BMW Subscriptions - Pushing Stupid

[Teken]

As many of you know the subscription model concept has been around for decades. All of us can relate to receiving newsletters, books, music, movies, and everything in between.

The entire idea is to receive something for monthly / yearly fee. A person can start - stop said service anytime when required. In the vast majority of cases stopping a subscription has very little material impact on a person as it relates to doing something.

As seen in this news article this stupid trend is being adopted and embraced by almost every automaker today?!?

You got to be ten kinds of stupid to buy something that is physically there but can’t be used until such time as you sign up and pay some dirty asshole a monthly fee to use the same!

This whole concept has spiralled from dumb to the extreme of stupidity. There are literally companies charging people for the use of heated seats, steering wheels, locks, remote start etc.

I could understand if a company said XM radio is extra and must be a subscription - fine. You want to charge me a fee for road side assistance - fine.

How about GPS / Concierge service to locate a gas station, restaurant, make a call - fine!

All the above features and services are NOT basic features which everyone has used or paid for up front!

Heated seats, steering wheel, mirrors I paid for the fucking thing since 2001! Remote start - Yes I paid for either a aftermarket or OEM version of the same so I could either auto start or remotely activate my vehicle to warm up / cool down!

Now these dirty cunts want to charge a person for something they actively wanted and paid for?!?

Fuck them and let them all know how very stupid they are! Share this same information with everyone when the topic comes up!

Shame them all for being a dirty cheap cunt . . .

Vote with your wallet. Inform everyone you know including these stupid dirty fuckers how asinine this direction is!

BMW starts selling heated seat subscriptions for $18 a month BMW starts selling heated seat subscriptions for $18 a month

NOTE: It should be made clear just because something can be made a subscription doesn’t make it right. People have been pushing the envelope of stupid since the dawn of man!

When cellular remote start first appeared this was not basic / standard and requires a whole host of infrastructure to support. This is fine as it relates to a subscription model. What isn’t fine is making a person pay for something that is local to the vehicle which they have actively paid for.

Think locks, auto start, windows, horn, alarm, adjustable mirrors, memory seats, etc.

Just because you put into writing and inform Joe Public all of the above is NOW a subscription model to skirt the law of Informed consent doesn’t automatically erase 50 years of common sense!

 

[PatPend]

Toyota is doing this too. Remote start using the key fob only works if you have an active subscription to their crappy app.

 

[Teken]

Toyota is doing this too. Remote start using the key fob only works if you have an active subscription to their crappy app.

I believe its fair to say there are quite a few automotive companies already doing this to some degree. Even worse those who haven't but are considering to doing the same! Everyday someone, somewhere, is moving the goal post from reasonable to the extreme of stupid.

This is the new reality for all of us as it relates to almost everything in the world.

The problem is a lot bigger than the just the subscription model because once such things become the Norm. It's entrenched and is very hard to dial back to way things were before. One only needs to think about the phrase I used Informed Consent.

Almost everyone can relate to seeing in a ticket for a sporting event. 99% of the time there will be a statement indicating by participating, buying, simply being present, you relinquish any rights (IF) you should be harmed while attending said event?!?!

This is seen in Hockey, Football, Soccer, almost any professional contact sports a person could attend in person. Depending upon where you reside in the world there are guard rails to limit what is acceptable Risk. 99% of the time if you should ever be the unlucky person to receive a hockey puck in the face.

You're literally shit out of luck in terms of being able to sue or obtain compensation.

Keeping in mind again depending upon where you reside in the world risk / liability is defined by those who either have common sense or don't. A perfect example are the countless arenas that either don't have puck guards in key areas where a flying puck could fly off or they are simply too low!

There are thousands of cases that have been successfully won in court that have pushed back the whole indemnify clauses that are stated on a ticket / website.

Another perfect example of pushing stupid are those States that indicate a person can not capture rain water??? Let me get this straight I am capturing water from the heavens to help reduce my consumption and financial burden. Which helps everyone in the big scheme of things yet its OK for some asshole farmer to suck all the water from the entire state to grow almonds????

Do you know how much water a person would have to be capture to equate to the same water consumption of that farmer is??? That person would have to live 50 life times to even come close to 20% of what that farmer consumes in a single month!

Than, we have the polar opposite of utter stupid which is fully entrenched in the market place today: Replaceable hardware

The shit company known as Apple single handily started a movement which almost every maker follows today. Does anyone remember being able to upgrade your storage?? How about memory?? How about the video card? How about a fucken battery??

