[eltonioni]

The average iThing buyer is easy meat for Lex Luther Elon Musk because all Tesla is doing is trying to turn cars into an IT service where the consumer is stiffed for a lifetime of micropayments for added value services and functions that add up to far more than their utility is actually worth.

Nobody needs any of this Carp to travel safely from A to B.

Once we're locked into this brave new world, that's it, they have created a dependency where there wasn't even a demand. Tesla is like heroin for old geezers.

[Colonel Panic]

... because all Tesla is doing is trying to turn cars into an IT service where the consumer is stiffed for a lifetime of micropayments for added value services and functions that add up to far more than their utility is actually worth.

Remind me, what lifetime of micropayments am I paying Tesla?

Land Rover wanted £££ Silly Money on an annual basis for their Track 'n Trace service for my Range Rover, ditto Mrs P's Mini. So it is not as if Tesla are re-inventing the wheel here, but I am happy that I don't have to pay Tesla anything in future.

[eltonioni]

@Colonel Panic They are all at it, the heated seat trial is just a glimpse into the future. Turn on if you pay, turn off if you don't. What's a one off payment for a single item now becomes a winter bundle with heated seats / interior preheater/screen demist.... if you live where it gets cold. Or if it's hot in your neck of the woods it's the special offer summer coolpak with auto window tints, special sciency dust filter and extra powerful a/c that goes up to 11 if you get the Spinal Tap add-on.

"For a small payment Sir, you won't even notice the $19.99 a month, just turn it off when you don't want it, switch it around with the seasons or geography. For that special trip to the Alps with Madam you can subscribe to the StixLikePooOnABlanket extra traction pack with a free Snowblindz electro screen tint, jst $249, renewable annually"

People are terrible at cancelling unused services. These vehicles aren't intended as transport, they are designed to empty our pockets.

[Colonel Panic]

Top Tip - keep smoking whatever you are on if it makes you happy.

[riverrock]

Tesla ( and it's only Tesla that turn on features remotely other than things like satnav updates) got itself into trouble a wee while ago when they did an audit and decided some cars had features turned on which Tesla believed shouldn't have been. Therefore they remotely turned the features off.
That was annoying for those who had been enjoying them without paying but much more annoying for those who had bought second hand, in some cases from Tesla dealers, where the cars had been advertised as including those features.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.autobl ... used-cars/

I should say in balance, after publicity, Tesla did restore the features to that car.

[Colonel Panic]

It is all a bit of a minefield with Tesla, I will agree. AIUI, if you buy a Tesla from Tesla and add Full Self Driving (or whatever it is called), if you then sell it back to them in part exchange, when Tesla come to sell it again they remove the FSD and would then charge the new owner to (re-)add it. A very strange concept IMHO ...

[Rob P]

AIUI, if you buy a Tesla from Tesla and add Full Self Driving (or whatever it is called), if you then sell it back to them in part exchange, when Tesla come to sell it again they remove the FSD and would then charge the new owner to (re-)add it.

I'd pay them to remove it personally

Rob P

[malcolmfrost]

....however if you sell it privately or not through Tesla (there are no official Tesla dealers) , the FSD stays with the car! I guess the argument is that they own the car so can enable or disable as they please. As long as it is advertised as without FSD that's fine!

[riverrock]

Just be careful with buying older Tesla - 30% of models built before 2018 have had the memory chips within the primary computer fail as they were designed for cheap mobile phones only supposed to last 3 to 4 years. Apparently all built between 2012 and 2018 will fail eventually with this issue:
https://www.theregister.com/2020/11/17/ ... nd_memory/

[cockney steve]

^^^^^^^^^^ It's really nothing new. I know of several used-car sellers who have tow-bars removed from trade-ins. When the car is sold and the buyer wants a tow-bar, they're referred to the same specialist who removed (and probably supplied) the original towbar.
All to do with potential liability. an un-forecast consequence of the present litigious society.

[Rallye]

The more I hear this kind of stuff about software turning on/off options which may or may not have been paid for, just as you would get a "free trial" on an app, the more I think that my next car will be pre-2000. In fact I might even go for something older still. Call me a luddite, but I like the idea of being in control of 2 tonnes vehicle myself...

Regards, SD..

I have an option for you A twingo 25 years old,no software

[Boing_737]

The subscription economy is a fact of life with modern software (Netflix, Amazon, Tesla, etc.) There are two goals, one is allowing the user choice about the services they want, if you like it you will keep the service, if not you can bin it. Once you have a Tesla or new TV no one is forcing you to have the subscription things. You are perfectly at liberty to go along with the standard included features. BMW for instance offers you the opportunity to buy traffic updates for their satnav or other services through their (terrible) app.

The reason the other car manufacturers are not doing this like Tesla is that their distressed engineering skills are easy behind. They're still thinking like car manufacturers, not software companies, and unfortunately there value is in the software, especially when EVs largely get rid of the need for expensive servicing.

[malcolmfrost]

BMW i3 service plan! For what?

Servicing
The BMW i3 service plan costs just £239 annually and includes full diagnostic checks and parts replacement if required for electrical items.

[kanga]

... I know of several used-car sellers who have tow-bars removed from trade-ins. When the car is sold and the buyer wants a tow-bar, they're referred to the same specialist who removed (and probably supplied) the original towbar.
..

this reminds of a Canadian DND colleague from when we were in Ottawa in the '80s. He bought a wreck of a house with a large (nice but now neglected) garden, and agreed and signed a contract with a builder to have it demolished and replaced with a more modern one on the same site; and paid a deposit using an (expensive) loan. After the signature he asked when builder was going to start. Builder said that they could not start until the plants, trees and all the topsoil had been removed; not included in the price. Cost of that would be C$lots, but builder could do it straight away; or colleague could shop around for someone else, and wait for them to have time .. Colleague reluctantly agreed and paid up. Soil was all removed.

When new house was complete, garden was completely bare. Colleague asked where the topsoil was. "not included in the price, but we could sell you enough in a new (expensive, of course) landscaping contract .." He assumed he would be getting his own soil back

[Flyin'Dutch']

All to do with potential liability. an un-forecast consequence of the present litigious society.

I totally believe that this happens and that this is given as a reason to remove it, but that is obviously totally bolleaux.