BMW drops plan to charge a monthly fee for heated seats

[DrQ]

BMW drops plan to charge a monthly fee for heated seats​

Customers can now toast their tushies without paying a monthly subscription after the German automaker removed it from its digital store of added features.​

BMW drops plan to charge a monthly fee for heated seats

BMW’s microtransaction experiments have not always been successful.

www.theverge.com

 

[jeffox]

BMW drops plan to charge a monthly fee for heated seats​

Customers can now toast their tushies without paying a monthly subscription after the German automaker removed it from its digital store of added features.​

BMW drops plan to charge a monthly fee for heated seats

BMW’s microtransaction experiments have not always been successful.

www.theverge.com

They need to stop charging extra for turn signals.

Wait ... I'm being told that turn signals come standard on all models.

Huh, Who would have known? I've never seen one used.

 

[DrQ]

 

[DaveNV]

I know this is a dead horse to kick, but I don't understand why BMW (or any car maker) thinks it should charge for an owner to be able to turn on seat heaters. They're built into the car at the factory, and cost the company nothing to operate on an ongoing basis. So where does a subscription to use them even make sense? It comes across strictly as a money-grab, and that would tend to piss off owners.

My Volvo SUV has an option for remote online access to Volvo services, where they claim I can do things without going to the dealership. My car is five model years old, and is out of warranty. I can't justify paying something like $200 a year for something I'd rarely use. Give me the car I paid for, and let's move on down the road.

Dave

 

[DrQ]

I know this is a dead horse to kick, but I don't understand why BMW (or any car maker) thinks it should charge for an owner to be able to turn on seat heaters. They're built into the car at the factory, and cost the company nothing to operate on an ongoing basis. So where does a subscription to use them even make sense? It comes across strictly as a money-grab, and that would tend to piss off owners.

Toyota and Ford has done the same thing on some new models by removing remote start off the key fob and putting it on the App on a subscription basis.

 

[DaveNV]

Toyota and Ford has done the same thing on some new models by removing remote start off the key fob and putting it on the App on a subscription basis.

I think that was one of the "features" in the Volvo subscription, too.

Dave

 

[DrQ]

I think that was one of the "features" in the Volvo subscription, too.

My Genesis has remote start on the fob, but that is because it also has "smaaat paaark" and you have to remote staaaat the caaa first.

 

[DaveNV]

My Genesis has remote start on the fob, but that is because it also has "smaaat paaark" and you have to remote staaaat the caaa first.

I said that out loud in that exact voice.

Dave

 

[emeryjre]

the subscription model has grown in many areas of our lives
Cable TV vs Over the Air TV
Software as a Service and paying a monthly fee vs Buying a version until we feel like replacing it
Streaming TV Networks
Netflix
Tesla's plan is to sell Full Self Driving as a monthly subscription
Numerous apps on our phone require a monthly payment

I have taken to rotating my TV streaming subscriptions since not enough new series to keep me interested every month

 

[Talent312]

I'd it's like buying a TS and having to pay MF's...
Except that with TS's, they actually do something to earn the fee.
.

 

[b2bailey]

I was trying to make sense of this. Are car seat warmers an option that can be purchased?
Therefore it's possible to buy a BMW without heated seats?
Thinking they want to install seat warmers on all vehicles and only turn them on for subscribers?

Or, have they always been included on all BMWs? (Including those sold in Florida.)

 

[DrQ]

I was trying to make sense of this. Are car seat warmers an option that can be purchased?
Therefore it's possible to buy a BMW without heated seats?
Thinking they want to install seat warmers on all vehicles and only turn them on for subscribers?

Or, have they always been included on all BMWs? (Including those sold in Florida.)

They put the SAME seats (with heaters) in the cars. They wanted to shake down the buyers of their product for the PRIVILEGE to use the product which the buyer purchased.

 

[Ken555]

They put the SAME seats (with heaters) in the cars. They wanted to shake down the buyers of their product for the PRIVILEGE to use the product which the buyer purchased.

