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BMW heated seats subscription costs $18 per month in South Korea

motor1.com

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Re: BMW heated seats subscription costs $18 per month in South Korea

#141

Post by aabhay »

therouwboat wrote: post #129
aabhay wrote: post #111

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.

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

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

Re: BMW heated seats subscription costs $18 per month in South Korea

#142

Post by [deleted] »

chrisseaton wrote: post #130
rockinghigh wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Neither this article nor my personal experience with Tesla support your claim. > Tesla owners reported more problems with their exterior and interior than with other systems like propulsion, battery or infotainment and navigation. Tesla issues aren't about maintenance, they are mostly about quality control. Maintenance on Tesla is simple: air filters, brakes, tires, air conditioning. https://www.tesla.com/support/car…

> Maintenance on Tesla is simple: air filters, brakes, tires, air conditioning. Maintenance on a new ICE car is exactly the same, plus an oil change every couple of years.

[deleted]

Re: BMW heated seats subscription costs $18 per month in South Korea

#143

Post by chrisseaton »

lpapez wrote: post #139
chrisseaton wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That just means you're paying the same money up front rather than as a subscription. Why's that better?

The heated seats are already in the car, this is about paying more to unlock something you already paid for.

> 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?

Re: BMW heated seats subscription costs $18 per month in South Korea

#144

Post by elif »

PaywallBuster wrote: post #108
ClumsyPilot wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you really don’t want to burn fossil fuels, a $1000 bafang mid drive ebike kit can turn a regular bicycle into a hill crushing monster and can be installed with almost no specialized tools. I love electric bikes and want to install the bafang kit myself, but lets keep things in perspective - it's not gonna get my pregnant wife to the hospital.

you keep a car for something that will happen once per ~ 4 years?

Commenter provided one obvious example.. that doesn't imply a lack of other examples.

Hypothermically cold/wet days, if you suffer a physical injury, going anywhere with friends, trips to IKEA, groceries that last more than a week, vacations, or the reason I stopped cycling:

a car driver randomly forces you to pay for a new bike while also giving you a concussion and 7 stitches to your face then drives away.

Happier now with my 'cage' than with the ego I used to have.

Re: BMW heated seats subscription costs $18 per month in South Korea

#145

Post by jollybean »

ClumsyPilot wrote: post #79

We are rapidly moving towards Feudalism. If someone can charge you for using things you already bought and 'own', then average man has no property rights. The fee could be increased at any time, or new fees could be introduced. As the housing crysis deepens, average person will never own a home either. So average person will be in the same position as a medieval serf, conpletely dependand on the whims of the lord, pr…

No, this is not what feudalism is.

Consumer finance is a real thing.

Before these financial innovations - people could not by homes, or ironically cars. They could not 'insure' themselves against fire etc..

Being able to 'buy a feature' on a monthly basis, instead of paying up front for it, actually may have some benefits.

That said, obviously if people just want to buy it they can/should do that.

Re: BMW heated seats subscription costs $18 per month in South Korea

#146

Post by SketchySeaBeast »

ausbah wrote: post #99
alexpotato wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We've all ready reached that for lots of other parts of the consumer spectrum. e.g. you used to own your music and movie collection but now you rent access to it via Spotify, Amazon Music, Netflix etc Even games: it used to be it was YOUR game but now you pay a subscription.

I think the value proposition with stuff like Spotify is different. a.) there are still services where you can own your copy of the music, there is still - at least some semblance of - consumer choice. b.) the amount and variety of music I listen to on Spotify and pay per month is WAY more than paying for individual songs (at least personally)

This exactly. I am constantly exploring and consuming new music, many of which I wouldn't buy the CD of, but I will listen to for a while before moving onto something new. Nothing really beats being able to go through an artists entire discography over a few days. I've started buying the CD's of the stuff I really love again, but the price would be astronomical compared to my streaming service if I did that for everyone I listened to.

Re: BMW heated seats subscription costs $18 per month in South Korea

#147

Post by tomohawk »

ClumsyPilot wrote: post #79

We are rapidly moving towards Feudalism. If someone can charge you for using things you already bought and 'own', then average man has no property rights. The fee could be increased at any time, or new fees could be introduced. As the housing crysis deepens, average person will never own a home either. So average person will be in the same position as a medieval serf, conpletely dependand on the whims of the lord, pr…

That's the plan (at least according to the World Economic Forum)

"Welcome to 2030. I own nothing, have no privacy, and life has never been better"

https://twitter.com/wef/status/813869325635424256

Re: BMW heated seats subscription costs $18 per month in South Korea

#148

Post by yardie »

nameless912 wrote: post #90
RamRodification wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does that affect second-hand value for you (if you intend to ever sell)? Where I live, a lack of documentation from official or authorized dealership servicing is a big red flag when buying a used car.

In the US, almost no one goes to their dealership for routine maintenance (i.e. tires, brakes, oil). Many/most will go in for bigger stuff like transmission service, steering, etc. but even then many still opt for their local mechanic's shop. To be honest, I would rather see a car going to reputable local shop than to a dealership, but it's really hard to know what "reputable local shop" means when you're buying a us…

I actually go to the dealership (VW) for routine maintenance and I have a local, specialized Euro/VW mechanic for more expensive repairs. Dealership service centers are the training grounds for specialized mechanics. So it's better for me to get the alignment done using an apprentice who does them daily rather than a pricey specialist who does them 4x/year and has 4 engine outs in the bay.

Re: BMW heated seats subscription costs $18 per month in South Korea

#149

Post by tayo42 »

alexpotato wrote: post #89
ClumsyPilot wrote: post #79

We are rapidly moving towards Feudalism. If someone can charge you for using things you already bought and 'own', then average man has no property rights. The fee could be increased at any time, or new fees could be introduced. As the housing crysis deepens, average person will never own a home either. So average person will be in the same position as a medieval serf, conpletely dependand on the whims of the lord, pr…

We've all ready reached that for lots of other parts of the consumer spectrum. e.g. you used to own your music and movie collection but now you rent access to it via Spotify, Amazon Music, Netflix etc Even games: it used to be it was YOUR game but now you pay a subscription.

I think of Spotify as an evolution of radio. You can even just pay with your attention by listening to ads instead of money.

You can still purchase all of that media if you want

Re: BMW heated seats subscription costs $18 per month in South Korea

#150

Post by krisoft »

aabhay wrote: post #111

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.

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.

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