4 ms·

Am I the only one that actually likes this idea? I live in Austin, where we only need heated seats like three months out of the year at most. On top of that, if

by aabhay 4y ago

Am I the only one that actually likes this idea? I live in Austin, where we only need heated seats like three months out of the year at most. On top of that, if I pay $999 for heated seats as an addon, that’s equivalent to 4.5 years of subscription at $18/m. If I could turn off lots of features while I’m on vacation, etc. I think that’s a huge win. But clearly I’m in the extreme minority.

basicplus2 4y ago
Or...you could put a switch on your dash that turns the heaters on and off as you wish..
- chrisseaton 4y ago
  That just means you're paying the same money up front rather than as a subscription. Why's that better?
  - lpapez 4y ago
    The heated seats are already in the car, this is about paying more to unlock something you already paid for.
    - chrisseaton 4y ago
      > something you already paid for No - you can either pay for the option one-time up front (the article says), or you can pay a subscription. You don't pay for the option up-front and also pay the subscription. Depending on your circumstances, one of these two ways to pay will be cheaper for you. It may be the subscription. Or you can not pay at all and never pay for the feature and forget about it. If you never pay at all I guess you're 'paying' to carry the hardware around but not using it, in terms of extra fuel consumed. But maybe the baseline car ends up being cheaper for you as it simplifies the production line to install it everywhere?
      - naasking 4y ago
        > No - you can either pay for the option one-time up front (the article says), or you can pay a subscription. You don't pay for the option up-front and also pay the subscription. That's not what he's saying. He's saying that BMW has already sold the car at a profit with the heating elements built-in, and then are trying to make more profit off of a software patch to enable a feature you technically already own. If Apple offered you a $1000 iPhone with a camera app installed, and then offered you the same iPhone for $800 but which will not let any camera apps be installed unless you pay them $18/month, does that seem fine to you? They're already making a profit selling at $800, the hardware is identical, it's just a cost-free software change that you are not permitted to make to your own device.
        chrisseaton 4y ago
        > He's saying that BMW has already sold the car at a profit How do you know how BMW structures profit and costs? I would guess their profit is based on some people choosing to enable the future. > If Apple offered you a $1000 iPhone with a camera app installed, and then offered you the same iPhone for $800 but which will not let any camera apps be installed unless you pay them $18/month, does that seem fine to you? Yeah - seems ok to me. I can pick what I want. Pay more up-front, or pay the same after purchasing, or pay a subscription, or don't pay at all. More choices for the consumer. What's the issue? Just the mental hurdle of having the option to paying to enable a feature where the hardware was already shipped? What's the underlying actual issue with that? I don't see one?
        rand49an 4y ago
        Because the manufacturer has already paid to include that hardware into the product.
        chrisseaton 4y ago
        But, as I say, that could work out cheaper for them due to simplified manufacturing. That's why other manufacturers usually do it.
  - basicplus2 4y ago
    Wire in your own switch, bypassing everything
therouwboat 4y ago
But your seats have heating elements anyway, do you think bmw is taking loss if you dont buy subscription?
- aabhay 4y ago
  They recuperate the cost in economies of scale since they don't have to sell multiple models of seats.
post_break 4y ago
The components are already in the car, adding complexity and cost to the purchase. What happens when BMW turns off the servers running the licensing for your car? No more heated seats period. Who would want to buy the car from you knowing the heated seats are subscription based? Does the car have wifi or do you have to also pay for a cell connection for the car to activate these features? It's madness the whole way down.
- aabhay 4y ago
  My current BMW comes with both a Wi-Fi chip and a 3G chip, at no recurring cost. Seems quite feasible for me to connect to the car via app and pay on my phone.
  - nicce 4y ago
    > Seems quite feasible for me to connect to the car via app Who says that app is available after 3 years? Or the servers required for using it? It might be even removed from the app store, and you can't sideload it with your iPhone.
jen20 4y ago
I’ve never once used my heated seats in Austin, but am absolutely annoyed the only way to get VENTILATED seats is to buy a super high end car with a much bigger engine than I want.
krisoft 4y ago
I would be surprised if the end result is that you get your heated seats cheaper. Either the car manufacturer won't let you subscribe month by month (sorry, you need to subscribe to a year at least, the rules!) or they will jack up the price where they are ahead even with just seasonal usage.
- balderdash 4y ago
  Or they will make the frictional pain if unsubscribing painful, unsubscribe? Sure wait on hold on the phone for an hour and then you can unsubscribe..,
balderdash 4y ago
Ok now I have second job managing all my subscriptions - can’t wait to have to call and subscribe/unsubscribe to the ice maker on my fridge, the dimming from function on my lights, the time zone function on my watch, increased battery life on my laptop, etc.
webmobdev 4y ago
It does make sense for extra add-ons / parts sometimes, for things you use occasionally, provided they are already not charging you for the part / add-on (which in this case BMW isn't - they allow you to pay for the heated seats monthly or yearly or purchase it outright). But remember that when you subscribe, you don't own the part / add-on. And if you only plan to use them for 3 months a year, it will not be profitable for them and they will realistically not allow it. Unless it is profitable for them, why would they turn something unnecessarily into a subscription service?
naasking 4y ago
> On top of that, if I pay $999 for heated seats as an addon, that’s equivalent to 4.5 years of subscription at $18/m. If the heated seat is already built-in and they can still sell the car profitably for $999 less, then charging for this feature you already got and they already profited from is a pure money grab. If Apple started selling iPhones that had the usual cameras built in, but you couldn't install any camera apps unless you paid them $18 per month, would you really be so enthusiastic?

