this post was submitted on 05 Dec 2023
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[–] QuarterSwede 9 points 11 months ago (3 children)

Bought a car with a future subscription to its remote services (climate, lock/unlock, etc). Company wants $450/year for access. Guess what we aren’t going to sign up for when the free 2 year period expires?

Vote with the wallets folks.

[–] MaxVoltage 64 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

you bought the new car you literally failed the mission

walk dude

[–] [email protected] 26 points 11 months ago (1 children)

You beat me by 7 seconds.

This was my first thought. "sure showed them by buying that car..."

[–] AWittyUsername 8 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Yeah "2 years free" no it's not it was factored into the price they charged you for the vehicle.

[–] QuarterSwede 6 points 11 months ago (2 children)

With a large family there weren’t many options. This was the best option.

[–] drislands 10 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Honest question -- why not get a used vehicle that didn't have that nonsense in it?

[–] QuarterSwede 17 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Because used was as much as new monthly. The market is upside down and down right stupid.

[–] drislands 2 points 11 months ago

Fair enough. Thanks for answering.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

But wait, what features are actually behind the subscription wall? Your other comment mentions the climate system and… door locking? You can’t be serious…

[–] QuarterSwede 1 points 11 months ago

Systems monitoring and I wouldn’t call it remote start because it’s a PHEV but they do. And yes, I’m serious. It’s a ridiculously overpriced service. Thank god they didn’t lock down the heated seats.

[–] EvilBit 20 points 11 months ago (2 children)

There’s a big difference between what this article is describing and what you’re describing. Remote features likeones you’re complaining about require a cellular service and while $450/year is very expensive, providing them for free would be silly.

The article is describing built-in features with no connectivity requirements, which is like disabling your heated seats unless you subscribe. This is what is described as rent-seeking behavior and it’s very different from overcharging for operational costs.

[–] QuarterSwede 3 points 11 months ago

That’s fair.

[–] AA5B 2 points 11 months ago

I just bought a cellular plan for my car: $99/yr, including streaming video and audio. That seems fair to me, given the cost of adding a tablet or something to my phone bill. You paying 4.5 times is surely a ripoff

[–] [email protected] 8 points 11 months ago

Same thing for me with 5g hotspot in my new car. They said "hey that's free for 6 months, along with enhanced onstar", and I replied keep it, I don't fucking want it.

They looked at me like I was growing a second head. They said they didn't know how to deactivate it, as nobody had asked that before. My ass. They knew better than to ask for a credit card number to activate the service, at least.