Every cell phone in history will see a failed battery . . .

This was the first thing anyone could replace or upgrade for more run time! Now these dirty fucken cunts have literally super glued every component in place. If that wasn't enough anything that can be chipped is! Meaning it doesn't matter if you can find a direct replacement for X part. It won't operate because the the dirty Apple cunts have serialized and software locked every component so it can't be installed!

This is why the Right to repair movement must continue to push forward to protect the consumer. As it has been in place for decades for automotive repair / parts.

As we go full circle this whole subscription service will be pushed to the Nth degree of insanity and stupid. Where the general public will see: You want to fill up that car???

Sorry, you subscription says you can't from this time to this time. Or you're out of your service area so please by all means drive back to Tim Buck Fuck You location!

If you're a so called influencer in any realm spread the word. Talk about how asinine such behavior and sales model this is on the consumer. Inform and educate the fucken stupid to tell them this isn't Cool. It's not the new normal, its not OK, and its not acceptable - Ever!

 

[eggsan]

desperate move from BMW. IMO it make sense paying a subscription for the costly battery with limited lifespan. That is what ‘most Chinese electric automakers are doing. Even in US, the Vietnamese VinFast is starting production for 2024 in North Carolina.

VinFast Battery Subscription Program in US - VinFast

Unlimited mileage in the monthly battery subscription for peace of mind! Exclusive guarantee. Affordability. Sustainability. Get it now for a permanent subscription fee for the product’s lifetime!

vinfastauto.us

VinFast's Confusing Battery Subscription and Vehicle Pricing Explained

Vietnam's VinFast is landing in the US this year, and its VF 8 and VF 9 electric SUVs will come with a novel batteries-not-included approach. Here's why.

www.cnet.com

 

[sebastiantombs]

They've gotta be kidding! An auto loan for a $48,000 to $60,000 dollar vehicle then another $200 per month, or more depending on how far you drive! Ahhh, going "green" is so much fun and inexpensive.

 

[Teken]

And did we not say Pushing Stupid to a whole new level?!? You have to be ten kinds of stupid to take on something like this. Then again, the entire world is filled with ridiculous things, laws, and people.

The phrase too stupid to live is highly reflective of some of the people, laws, and things. On one side of the spectrum we have hundreds of millions of imbecil's that believe rubbing and covering yourself with cow shit will prevent or cure COVID-19??? In the polar opposite we have laws that cover all manner of insanity that simply make no sense like killing big foot, no green energy initiatives.

To people walking around in the dark guided by a smart phone to play a stupid game. Only to fall off a cliff, walk off a bridge, run into traffic???

If history is any indicator I'm sure there will be quite a few dim wits that will sign up for this subscription battery service.

How humans ever made it out of the ice age, dinosaur age, harnessed fire, and created the wheel?!?!

Has to be completely dumb luck . . .

 

[The Automation Guy]

Not only is this trend completely wrong, it likely opens the possibility for nefarious hacking.

If my heated seats won't work unless I pay a subscription service, then clearly that functionality is tied into a server somewhere. What is to prevent someone from hacking that server and either preventing everyone's subscription from working (ie my heated seats won't work even though I paid the fee), or worse if there is some way to actually control the seats from the server which would allow the hacker to control them (ie turn all the seats on in the summer, etc).

It seems like a harmless enough hack, but after already having to bend over to take it up the ass from the auto manufacture, this would just be icing on the cake.

 

[sebastiantombs]

Better yet, hack in and disable every car. Imagine the chaos if that happened. Cars going dead in the water on I80, I5, I95 and so on.

 

[looney2ns]

 

[Teken]

Not only is this trend completely wrong, it likely opens the possibility for nefarious hacking.

If my heated seats won't work unless I pay a subscription service, then clearly that functionality is tied into a server somewhere. What is to prevent someone from hacking that server and either preventing everyone's subscription from working (ie my heated seats won't work even though I paid the fee), or worse if there is some way to actually control the seats from the server which would allow the hacker to control them (ie turn all the seats on in the summer, etc).

It seems like a harmless enough hack, but after already having to bend over to take it up the ass from the auto manufacture, this would just be icing on the cake.

Absolutely, as vehicle makers tightly integrate all manner of fly by wire control of the automobile. Anyone with enough time and resources can take direct control of the vehicle and make it into a weapon.

