Latest grab by auto manufactures

[nybirdman]

That's it :1500 dollars for the First three years and then you pay more to keep it.They used to give you Onstar for a couple months hoping that you will renew.
Recently talked to a Subaru dealer and they are doing the same,just tacking it on the MSRP;again for three years then you pay yearly;$384/Yr. if I remember correctly.
The best part; GM had record profits the last two years.Just greed.

 

[tacticalturnip]

You'll own nothing, and you'll be the happiest you've ever been.

One day the folks running the show are going to find that their wealth and power will only go so far, though I doubt many of us will be around to see it.

 

[ruffdog]

People want to be connected to the internet as they drive the people hauler. Just like any option or feature, will it draw people or will they avoid it. The majority seems to drive the available options/features like it or not.

Buick, GMC making OnStar Connected Services standard

 

[ruffdog]

That's it :1500 dollars for the First three years and then you pay more to keep it.They used to give you Onstar for a couple months hoping that you will renew.
Recently talked to a Subaru dealer and they are doing the same,just tacking it on the MSRP;again for three years then you pay yearly;$384/Yr. if I remember correctly.
The best part; GM had record profits the last two years.Just greed.

This new onstar/internet package is not even close to the old one....in fact, the old one is not even supported anymore. People demand more from their vehicles now and that is driving the market. If a car maker charges $500 more for a certain popular paint color, is that greed? No one is forcing you to buy a vehicle.

 

[ultrarunner]

I wonder how this will affect the Used Vehicle market?

Sorry can’t start the car as the subscription lapsed?

Maybe the model is we all lease and it’s someone else's problem?

I’ve bought one new car in my life and it is the only one with recalls and software updates…

It’s been three years waiting for replacement airbags under the recall.

Service advisor said not to drive???

 

[Raul-02]

but it comes off as rather intimidating.

A decade ago it was. One had to be a tech guru. No more Linux Ubuntu is as graphical as windows. You still have the terminal and you can still control everything from it but you also have the GUI.
I picked it up around 2008; played with it. Used it to surf the web, especially those places where before with windows one would come away with a plethora of viruses and trojans. Nothing can touch me now. I haven't bought an antivirus in a very long time & won't.
There are a few cons.
There is no really good engineering CAD CAM software there is some but it's just not as good as the 10-thousand dollar packages meant to run on windows. And the same problem applies to good Accounting software. I'd have expected RedHat to have solved for that latter, but nope.

 

[Raul-02]

, is that greed?

nope. That's why we should control them with our checkbooks. They want more for something we say "Se ya, wouldn't wanna be ya" and take our $$ on down the road. Enough of us do that and they learn not to be so grabby.

 

[Raul-02]

The future of cars is a subscription nightmare

"As cars get more expensive to make and profit margins dwindle, automakers are coming up with new and loathsome ways to squeeze more money out of their customers. Subscription-based access to vehicle features, like heated seats or remote-start key fobs, are the latest attempt to charge people for things their car already came with. The question is whether customers are going to lay down and take it."

Me? I'll hire someone to hack them. My perks won't phone home.

 

[gsganzer]

This new onstar/internet package is not even close to the old one....in fact, the old one is not even supported anymore. People demand more from their vehicles now and that is driving the market. If a car maker charges $500 more for a certain popular paint color, is that greed? No one is forcing you to buy a vehicle.

I don't understand why anyone would even want Onstar anymore. Doesn't a smartphone do everything, and more, then OnStar? Seems to me OnStar is more about monitoring YOU, so they can send you "alerts" to take your car to the dealer for over priced servicing, when they determine it's needed.

My bigger issue is the "dumbing down" of the average American consumer where people can't (or don't) calculate fee's into the price of something. Great examples are the town, municipal, state fee's (e.g. taxes), banking fee's, cell phone fee's, cable TV fee's etc., that get tacked onto the proclaimed "cost".

I'm starting to push back. My bank is my first target. They currently hold 6-digits of my money, but feel compelled to charge me a $30 monthly fee for "services". Next are the "convenience fee's" for paying on-line. Convenient for whom? I can just as easily make them send me a monthly bill, by which I'll snail mail them a check that they then need to process and deposit. Seems to me I should be the one getting a discount for being inconvenienced as I spend my time to pay on-line to save them the of hassle of someone having to process a check, plus they get their money sooner! Am I missing something here?

I guess as I get older, I'm starting to turn into a curmudgeon, because I'm starting to push back on the obvious BS.

 

[ruffdog]

Yep, be a smart consumer and buy what you want, not what other's want to sell you.