Pay-to-Play? My Car is Not a Smartphone App

[Steve]

Honestly, I’m getting really tired of the direction car companies are going.


I saw an ad today for a monthly subscription just to unlock better acceleration or heated seats, and I just sat there thinking… are you serious?


I bought the car. I paid for it.
The heating elements are physically inside the seat. So why am I supposed to pay every month to actually use them?


That’s not an upgrade. That’s a ransom.


It feels like we’re slowly losing ownership. Cars aren’t really ours anymore they’re turning into services. Miss a payment and features you already paid for can just be switched off remotely. That’s not innovation, it’s rent dressed up as tech.


I bought an EV to save money on gas and maintenance.
But if I’m paying $10, $20, or $50 a month in subscriptions just to have a normal driving experience, the math starts to look pretty bad, pretty fast.


So I’m genuinely curious:
is anyone actually paying for these monthly upgrades?
Or are we all just quietly refusing and hoping this trend dies?


Because my car isn’t an app.
And I don’t want to subscribe to things I already own.

 

[Mike]

It’s honestly disgusting and i refuse to pay a single cent for something that should be included. i think if we all collectively stop paying for these subs they will eventually have to back down just like bmw did with the heated seat thing.