un-rich guys... who is it for?

I would love to know if they plan to have something akin to "Surge Pricing" for heated seats.

That is, in the winter it will be $18/mo for the heated seats to work, while in the summer, it will be $20/mo to allow you to turn them off.

I thought BMW had been doing this sort of thing for years? Specifically in relation to indicators (turn signals for those who allow the brakelights to do the same... Which is still a horrifying thought if you have a light out). I mean when was the last time you saw one being used correctly on a BMW?

That is what manufacturers are gunning for : milking the cow. Soon there will be a day where even furniture will be on subscription. Wanna sit on the chair to eat breakfast ? Pay to retract the huge screw sticking out of the middle of the seat. Pay per minute. Don't pay in time and the chair will literally screw you.

BMW, Toyota, GM ... who else wants to be on the list?

As a side-note, my Dad (in his late 80s) is looking for what he calls "the last new car I'll ever buy". He's got a whole lot of cash burning a hole in his pocket, and is looking for a long-distance touring car. He just called and asked if it was true about GM. When I replied "affirmative", he said "Damn, there goes the Z06".

Are you listening GM? It's not about the money, it's the principle of the thing.

Just like old skool BMW pricing. In theory they were sensibly priced, in practice even the Spartans would have bitched at the equipment level you theoretically[1] got for that price. Actual price to get something that looked like the adverts was always a good 10-20% more.

The only difference now is that modern tech enables them to build everything in and only switch on what you pay for. Now, this makes no difference at all to the purchaser of a new vehicle, but suddenly you can flog options to secondhand purchasers, which is a whole new can of worms revenue stream.

[1] Yes, theoretically. Nobody ever bought one like that. For a start it would have been worth sod-all a year later, as hair-shirted masochists who want a secondhand BMW are rare things.

"as hair-shirted masochists who want a secondhand BMW are rare things."

Not that rare. Check out the race track near you :-)

I don't race BMWs, too spendy. Unless you put an LS in it. ::yawn::

In my mind, if I'm going to lug all that extra deadweight around, then they can pay me accordingly. If they think I'm going to spend extra on fuel or lose some range just so they can enable/disable something at a whim, then they can fuck right off.

When I next buy a new car anything that is fitted but disabled can be removed or enabled for free. Otherwise I walk.

Really I am on my 4th bmw the newest I bought was made 9 years ago.

I like them as cars as they are comfy reliable and not that expensive to keep on the road

The low supply / high demand put automakers in the catbird seat for now. Let's see if they're able to make this bad idea stick once the new car lots are full again!