• Think auto start / disable
• Crash avoidance
• Lock / unlock
• GPS tracking

All of these things already exist in vehicles being sold today and simply requires a person(s) to take command and control of the vehicles electronics. Any vehicle that can be auto started can be disabled so think what would happen if you were rolling down the road and that happen??

Newer vehicles that incorporate any form of auto pilot or where the accelerator, brake, and steering wheel can be controlled: Think auto parallel parking

GPS: Whelps, don't have to tell anyone what this means if someone is trying to track your location and historic movement.

Phone???

That's right anyone can listen into your personal conversations when you least expect it.

Cameras???

How many of the new vehicles have interior and exterior cameras for parking and to help with auto pilot??? Now they can hear and see you anytime you're close to the vehicle . . .

 

[rolibr24]

And this is why I love my older vehicles. The newest one I own is my truck, and that’s a 2012 f150 that was a municipality truck with absolutely zero feature’s. The biggest feature it has is vinyl floors, I really wish it had vinyl seats too.

Every other vehicle I have is pre 07. And I’m always looking for deals on trucks pre 01. Preferably 80’s and 90’s.

No subscriptions necessary….. Our daughter will be 15 next year, she has me on a mission to find her a F250 or F350 with a 7.3 duely and she wants me to make sure it “has a lot of black smoke as she is pressing on the gas peddle.” And “Because I need to make liberals mad when I’m pulling my livestock trailer around and I am passing them on the road.”

Our son is 12, he wants a testla when he turns 16 because he loves elan. Although I understand where he is coming from, we need to keep working on him.

 

[Mike A.]

And this is why I love my older vehicles. The newest one I own is my truck, and that’s a 2012 f150 that was a municipality truck with absolutely zero feature’s. The biggest feature it has is vinyl floors, I really wish it had vinyl seats too.

Every other vehicle I have is pre 07. And I’m always looking for deals on trucks pre 01. Preferably 80’s and 90’s.

This. Although there have been lots of significant improvements to vehicles over the years that I can appreciate, it really is a nice break to drive my old truck with pretty much nothing. No touchpad center console. Nothing beeping or flashing at me. Radio is a radio. Simple turn-the-dial HVAC. That's about it. Wait... I think it does have intermittent wipers too. Not much to break and easy to fix/maintain.

 

[Teken]

One of the first cars I ever drove which had absolutely no power anything. No power steering, no power windows, no power locks, no AC. If the floor pan on the passenger side didn't break through. <- Covered the hole with a cookie sheet.

I would have probably kept on driving that car . . .

Than again having a rocking chair for a drivers seat wasn't exactly safe! <- Bolts holding the driver seat rusted out. The vehicle for its time was great on fuel but truly was slow and had no power . . .

 

[looney2ns]

My truck is a 1996 Ford ranger, 5 on the floor, radio/cassette player, ac, cruise control. That's as fancy as it gets.

 

[Smilingreen]

I have a 2017 Audi A4 that I disabled the onboard communications on a few years ago. It's programmed to beg me, every time I start the car, to turn the communications back on. Audi want's to read all of the sensor data and Tracking data so they can bombard me with junk mail to bring my car into the dealer ship for a $800.00 oil change. (yep, you read that right) They have one notification that goes off every 25,000 miles to bring your car in for "dealer service". You can't reset it in the HMI, you have to have a special VAG programmer to do it. Luckily, my tire guy bought a programmer for his wifes Audi, so I pay him $30.00 every 25,000 to reset it. My local Audi dealer wanted $900.00 to reset it. It's literally a 5 minute job to reset it.

 

[Teken]

An update and clarification from BMW. Power of the people and social media:

BMW Responds to Fury Over Heated Seats Subscription Fee BMW Responds to Fury Over Heated Seats Subscription Fee

 

[Arjun]

BMW = Plastic Junker

subscription models are available to keep their customers pacified and complacent with their useless car purchase

 

[Arjun]

Every car made after 2006 is junk, and I mean it

 

[tigerwillow1]

BMW Responds to Fury Over Heated Seats Subscription Fee

Now that they explained that the public is misinterpreting their altruistic intentions and this is not the start of a slippery slope or the camel's nose under the tent we should all be embarrassed, tuck our tails, shut the heck up, and submit.

 

[Teken]

Perfect example of the aftermarket coming to the rescue while offering more features and value:

BMW Wants to Charge for Heated Seats. These Grey Market Hackers Will Fix That. BMW Wants to Charge for Heated Seats. These Grey Market Hackers Will Fix That.