Cars get dystopic: BMW to charge subscription fee for heated seats

[SolidStateSurvivor]

You will own nothing, and you will be happy.

In a much criticized move, BMW has decided to charge car owners a subscription service to access heated seats. $18 a month, or $415 if one wants to unlock this feature permenantly. That's right, the functionality to use heated seats is already built into the car, but it's locked behind a paywall. Despite the outcry, I can see this becoming the new normal. Just as many were furious that the Xbox One Kinect peripheral was always on, always listening, I'm willing to bet fair amount of those people nowadays willingly put an Amazon Alexa or similar device into their homes.

Another dystopian aspect of modern cars is the introduction of mandatory remote kill switches for new vehicles in the US, courtesy of the 2022 infastructure bill. It is expected to be enforced come 2027. Say goodbye to LA car chase kino...I heard rumors that Tesla disabled the car of a January 6th protestor back in 2021, but not too sure if that's true or not.

On the topic of cars, "smart" cars have certainly been on the rise. Vehicles with all sorts of touch screens, digital odometers, self driving, the works. Just as your cellphones and other smart devices serve as a way to collect personal data, these cars will do the same no doubt.

So do you trust activist corporations and the government with the ability to control your car's functionality remotely? Because I certainly don't. And if they can access it, who's to say a cunning hacker couldn't too?

 

[juicy_ricky]

As if spending 40k+ on a car wasn't enough!

 

[SolidStateSurvivor]

As if spending 40k+ on a car wasn't enough!

>Implying the US public transit system is a decent alternative

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uUHVoA4ktY

Although I do agree with you, buying cars new is a rip off.

 

[NeverTheSameColor]

"smart" anything means paying for the privilege to get screwed by glowies... not for me thanks

 

[Collision]

I get where you're coming from on this but I always struggle to believe that government and big business are competent enough to execute these programs in a truly dystopian fashion. I think people tend to overestimate the quality and complexity of these kinds of dystopian technical measures. The practical matter of locking someone out of heated seats in their (or at least a car that they have physical access to and that BMW doesn't) is filled with issues that I can't see them bothering to solve. What happens if your car is outside of the signal range? What happens if you deliberately modify the vehicle so the heated seats are connected to a button? Likely, BMW is doing this because they believe that BMW customers won't care. People who pay for luxury cars don't care about having to pay an extra $400 to unlock the heated seats. They might even prefer it because it makes the car even more of a luxury item.

 

[SolidStateSurvivor]

Jeeps start displaying pop-up ads between stops...but it's totally just a glitch bro

Jeep owners took to social media this week with a new complaint: many are receiving repeated pop-up ads on their cars' infotainment screens asking them to sign up for an extended warranty. The ad, some say, appears every time their car rolls to a stop.

"Purchase Peace of Mind," the ad reads, encouraging owners to click a button to call about a FlexCare Extended Care Premium Plan. The ad notes that cars must have less than 36,000 miles on the odometer to qualify, but owners whose cars are over that limit say they're getting the intrusive ads, too. Clicking X to close the screen just brings it back at the next stop.

Jeep parent company Stellantis has acknowledged the issue. MSN reports, "They attributed the persistent nature of the ad to a temporary software glitch that affected the opt-out functionality in certain cases. The company assured that the glitch had been identified and corrected, and they are reaching out to affected customers to resolve the matter."

But the problem could presage a more significant issue for future drivers. Last year, Ford filed a patent for an in-car advertising system that would use the car's speakers and display screen to serve ads to drivers and passengers. That system would also use the car's GPS tracker to serve ads relevant to the driver's route.

Headed home in the evening rush hour? It might suggest take-out stops along the way to pick up dinner. It could even use in-car cameras to identify who was driving and personalize ads for them, Ford told the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Ford walked the idea back as soon as the media caught on, noting that it patents many ideas it never pursues. Let's hope the reaction to Jeep's warranty ads confirms their choice never to follow up.

In-car privacy is a growing concern for drivers. General Motors recently negotiated a fine and a 5-year ban over its practice of selling data about drivers to insurance brokers.

In a 2023 analysis, privacy researchers from a prominent tech watchdog group found "cars the official worst category of products for privacy ever reviewed."

source

 

[angertard]

Someone told me once that luxury car brands are only profitable because they test out for features that aren't ready for everyone yet.

Merely having features that are built-in instead of add-on doesn't seem that bad, if it is implemented well. If I purchase a car and I can just fiddly diddly a code into a physical thingy and now the seats can get hot, that's just convenient. Like with extra ram in computers, don't ship out new RAM sticks and have them installed. Assemble once, ship once, sell in however many pieces is convenient.

But, I don't want anything with an internet connection in my car no matter how insulated it is supposed to be from the CAN bus. Making me any more vulnerable, just to make it so I'm less able to steal/hack my own car, is totally unacceptable.

I unironically like the idea of subscription programs for things. I've heard it argued that inflation forces companies to design their products to become obsolete so they get repeat business. It is super wasteful to make things that break and ship them over and over again. Subscriptions could stop that waste, but they should never be enforced over an internet connection.

 

[Dead Star]

Someone told me once that luxury car brands are only profitable because they test out for features that aren't ready for everyone yet.

Merely having features that are built-in instead of add-on doesn't seem that bad, if it is implemented well. If I purchase a car and I can just fiddly diddly a code into a physical thingy and now the seats can get hot, that's just convenient. Like with extra ram in computers, don't ship out new RAM sticks and have them installed. Assemble once, ship once, sell in however many pieces is convenient.

