Car "features" subscription

[Gragson]

Is that something “arranged” by the company?

No, namby bambi bloody Swedes - I was not aware, they introduced it as a unilateral decision, I ordered the car based on 2021 spec, got the 2022 eventually and limited by default, my bottom lip trembled as I complained to them , they more or less said is what it is. But I'm not too bothered about it now. Really lovely car - and my last!

 

[Parm]

New car for the wife last week. On top of the cruise control has a manual limiter. Leave it set to 30 and stops me drifting. (Though I'm normally pretty good without it.)

Vans limited to 70. Can't say it bothers me

That’s a really good feature to have, I use it all the time……

 

[premmington]

It’s bloody criminal if you ask me, other than this fairly major problem the car is beautiful to drive and well appointed, and for me very economical, 73 mpg cruising at 66 mph

Euro 6 - adblue cars - with NOX sensors - are not as the whole "beautiful to drive" - to be honest they are "not good at all" if you are paying for the repairs!

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Apparently it's cheaper to build these functions into cars on the assembly line, then activate those the owner /pays for/subscribes to rather than add the various systems later.
The future is here now.....

 

[Wildefalcon]

All well and good, by what happens when the dealer or manufacturer goes busy, and the car can't phone home?

 

[500e]

We have it on the mobile radio systems buy the radio then a key to access what it will do.
Then the nasty bit they upgrade new infrastructure and some older kit will not work in some modes at all, and they will not give / sell new key for it.
Know of a Co that has serious problem and cost

 

[PhillipM]

Apparently it's cheaper to build these functions into cars on the assembly line, then activate those the owner /pays for/subscribes to rather than add the various systems later.
The future is here now.....

Always been the case, a lot of cars come with the entire wiring loom and subsystems, audio, entertainement, cruise, etc, in the car and it's just switched on or off when you buy. It's been like this for decades, nothing new.

 

[bourbon]

Bugger that! I'll pay once. I don't want subscriptions. As for ad blue, who wants to put two lots of 'stuff' in any vehicle. I prefer to drive at a, let's say, leisurely pace, so if it was limited to 70, I wouldn't even notice.

 

[500e]

It shows how cheap the parts are that they can give a large percentage of the extras away, wiring looms are a different matter saves maybe 10 or 15 versions but heated wheel, seats I have my doubts

 

[MattF]

Vans limited to 70. Can't say it bothers me

I like the limiter on the van, for motorway use. Unless speed restrictions are in place, saves you constantly monitoring your speed.

 

[eLuSiVeMiTe]

Bugger that! I'll pay once. I don't want subscriptions. As for ad blue, who wants to put two lots of 'stuff' in any vehicle. I prefer to drive at a, let's say, leisurely pace, so if it was limited to 70, I wouldn't even notice.

The only time I notice in the van is when I'm on the limiter and start going downhill. Then the engine braking kicks in and scares the crap out of me. (Used to. Got used to it now.)

 

[bourbon]

I don't think my 09 plate transit connect is limited although it was an ex-council one. I tow a trailer most weekends in the summer, so am limited to 60 anyway.

 

[Seadog]

The future is here now.....

The future's here, and the future is black. To paraphrase an advert.

 

[Parm]

Turn it off and on again?

I did, then it wouldn’t do the on thing

 

[BarrieJ]

Apparently this ad Blue control module fault is common across a lot of makes

When I called the AA, they just sent a recovery truck and took my car to the garage, didn’t even bother with a patrol once they were aware of the fault

Common in recent Peugeot's and I believe, predictably, VW's too.

 

[mike os]

As long as pretentious muppets are prepared to fork out for it they will continue to fleece the idiots

Stuff like map updates fair enough but unchanging stuff like heated seats ? Ffs

 

[Parm]

Euro 6 - adblue cars - with NOX sensors - are not as the whole "beautiful to drive" - to be honest they are "not good at all" if you are paying for the repairs!

Yep. This is why I went with a company car

The tax I pay more than offsets the ball ache of modern vehicle ownership, plus I get a brand new car every three years that’s fully maintained and insured

While it’s an inconvenience, I guess I’m one of the lucky ones because £48k of broken car ain’t my problem

 

[500e]

Electronics in cars are not quality, the environment is harsh, result is unreliability

 

[PhillipM]

It shows how cheap the parts are that they can give a large percentage of the extras away, wiring looms are a different matter saves maybe 10 or 15 versions but heated wheel, seats I have my doubts

Heated seats are nothing more that wires or silicone pads in the seat foam. They're pennies at scale, I can see it would easily be cheaper to have them prefitted and just enabled or not, in fact even as far back as my 90's 406 that's the case - the heaters are in all the seats they just don't fit the switches.

 

[GRW]

JCB has "Live Link" but Cat and others have similar crud.
It's "sold" to the punter as an anti-theft & tracking device, but there's no doubt its primary function is to enable JCB to have total control of the machine (inc. miss a payment, disable the machine).

The concern is that this level of control is unhealthy - it opens the door wide for intervention and management/manipulation of your property by the Mfr, at any time, on any whim - including the temptation to create "failures" to drive service and replacement sales.

Don't think it cannot happen - those at the top of large Corps aren't known for having too may scruples when it comes to getting their mitts on your hard-earned.
Our Govts should not be allowing a lot of things they are in this area - but of course they do.