Manufacturers’ Paywalls and the right to repair

The difference is the subscriptions you listed are just for a service. The things listed in the OP are just enabling hardware functionality on hardware you paid for. Car manufacturers don’t give anything for free - if there is a seat heater in the seat, guaranteed they charged you for it physically in the price of the car. Why should you then have to pay a monthly fee to access it? Unless they can prove that they built the car and didn’t charge you for that specific hardware when they installed it, then charging a subscription to access said item is bullshit. The only exceptions would be things like Sirius because once again, that is an outside service. The hardware is there in the radio but that’s minor, and it’s an outside service providing the content which is fair to pay a subscription for, much like city water or your electric bill. A seat heater is not an outside service that someone is providing you after you have the car.

 

I'd say it's bullshit as paying for the subscription is like paying for the button that enables the feature. I can live with out seat heaters, after the first two minutes they are too hot for me. I barely use them when they are equipped in the vehicle. How do features that need a subscription operate, is it a touch screen or a physical switch?

 

Same as satellite radio... your computer's ECU checks for an active license that is transmitted wirelessly to your vehicle.

 

All it takes is 1 small thing to see how the people react.
Then they will start to do more and more

 

Any attempt to justify subscriptions to enable an existing device, already fitted to the car, to work, is a cope.

Vehicle makers who do this are jackasses who deserve to have their headquarters egged and toilet papered.

 

S-A-S, also known as Software-as-a-Service, is not new, but it has certainly gained traction the last decade or so. Long gone are the days when you bought a piece of software, and you could use it for life. Well, that's not good for the software company's bottom line. So they come up with ways to make consumers pay in perpetuity.

1. Why do you think that you must pay $12 per month to rent a cable box, when the thing probably costs $200? Well, you're paying to license the software that makes it work.

2. Why do you think that Microsoft now sells its Office Suite as a subscription service?


On the automotive side, it's cheaper to make cars the same way. So they'll install the backbone for essentially every, if not most, options for the vehicle, instead of custom builds. Now, with SAS, they can simply "rent" you those features, and save money by using one common part(s)...

My 1978 Buick didn't come with a factory clock. Buddy of mine had the same model / year. He was going to junk it, so he offered it to me for parts. Told me to take what I wanted. So I took the clock that mounted in the dash in front of the passenger seat. Low and behold, I pull the dash panel off, and what's behind there? The harness to power and illuminate the clock.

The mad men know they rope you in with the low price, then make it up on the back end with subscription fees. StubHub, for a while, ran "all-in" pricing. They discovered that disclosing the final cost up front hurt sales. Go figure. I am an engineer by trade, so always do the math. I know many others don't.

 

I am not paying extra for shit that's already installed. Radio, seat heaters, maps ( I would rather use a Thomas guide).
Hell, I don't even eat fast food, cause I am now charged for extra, ketchup, hot sauce and other condiments.

 

Anything I have ever seen with satellite radio was mostly touch screen and physical buttons depending on headunit design. I was wondering if the heated seats that needed a subscription in the BMW are activated by a physical button or an icon on a touch screen?

Having a physical button that only works if you pay to enable the feature isn't cool.

 

Good point. You should stop eating, because technically you can't own the food you eat, you merely "rent" it... the ultimate OG subscription service.

 

Not sure about BMW... but Toyota's remote start feature is a subscription service that's moderated remotely.

 

Some subscriptions are worth the fee... case in point.

 

Lol I call bullshit. I paid to have my electric service run in the price of my house. If I don't pay for the electricity, that service is no good. You are trying to split hairs because automotive subscriptions are relatively new. Truth is we have been paying for stuff like this for a long time.

 

Pretty much everything is rented

 

An

And that is because companies have figured out that being paid a monthly service charge is more profitable than an itemized bill annually or semi annually is more profitable.
Who remembers AOL.... free trial my ass. It takes 9 months to get off the list, yet you just paid them 100$ for nothing except aggravation and time.

 

I think this is fair to have a subscription for the app remote start. Use of the cell network isn’t free.

 

I have a big garden and we can beans, corn, peppers etc. Make our own pickles and have fun doing it.
We have different meats in the freezer, none of it store bought except bologna.
I have a well and septic. I am not off the grid as I like AC, gas heat and lights and Internet.
Could I go off grid? Sure, but I would still have to pay property tax, which is the same as a subscription.

Bottom line, the least you do for yourself means the more you have to pay for others to do for you, meaning subscriptions and services.
The more you do yourself means less you have to pay for subscription and service.

You choose.

 

I lived the same way 30 years ago, it was hard work and well worth it. We fished, hunted, and had a 1/4 acre of garden. We canned, baked, cooked, and stored it all.

 

Yes, you paid for the physical electrical equipment at the house, but your monthly is paying for how much you electricity use which comes from the power plant. In the car, the seat heater you pay a subscription for is already there and nobody is giving you anything additional when you pay the subscription. Obviously you know this, but I think we see differently on what’s acceptable to charge additional for. I see it as my monthly electric bill is paying for the electricity that powered the house, and I see that as fair. The cost of the house included the electrical equipment needed to receive that electricity. Also fair. I don’t see it as fair to pay for a car that includes seat heater functionality, which you paid for the hardware in the price of the car, and then still have to pay continuous fees to be able to actually use it. Nobody is giving you anything for that car subscription cost; the functionality is already there and all local to the car.

 

Imagine trying to use the bathroom, but you can’t.
Because you failed to subscribe to your monthly $9.99 for the defecating package.

 

Do you know why the car makers will be able to do this? Because people today in those demographics have no problems paying for stuff like this. 30 years ago? People would not stand for it and vote with their wallet. Times change and the youngsters have definitely changed.