So far there’s subscriptions for cruise control, adaptive beams, various navigation options, apple/google integration and my favorite, dual-zone climate.

  • aufhohemross@lemmy.ml
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    8 months ago

    Absolutely insane to me that you’d pay $35k for a car, and then pay a subscription for basics like cruise control and phone connectivity. The free market free marketing again. Legislate against this now.

    • IsThisAnAI@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      A fifth of users in the US rent the car itself via lease mechanisms. You aren’t the target.

      Assuming there are discounts the folks leasing will use these options.

      • doctorskull@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Why are you all over this thread shilling for a predatory subscription model by a multibillion dollar corporation? Very strange behavior.

        • IsThisAnAI@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          Because this thread is an echo chamber. I know pointing out the target use case is very problematic and odd. I’ll be quite and you all can continue to ignore that a fifth of buyers rent the entire vehicle for 3 years and haven’t been doing it for 50.

          • doctorskull@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            I’m not even saying you’re wrong necessarily, but it’s just very weird behavior to take this aggressive of a pro-corporate stance on something I think everyone should agree is a shitty, unnecessary practice. Regardless of the use case, locking features behind a paywall is always a shitty thing for a multibillion dollar company to do.

            • IsThisAnAI@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              People like the option. It’s not weird at all to believe that having different options for owning, leading, and renting allows more access to the vehicle and products. The original comment is about limiting how I pay for a car. Leasing+ subscription works for many customers.

              • Encrypt-Keeper@lemmy.world
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                8 months ago

                A leased car with those options 5 years ago didn’t cost you a subscription, and now they will. You want the option to what? Pay more for something that you didn’t have to before?

                • IsThisAnAI@lemmy.world
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                  8 months ago

                  Again, on both the Toyota and BMW, it was less expensive than purchasing the options. You did pay for them before. They were never free.

                  • Encrypt-Keeper@lemmy.world
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                    8 months ago

                    Not true. Just think about what you’re saying for five seconds and you’ll realize how absurd it is. If you buy a BMW or a Toyota that has an available heated seat subscription for example, whether you pay for it or not, they installed the heated seats. it doesn’t cost BMW or Toyota a cent for you to use your heated seats, it costs them to install them. You really think that you haven’t already paid for those heated seats that they’ve already installed in the car? are you seriously suggesting that these companies are going to to sell you these cars with heated seats in them without charging you for them? That if you choose not to pay for the heated seats, they’re just going to eat that cost? Get real.

        • IsThisAnAI@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          I’m so fucking sorry I pointed out the reality of people purchasing these cars. I’ll promise to never point out any data to you again if you just don’t block me!

              • vinyl@lemmy.world
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                8 months ago

                This is trash I have to register and by the looks of it pay just to view the “statistics”.

                • IsThisAnAI@lemmy.world
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                  8 months ago

                  You think they are lying? Jesus dude look on any dealership website and count the number of 3 year old cpo’s. This isn’t some exotic loan. It’s extremely common and you can find lease offers at literally every brand and dealership.

                  Edit : you might be viewing it via your lemmy client and so it’s triggering a login. I had no issues getting to it but I see what you mean.

        • IsThisAnAI@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          Have they excluded that audience? As far as I know you can still purchase the vehicle or feature instead of lease.

          • QuaternionsRock@lemmy.world
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            8 months ago

            Only by upgrading to the MMI navigation system do you get access to the app store. From there, Audi forces you into add-ons like adaptive cruise control or Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for a one-month, six-month, one-year, or three-year subscription. Or you can just purchase any of those features permanently—although Audi doesn’t say for how much.

            Sounds like you’re right, but people are still right to be wary of this scheme, as the additional market segmentation will likely push up the cost of buying the feature outright. Audi is incentivized to push as many people toward the subscription model as possible to decrease the value of used vehicles.

            • IsThisAnAI@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              I will worry when it happens. The car market is very competitive and vehicle reliability, safety, and feature set has improved significantly in the last 15 years.