4 ms·

I look forward to paying a monthly fee for using Bluetooth in my car.

chrisseaton 6y ago
Without sarcasm, I think cars as a subscription has some interesting possibility and I wouldn't object to it. Land Rover has a new subscription product but doesn't seem to have a lot of momentum behind it. You pay a monthly fee that isn't more than if you financed the whole car at the moment, and you can keep getting new vehicles and absolutely everything (servicing etc) is covered because they're motivated to keep re-sale value extremely high because re-selling it is their problem. I think software, cars, etc, as a service is somewhat liberating and I'm in favour of it.
- xxpor 6y ago
  You could call it a "lease"
  - chrisseaton 6y ago
    A car 'lease' is an existing way to get a car that isn't the same as these new subscription services. Land Rover already do leasing - their subscription is a different product.
  - leetcrew 6y ago
    I don't think you can typically lease a different car every month. I kinda wish you could. I would definitely pay to try a car for a full month before buying it.
    - xienze 6y ago
      Actually you sorta can. I know Volvo has/had a program where you pay something like $1k/month, including insurance, and you can swap out cars twice a month or something like that. I believe some other manufacturers did the same thing.
      - chrisseaton 6y ago
        Yeah... that's the subscription thing we're talking about. Volvo and Jaguar Land Rover have it - not sure about others.
- throwbacktictac 6y ago
  Through an altruistic lens this seems like a good idea. But realistically economy driven by quarterly reports I see this devolving into a dystopian tail really quickly. I don't think Land Rover can get it done. However Apple and/or Tesla might have the fandom to pull something like this off.
- paledot 6y ago
  "Cars as a service" is called car sharing. It works quite well.
- stjohnswarts 6y ago
  However electric seat heaters are obviously not something that should be a "thing". Cars and software have been leased for ages. It's the same thing as "a subscription"
- manigandham 6y ago
  People don't need new vehicles constantly. They buy one that fits their usage and personality and become familiar with it while they keep it for years. What is the purpose of switching out so often? Especially with the limited choice of a single make like Land Rover? How many different SUVs are you going to drive and why?

Without sarcasm, I think cars as a subscription has some interesting possibility and I wouldn't object to it. Land Rover has a new subscription product but doesn't seem to have a lot of momentum behind it. You pay a monthly fee that isn't more than if you financed the whole car at the moment, and you can keep getting new vehicles and absolutely everything (servicing etc) is covered because they're motivated to keep re-sale value extremely high because re-selling it is their problem. I think software, cars, etc, as a service is somewhat liberating and I'm in favour of it.

xxpor 6y ago
You could call it a "lease"
- chrisseaton 6y ago
  A car 'lease' is an existing way to get a car that isn't the same as these new subscription services. Land Rover already do leasing - their subscription is a different product.
- leetcrew 6y ago
  I don't think you can typically lease a different car every month. I kinda wish you could. I would definitely pay to try a car for a full month before buying it.
  - xienze 6y ago
    Actually you sorta can. I know Volvo has/had a program where you pay something like $1k/month, including insurance, and you can swap out cars twice a month or something like that. I believe some other manufacturers did the same thing.
    - chrisseaton 6y ago
      Yeah... that's the subscription thing we're talking about. Volvo and Jaguar Land Rover have it - not sure about others.
throwbacktictac 6y ago
Through an altruistic lens this seems like a good idea. But realistically economy driven by quarterly reports I see this devolving into a dystopian tail really quickly. I don't think Land Rover can get it done. However Apple and/or Tesla might have the fandom to pull something like this off.
paledot 6y ago
"Cars as a service" is called car sharing. It works quite well.
stjohnswarts 6y ago
However electric seat heaters are obviously not something that should be a "thing". Cars and software have been leased for ages. It's the same thing as "a subscription"
manigandham 6y ago
People don't need new vehicles constantly. They buy one that fits their usage and personality and become familiar with it while they keep it for years. What is the purpose of switching out so often? Especially with the limited choice of a single make like Land Rover? How many different SUVs are you going to drive and why?