One reason this type of promotion may be becoming more common is that connected cars give automakers a direct path to the driver’s screen.
Once a person purchases a vehicle it should be theirs, not shared access with Automakers and their partners.
It hasn’t been that way for a long time. Every car since 2018 has some sort of black box in it that it records your driving behaviors, and that data gets sent to or sold to insurance companies who then use it to raise your premiums.
I think cunts who drive like cunts should pay more.
However, the real reason why cars have black boxes is repeated fraudulent claims by US law firms on “sudden acceleration”.The last lawsuit ended because Toyota had black box data proving US drivers are shit and commonly hit the wrong pedal. Before that, they had to settle $1B to law firms.
Oh, I agree with that. People who drive like complete assholes should definitely have to pay higher insurance premiums, but the way that they get the data to determine who these people are is just a huge privacy concern for me.
One reason this type of promotion may be becoming more common is that connected cars give automakers a direct path to the driver’s screen.
“Wo ein Trog ist, da kommen die Schweine.”
A lot of manufacturers sell vehicles at cost price in the hopes of making it up in after sales (parts and servicing). Most EVs require very little regular expense (cabin filters, brakes and tyres), so they try to make up the difference in subscriptions and “value added” services.
Sometimes those “value added” services aren’t adding value to their customers; they are “adding value” for business partners.
You would think that a car that is sold at a premium price would be exempt from these nasty little scams.
For people who had forgotten the seat heating subscription
Why do they keep trying to pull this bullshit?, they’re a luxury brand, there margins should be pretty good without trying to nickel and dime everything
Have you ever heard of next quarter?
Line must go up.
Cos there are enough dumb people who are ready to pay for this shit.
Same with lootboxes in gaming, everyone hates them but there are enough people purchasing them so that the companies can keep pulling shit like this off.
they are doing this for two reasons:
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Dropping sales from angry BMW owners fed up with poor reliability.
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Dropping sales to Tesla.
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Dropping sales because of poor EV designs
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Dropping sales because they fail to establish value.
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“we are a premium brand”
my ass.
The premium is unfortunately not in the interior and infotainment experience, at least not these days. And I guess to non car people, the infotainment is what sells cars now.
The Germans still build the best* ICE drivetrains, the best chassis and suspension setups, to give you an excellent ride quality AND sporty handling in the same 2 ton family station wagon. Nobody compares, not even Volvo. But interior layouts have been going downhill steadily for like a decade now. And when it comes to EVs, you can’t really compete without being Chinese anyway. Other countries don’t have access to the same battery pricing, nor the same labor costs (to be fair the latter applies to both ICE and EV alike).
They’ll all die slow deaths. As EVs become mandated, Chinese companies will take over because nobody else can afford to sell cars for so cheap. The Chinese cars will of course have all the same infotainment issues like unwanted ads and they’ll be similar privacy nightmares, plus the prices will go up once you can only buy Chinese cars. It’ll be fun and we’ll all love it.
* Toyota Supra A90 used BMW’s B58 engine. That should tell you everything you need to know. TOYOTA didn’t bother coming up with their own engine for the chassis they also got from BMW. It’s been heralded as the modern 2JZ.
The Germans still build the best* ICE drivetrains,
“Best” is a loaded word. “Best Horsepower for weight?” Possibly. Best reliability, absolutely not.
Agree about China overtaking market. Electric BYD is a huge ass SUV and costs 24k here. The next best option is a Dacia Bigster which is not exactly as good. Even so, dacias are populating my region due to low cost
“Your” dashboard?
Our! Comrade.
This sounds like something that should be illegal.
When my wife bought a new Mazda, the dealer made her sign a form that said the remote start app would only be free for one year. He told her it was just boiler plate; the remote start app would be free forever. I knew when she bought the vehicle the remote start app would be a monthly charge starting in precisely one year. lol!
the seat heater sub kept me away from buying a new one anyway
also the buck teeth grills
and maybe the rampant fires the media ignores.
Was looking for a new electric car and had BMW in the rotation. That’s not happening now. Was already on shaky ground after the heated seat thing and now I’m not touching em.
I’m guessing the long term plan is to significantly increase the price of maintenance and updates then offer a cheaper plan with dashboard adds.
one of these days I’m going to spend a weekend going from dealership to dealership looking for a new car, and just wasting their time when I come across nonsense features like this
that Prius feature that beeps and distracts you from the road whenever you pull up to an intersection? that’s fucked up
those features that remind you to pay attention to the road because you have sunglasses on, and pull your attention away from the road to tell you that? that’s fucked up
the features that aggressively keep you in your lane when you drift to give room to an obstacle? that’s fucked up
This is a capital offense.
That’s only in the US, I suppose?
I don’t think they’d get away with it in another market with a functioning society.
erm my car is not a billboard
In case you are considering purchasing a BMW here are the models mentioned in the article:
BMW says the feature is available on suitably equipped cars built after July 2020 and running BMW Operating System 7, 8, 8.5, 9, or X
Feature?