by aabhay 4y ago

basicplus2 4y ago

Or...you could put a switch on your dash that turns the heaters on and off as you wish..

chrisseaton 4y ago
That just means you're paying the same money up front rather than as a subscription. Why's that better?
- lpapez 4y ago
  The heated seats are already in the car, this is about paying more to unlock something you already paid for.
  - chrisseaton 4y ago
    > something you already paid for No - you can either pay for the option one-time up front (the article says), or you can pay a subscription. You don't pay for the option up-front and also pay the subscription. Depending on your circumstances, one of these two ways to pay will be cheaper for you. It may be the subscription. Or you can not pay at all and never pay for the feature and forget about it. If you never pay at all I guess you're 'paying' to carry the hardware around but not using it, in terms of extra fuel consumed. But maybe the baseline car ends up being cheaper for you as it simplifies the production line to install it everywhere?
    - naasking 4y ago
      > No - you can either pay for the option one-time up front (the article says), or you can pay a subscription. You don't pay for the option up-front and also pay the subscription. That's not what he's saying. He's saying that BMW has already sold the car at a profit with the heating elements built-in, and then are trying to make more profit off of a software patch to enable a feature you technically already own. If Apple offered you a $1000 iPhone with a camera app installed, and then offered you the same iPhone for $800 but which will not let any camera apps be installed unless you pay them $18/month, does that seem fine to you? They're already making a profit selling at $800, the hardware is identical, it's just a cost-free software change that you are not permitted to make to your own device.
      - chrisseaton 4y ago
        > He's saying that BMW has already sold the car at a profit How do you know how BMW structures profit and costs? I would guess their profit is based on some people choosing to enable the future. > If Apple offered you a $1000 iPhone with a camera app installed, and then offered you the same iPhone for $800 but which will not let any camera apps be installed unless you pay them $18/month, does that seem fine to you? Yeah - seems ok to me. I can pick what I want. Pay more up-front, or pay the same after purchasing, or pay a subscription, or don't pay at all. More choices for the consumer. What's the issue? Just the mental hurdle of having the option to paying to enable a feature where the hardware was already shipped? What's the underlying actual issue with that? I don't see one?
        rand49an 4y ago
        Because the manufacturer has already paid to include that hardware into the product.
        chrisseaton 4y ago
        But, as I say, that could work out cheaper for them due to simplified manufacturing. That's why other manufacturers usually do it.
- basicplus2 4y ago
  Wire in your own switch, bypassing everything

therouwboat 4y ago

But your seats have heating elements anyway, do you think bmw is taking loss if you dont buy subscription?

aabhay 4y ago
They recuperate the cost in economies of scale since they don't have to sell multiple models of seats.

post_break 4y ago

The components are already in the car, adding complexity and cost to the purchase. What happens when BMW turns off the servers running the licensing for your car? No more heated seats period. Who would want to buy the car from you knowing the heated seats are subscription based? Does the car have wifi or do you have to also pay for a cell connection for the car to activate these features? It's madness the whole way down.

aabhay 4y ago
My current BMW comes with both a Wi-Fi chip and a 3G chip, at no recurring cost. Seems quite feasible for me to connect to the car via app and pay on my phone.
- nicce 4y ago
  > Seems quite feasible for me to connect to the car via app Who says that app is available after 3 years? Or the servers required for using it? It might be even removed from the app store, and you can't sideload it with your iPhone.

jen20 4y ago

I’ve never once used my heated seats in Austin, but am absolutely annoyed the only way to get VENTILATED seats is to buy a super high end car with a much bigger engine than I want.

krisoft 4y ago

I would be surprised if the end result is that you get your heated seats cheaper. Either the car manufacturer won't let you subscribe month by month (sorry, you need to subscribe to a year at least, the rules!) or they will jack up the price where they are ahead even with just seasonal usage.

balderdash 4y ago
Or they will make the frictional pain if unsubscribing painful, unsubscribe? Sure wait on hold on the phone for an hour and then you can unsubscribe..,

balderdash 4y ago

Ok now I have second job managing all my subscriptions - can’t wait to have to call and subscribe/unsubscribe to the ice maker on my fridge, the dimming from function on my lights, the time zone function on my watch, increased battery life on my laptop, etc.

webmobdev 4y ago

It does make sense for extra add-ons / parts sometimes, for things you use occasionally, provided they are already not charging you for the part / add-on (which in this case BMW isn't - they allow you to pay for the heated seats monthly or yearly or purchase it outright). But remember that when you subscribe, you don't own the part / add-on. And if you only plan to use them for 3 months a year, it will not be profitable for them and they will realistically not allow it. Unless it is profitable for them, why would they turn something unnecessarily into a subscription service?

naasking 4y ago

> On top of that, if I pay $999 for heated seats as an addon, that’s equivalent to 4.5 years of subscription at $18/m. If the heated seat is already built-in and they can still sell the car profitably for $999 less, then charging for this feature you already got and they already profited from is a pure money grab. If Apple started selling iPhones that had the usual cameras built in, but you couldn't install any camera apps unless you paid them $18 per month, would you really be so enthusiastic?