Luxury cars are a status symbol for upper middle class and the wealthy for one.

For two, they are designed entirely different from standard American cars. Their engines require specific parts, and working on them becomes a major pain in the ass.

You're referring to the luxury stuff that is a bonus, but there's a lot more than that.

I briefly drove a BMW for an associate at work many years ago. The car drove exceptionally well, much better than my little Nissan at the time. The wiring was completely different from any other car I had been in. Getting repairs done required you to visit a licensed BMW dealer with mechanics who knew their way around the engine and parts. Either that, or take it to some junk dealer who don't know how to work with it and let them fuck something up.

For normal people, these kind of cars become a money pit when you need repairs and maintenance done. Since they require specific parts and are wired differently, it's not the same as just popping the hood and fixing it yourself. The same for batteries. At least from my experience, the BMW didn't take the same kind of battery you would drop in a cheaper car.

 

[K0WLOON]

Jokes on BumDubyew, this one can't even afford to buy their shitwaggon in the first place

 

[SparkyWilson]

Someone told me once that luxury car brands are only profitable because they test out for features that aren't ready for everyone yet.

That's true for Cadillac's.

As for the way cars are going with lockout devices, ad's on the infotainment system and subscriptions for special features I'm going to only be buying older used cars from now on,I've played with the idea of importing a Lada Niva into the US as well, that car is complete shit, but it works. Whats worse is that there are some states like California that force people to buy new cars. The world is turning into a black mirror episode. However I wonder if the lockouts would work if you disconnected the cars antennas, I know a guy who disconnects the annetnas on his car becuase of privacy concerns of infotainment system.

 

[WALFTEAM]

Ford walked the idea back as soon as the media caught on, noting that it patents many ideas it never pursues. Let's hope the reaction to Jeep's warranty ads confirms their choice never to follow up.

yeah i remember "say mcdonalds to end commercial" too

 

[SolidStateSurvivor]

I unironically like the idea of subscription programs for things. I've heard it argued that inflation forces companies to design their products to become obsolete so they get repeat business. It is super wasteful to make things that break and ship them over and over again. Subscriptions could stop that waste, but they should never be enforced over an internet connection.

Bold to assume you won't just end up with both the subscription fees AND the planned obsolescence (in addition to the item itself being counterintuitively designed to hinder 3rd party maintenence.)

For self driving software, I can at least see the justification behind it because it's a program they're going to keep developing and updating (probably sharing all your data in the process) but for something like heated seats that are physically built into the car getting locked behind a pay wall, fuck that.

yeah i remember "say mcdonalds to end commercial" too

Or the Xbone's Kinect always being on and listening

 

[Dead Star]

That's true for Cadillac's.

As for the way cars are going with lockout devices, ad's on the infotainment system and subscriptions for special features I'm going to only be buying older used cars from now on,I've played with the idea of importing a Lada Niva into the US as well, that car is complete shit, but it works. Whats worse is that there are some states like California that force people to buy new cars. The world is turning into a black mirror episode. However I wonder if the lockouts would work if you disconnected the cars antennas, I know a guy who disconnects the annetnas on his car becuase of privacy concerns of infotainment system.

My father and uncle loved the Cadillac line more than any other car. The vintage lines are some of the most iconic classic American designs. That said, they are expensive to maintain due to parts costs and they have always been gas guzzlers. Much has been said about how the Escalade SUVs suck up gas, but it's true for any Cadillac.

Whats worse is that there are some states like California that force people to buy new cars. The world is turning into a black mirror episode. However I wonder if the lockouts would work if you disconnected the cars antennas, I know a guy who disconnects the annetnas on his car becuase of privacy concerns of infotainment system.

This is one of the reasons I am skeptical of electric cars. The policies California is pushing make me glad I never wanted to live there.

They are super expensive and it will take decades for the price to come down for regular people to afford them.

I have a bit of bias here cause the 2 men I was closest to in my family while growing up were mechanics. They taught me that you can fix most things yourself without the need of someone else. I think the market for refurbished and used cars is thriving due to this reason. it's easy for someone to learn how to fix things. Computerized cars are the opposite of this and are designed to require you to go see a specific dealer to diagnose the issue.

 

[Ardea]

People love to make fun of my little 20 year old V-dub, but the kind of issues mentioned in this thread are entirely alien to me. I'll drive it until it's no longer viable to maintain it, and then I'll get another 20 year old VW. They don't even have electric windows. It's great. Fuck these "infotainment systems". Imagine spending 5 figures on a box to travel to the wage cage in, and then paying a "subscription fee" for things as trivial as heated seats. All the while, the thing is bombarding you with unskippable ads. It makes absolutely zero sense. I paid less for my car than a lot of people pay for their phones. Economic conditions are poor, that is true. But people don't help themselves when they behave this way. Then they complain they have no disposable income. This is because you have no impulse control and are frittering what little you DO have on slop, gilded cages and subscription fees.

 

[wavve-creator]

Some people are taking 100k loans for trucks. They are driving around in a mortgage. Absolute finical destruction.

You crash that vehicle your life is owned for many years.

Even with it. Paying the equivalent of 300 or more a month for a car is crazy.

Many people are defaulting on the loans too.

This is why I have never not bought a car out right with cash.