Bicycles and feet, if you can.
Comment on The New Audi A3 Is Amess With In-Car Subscriptions
foggy@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Headline is enough for me to never consider purchasing an Audi.
Toyota is out. Mercedes is out. Audi is out. Who else?
crazyCat@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
RGB3x3@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Mazda is still good I think.
But they’re kinda expensive and they gatekeep features to their higher tiers, that other manufacturers keep to their lower ones.
Hyundai perhaps, but they’ve also had other issues.
romamix@lemmy.ml 3 months ago
Mazda no, they are harassing the app developers who use their API home-assistant.io/…/removal-of-mazda-connected-se…
EncryptKeeper@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Yeah but the only thing Mazda charges a subscription for is the extra unnecessary bullshit that is coordinated through their servers. Thats a fair value proposition, even though I’d never pay for it. Heated seats, radar cruise control, shit like that still just comes with the car.
grue@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Hyundai perhaps, but they’ve also had other issues.
I can’t find an article about it right now, but I could’ve sworn they tried to pull some subscription bullshit (other than “Bluelink” or “Evolve+,” which are relatively legit) a while back, too.
ripcord@lemmy.world 3 months ago
At the very least I believe the only thing they’re currently doing is Bluelink (remote find your car, start car over the Internet, etc). But maybe there’s something they started in the last 6 months I haven’t heard about.
IrateAnteater@sh.itjust.works 3 months ago
Toyota is doing the subscription thing too? I didn’t hear about that one. I only heard about BMW, Mercedes, and now Audi.
If Toyota/Lexus is out, then I guess my plans of buying an AWD coupe as my next car are truly dead.
derpgon@programming.dev 3 months ago
Looks like all they do is: Music streaming directly from your infotainment ($15), live navigation + new voice commands + 24/7 agent in case you need support ($15), both above ($25, wow, such sale), and some AT&T specific bullshit where you can apparently make your car a hotspot ($25).
www.toyota.com/connected-services/
All in all, all of them useless, and absolutely not required. All of them are covered by having a phone with Android Auto or Apple CarPlay.
Aphelion@lemm.ee 3 months ago
None of that is at all required, they include all the usual Apple/Google phone link systems so all of that is very easily ignored. The only real problem with Toyota is the DCM sim modem, which you can get removed, and their data collection which you can opt opt out of.
8ender@lemmy.world 3 months ago
iirc BMW pulled back on it and only does a subscription for stuff that legit requires an internet connection
Smite6645@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 months ago
Man… What’s Toyota doing?
grue@lemmy.world 3 months ago
IIRC, Hyundai is out.
ripcord@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Are they?
They charge for the stuff that actually requires server infrastructure after 3 years, I believe. Which is the one case that seems reasonable to me as long as it’s not gouging. But I hadn’t heard about anything else.
dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Tesla, certainly. BMW also.
Subaru still seems to be okay.
ramble81@lemm.ee 3 months ago
Tesla was one of the original pioneers with FSD subscriptions. BMW had heated seat subscriptions but walked it back. They do have a subscription for the “drive recorder” camera but you can pay a one time fee to permanently unlock it so that’s at least acceptable.
grue@lemmy.world 3 months ago
They do have a subscription for the “drive recorder” camera but you can pay a one time fee to permanently unlock it so that’s at least acceptable.
Edit: incidentally the permanent price is the same as if you bought it on your car new.
I disagree: if the physical hardware came on the car, the owner is entitled to use it (that’s how property rights work). Therefore, BMW should be forced to either charge everybody for it as a standard feature or physically not include the hardware for the people who aren’t getting it.
wjrii@lemmy.world 3 months ago
I have a 2022. It’s not terrible, but there’s definitely a subscription for remote start and a few other connected type features. Nothing related to actual driving once you’re in the car though.
KISSmyOS@feddit.de 3 months ago
If you read more than the headline, you’d know that you can simply purchase those options instead of subscribing, if you want.
Which makes the entire article pointless. But you’d need to read more than the headline to see that, which is too much to ask.DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 months ago
Sweats in Apples “Courage” to remove the headphone jack
Anyone…? Hello?
Bezier@suppo.fi 3 months ago
Depends on how easy it is to jailbreak.
Squizzy@lemmy.world 3 months ago
I have an Audi, it is a great car. I dont lioe subscriptions so I wouldnt get into that type of deal but there are workarounds also.
skozzii@lemmy.ca 3 months ago
I use Linux and Lemmy, if they think they are going to get me to buy a subscription for cruise control they are out of their mind.
BMW was the first I think to announce subscriptions but they backtracked after negative feedback. Hopefully they stay that way, as I do love my bimmers. All it takes is one holdout.
I’d rather drive around an open source rustbox.
foggy@lemmy.world 3 months ago
I’ve kinda been looking at the price of used cars and have started thinking – I’m an engineer, I can probably learn how to replace my Subaru’s engine myself. I’ll just ride it til the wheels fall off.
grue@lemmy.world 3 months ago
As an engineer with a Subaru that needs a new engine (among other cars in various states of disrepair) I can tell you that, at least for me, the problem isn’t necessarily knowing what to do on a conceptual level. The problem is the physical difficulty of removing and installing parts (contorting yourself to reach a thing deep in the engine bay and then having the strength to break free rusted bolts, etc.). If you go for it, I highly recommend having an actual garage with a roof and a door you can close instead of trying to do it in your driveway, so that you can walk away from it and come back later without having to worry that your tools will get stolen or rained on.
foggy@lemmy.world 3 months ago
Hey that sounds like building a PC only with rust as a bonus challenge!
Yeah for sure. I get frustrated and walk away a lot. But then I get frustrated with giving up and go back. Actual garage is a must lol. I’d probably get a car friend to come help where Im struggling.