I'll say as clearly as possible. I will go to extraordinary expense to avoid subscriptions in cars. If I have to spend 30k making an old car run and be road worthy, I'll do it solely out of spite. I can take this quite far: there is a lifetime Spotify ban in my entire household because the early Spotify client paused advertisements if you turned the volume off.
Mazda's $10 Subscription for Remote Start Sparks Backlash
21–30 of 92 posts
Re: Mazda's $10 Subscription for Remote Start Sparks Backlash
#22Do not ever buy a car from a company who locks features behind a subscription.
I assure you, your vote matters and they will listen. This community has the power to change the future. Hell, The product managers considering it are probably members. Here’s how we do it. Do. Not. Buy. That’s it. And we change the path of the future. Away from the shit life where everything is a subscription all the time towards the one where you own things after you buy them.
Re: Mazda's $10 Subscription for Remote Start Sparks Backlash
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem is value add: The old remote start system worked just fine. I click a button, a remote signal is sent to my car. Boom. Was it perfect? No. But it was local. Now we replaced a local system with a worse one. I tried using the mazda start and the delay could be 10 minutes because it depends on network coverage OR just how frequently the car wakes up to check the network. Edit: What would I pay for? - Remote…
There is lots of value to LTE-based start. It works even if you're too far from the car for the RF signal to reach. I park just below my office window because if I'm too far away, my RF-based remote start won't work. Also being able to remotely adjust climate settings would be nice. I do fully disagree with their implementation of this, especially with regards to a $10 subscription fee.
And what about if you don't have good cell service in your parking lot or garage?
Re: Mazda's $10 Subscription for Remote Start Sparks Backlash
#24> However, irrespective of whether one can afford (or is willing to pay for) a subscription, the key lesson from all this is that, if automakers have their way, the car ownership experience is going to change dramatically in the near future. Yep, unless people stop buying cars that offer these features, it's just going to get worse and worse. But here's the thing: they won't.
Everyone who knows will and that’s all it takes.
Re: Mazda's $10 Subscription for Remote Start Sparks Backlash
#25As some in the comments correctly point out, this service requires a cellular connection. Which involves costs for Mazda. It's appropriate for them to charge a small monthly fee for the service. My only real complaint about this is discontinuing the keyfob-based feature. All that said, I see no need for remote start, anyway.
Cars have had remote start systems since before the first cell phone was invented. What is LTE/4G/5G adding in this scenario? Who exactly needs to start their car from the other side of the world? It's trivial for manufacturers to add a short-range radio that will work from across the driveway, which is what 99% of their customers want. In fact every key fob already has this functionality, which is how cars can unloc…
It's not about the other side of the world, my RF remote-start works reliably only to maybe 100 feet or so.
I park directly below my office window so it's no issue for me to hit the remote start and then leave 10 minutes later but if I couldn't do that my remote start would be mostly useless.
For example say I go to a movie, ideal would be to remote start it just as the movie ends so it's warm by the time I make it to the car. With an RF-based remote start there's a 0% chance my remote starter works inside the theatre. It will only start working at some point after I leave the building and start walking towards the car giving me maybe a minute of warm-up time. Makes the feature kinda useless for this case.
Re: Mazda's $10 Subscription for Remote Start Sparks Backlash
#26> However, irrespective of whether one can afford (or is willing to pay for) a subscription, the key lesson from all this is that, if automakers have their way, the car ownership experience is going to change dramatically in the near future. Yep, unless people stop buying cars that offer these features, it's just going to get worse and worse. But here's the thing: they won't.
Can't stop buying if no options exist. I need a car. Toyota has done this for a while. BMW has IAP heaters in chairs. Etc. Etc. Etc.
There are hundreds of options without subscriptions.
Re: Mazda's $10 Subscription for Remote Start Sparks Backlash
#27I can't wait to read about renters not only having to pay their landlords rent, but also extra subscriptions for common amenities, like central heating, A/C, and even shower. The dream is a subscription for everything.
Re: Mazda's $10 Subscription for Remote Start Sparks Backlash
#28Companies love subscription based services. I have to assume it's becauce they're much more lucrative. But many times companies forget the other part: what value are they providing? Telling me I now have to subscribe to something I'm using to owning isn't going to work, or shouldn't work.
It's basically free money. You get money from people who subscribe and nothing from people who don't.
Since so many companies are simultaneously doing this app-powered subscription based value extraction there is no competitive disadvantage to doing it.
Re: Mazda's $10 Subscription for Remote Start Sparks Backlash
#29I would like to know when people will realize again the power of being united: a vendor start to screw it's customers? Few hours and all socials invite to boycott it. All intentions to order, reserved test drives etc got deleted "sorry, we hear the news, due to the vendor behavior we are not anymore interested not only in this specific car but in the brand altogether".
Re: Mazda's $10 Subscription for Remote Start Sparks Backlash
#30I can't wait to read about renters not only having to pay their landlords rent, but also extra subscriptions for common amenities, like central heating, A/C, and even shower. The dream is a subscription for everything.
Unauthorized Bread might be the book for you!
(Disclaimer: I haven't read it yet.)