Are you sure? In the regions this was offered, my understanding was that they put in the heating feature but didn’t charge the buyer for it at time of purchase they way they’ve done in North America.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Brett]

I was trying to make sense of this. Are car seat warmers an option that can be purchased?
Therefore it's possible to buy a BMW without heated seats?
Thinking they want to install seat warmers on all vehicles and only turn them on for subscribers?

Or, have they always been included on all BMWs? (Including those sold in Florida.)

dunno, I get free seat heaters with Honda and Toyota

 

[tombanjo]

Things start out as a luxury, which you pay extra for, then eventually become standard. Like Radio, Power Windows, ABS. Some things are luxury, sold as a "package", but to try and buy a car with out the package is almost impossible. Try buying a Toyota with roll up windows, no radio and manual transmission and it will take a year to get it from the factory. Special rims, heated seats, etc. Since it is easier to build products all the same, it is cheaper for the manufacturer to include them. I had a car where on the dash you could see where various buttons would be, like push button start, but being a base edition, were not included. All the wiring is there, the place for the switch is there, but not included. BMW thought they could move the upfront cost of buying heated seats to a monthly, and more importantly, the lifetime of the car, payment model. Instead of just not adding the buttons to the dash on the blah blah package that included the seats, they taunt you with "here are the buttons, but you can't use them". If they just had a car with the wiring in the seat but no buttons, and no monthly charge, I don't think people would be as mad.

 

[DrQ]

Are you sure? In the regions this was offered, my understanding was that they put in the heating feature but didn’t charge the buyer for it at time of purchase they way they’ve done in North America.

It probably costs them money to have two different seats and production runs for with/without options. I would guess that the material cost is small so by collapsing the production line they realized savings by:

• Reduced storage/inventory costs
• Reduced delays from supply line shortages
• Reduce training costs for build instructions
• Reduced rework from mistakes

They THOUGHT that they could make it an income stream by converting it to a subscription based service instead of a one time cost item. Most manufacturers would just add the feature and calculate it into the cost of the product and ADVERTISE it as a plus for the vehicle.

I'm sure that the cost of the items (seat heater, steering wheel heater) was already calculated into the price of the automobile and was not a loss leader until the service was started.

 

[VacationForever]

I get heated seats in the first and second row seats on the cheap Subaru Ascent. I was a BMW owner through 3 cars until I ditched it for my first Subaru. I am on my 4th now and to me, it is a better car than the BMW.

 

[Ken555]

I think there are a lot of assumptions being made in this thread without proof.


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[Ken555]

I get heated seats in the first and second row seats on the cheap Subaru Ascent. I was a BMW owner through 3 cars until I ditched it for my first Subaru. I am on my 4th now and to me, it is a better car than the BMW.

I had a Subaru in college. It was fantastic, and I kept it as my skimobile for a long time. But when I bought a BMW, the drive, performance, comfort, and amenities were simply vastly superior. I still recommend Subarus to all, though - and if I ever needed a 4WD again I would buy another.


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[geist1223]

Patti had two Subaru Foresters for over 20 years. She really enjoyed them. She changed to a KIA Sorento after last Subaru was totaled in a MVA. Other Driver at fault. She spent several weeks shopping for a used car replacement that had low mileage and would cost about same amount we were receiving from insurance company. It ended up being a 7 year old KIA Sorento. The two positive differences She noticed right away were the front seats sat up a little higher and they were a lot more comfortable.

 

[Bucky]

They may back away from this for the time being but all manufacturers will move to this type of pricing eventually. the manufacturers will build the vehicles with all options already in the vehicle, not listed as options on the sticker. Then if you want heated/cooled seats you will have to pay a subscription fee to have them turned on. This is just the early stage of this future pricing model.

Auto giants like BMW, GM and Toyota make drivers ‘subscribe’ for basic features

Motorists are increasingly being forced to pay tacked-on fees and even sign up for pricey subscriptions to get basic features on their cars — and auto giants are telling investors this is onl…

nypost.com