Sponsored

Renting your winch for 30 seconds

OP
OP

Fudster

Banned
Banned
Banned
First Name
Elliot
Joined
Mar 9, 2022
Threads
29
Messages
657
Reaction score
673
Location
Athens, GA
Vehicle(s)
2019 Sahara
* Yes, tool rental and vehicle feature rental have key differences in the number of copies of the tool produced and its reflection on rental price, no doubt.
* They do have similarity in how the vehicle owner can benefit from the occasional use of a vehicle feature rental over purchase.
* On the whole though, vehicle feature rental, barring software requiring maintenance, sounds like a much disliked idea.
* No doubt, manufacturers provide this service to capture more revenue on a feature that some owners would opt out of purchasing with the vehicle, and run the risk of more owners further "renting their lifestyles," leasing the features on what may already be a leased vehicle, further financially leveraging their personal balance sheet.
Sponsored

 

STW

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 25, 2021
Threads
43
Messages
468
Reaction score
484
Location
Utah
Vehicle(s)
2022 JLR 2door 2.0T Rubicon stingrey
so how does BMW pay me for the cost of storing and hauling around their subscription features in my car? The car that I bought and own. Are they assuming I'll carry their junk around for free just in case I ever want to pay them to use it?


next, they'll install that little hotel mini-fridge with expensive mixed nuts and tiny vodkas to tempt me. I'm not carrying that around for them either.
 

Sponsored

TexasRay

Well-Known Member
First Name
Scott
Joined
May 7, 2022
Threads
0
Messages
53
Reaction score
144
Location
Prosper, Texas
Vehicle(s)
2022 JLU Willys XR Gobi - Ordered 5/15...
Hard Pass. It doesn't take much imagination to see that these types of systems could also be leveraged by "authorities" to restrict "Undesired" behavior...
 

LOBBS

Well-Known Member
First Name
Kyle
Joined
Apr 10, 2022
Threads
11
Messages
362
Reaction score
1,393
Location
Independence, MO
Vehicle(s)
JLR
Build Thread
Link
Occupation
Quality Manager in Automotive Aftermarket
The biggest issue I have is that you'll be paying for the hardware regardless. Maybe they save a few bucks in simplifying the build process but I highly doubt they're passing that along to the consumer. But then to have to pay more to actually use it?! Nah, fam.
 

OldBlue

Well-Known Member
First Name
Doug
Joined
Dec 2, 2021
Threads
19
Messages
939
Reaction score
1,646
Location
Chatham Twp, OH
Vehicle(s)
See my Signature
Build Thread
Link
Occupation
Aerospace Forgings Test Lab
Vehicle Showcase
3
No f-in' way. If I want a feature on a car, I will BUY it and use it to my hearts content. Subscription? F you. Ain't happening.
 

aldo98229

Well-Known Member
First Name
Aldo
Joined
Nov 16, 2019
Threads
86
Messages
11,019
Reaction score
27,683
Location
Bellingham, WA
Vehicle(s)
2023 Jeep Gladiator, 2018 Fiat 124 Spider
Occupation
Market Research
Vehicle Showcase
3
Companies LOVE the subscription model: it ensures a steady stream of revenue, and holds customers captive.

Recently, Toyota wanted to charge a monthly fee to allow owners of the new Tundra to use the remote start feature. There was so much customer backlash, Toyota had to backpedal.

Pay for winching? Screw that!
 

Shibadog

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2021
Threads
16
Messages
1,903
Reaction score
3,117
Location
Bowling Green, Ky
Vehicle(s)
2020 Wrangler Sport S hardtop
Occupation
Safety &Fire Protection Engineer (Retired)
Might be fine for those who got stuck on a curb at Starbucks. There’s usually no internet in the canyons where I might need it.

Jeep should count on losing customers if they try that nonsense.

And make no mistake, you’ll pay for that hardware up front. Automakers are not Santa Clause. The monthly fees are just extortion.
Agree. Ain’t gonna happen. Somebody is going to pay for those features and that somebody is whoever buys/leases the vehicle. Zero profit for a company to buy a winch and then install it on all their vehicles on the chance that someday it will be needed and activated. Even if the activation charge was as much as the purchase price of the winch, all the others out there that would never be activated make it a losing proposition for the mfgr.
 

Sponsored

pfletcher229648

Well-Known Member
First Name
Patrick
Joined
Feb 1, 2022
Threads
3
Messages
166
Reaction score
465
Location
Orlando
Vehicle(s)
2022 JLUR XR w/SOT, 2024 JLUR X w/SOT(On Order)
Occupation
CIO
Perfect relatable example is Satellite Radio??? All my cars have the equipment, yet I don't subscribe to the service. So, I've already paid for the equipment, I just can't use it, unless I pay the monthly.

Personally think charging monthly for heated seats is ludicrous, the hardware is already a sunk cost. There is no ongoing cost for content being developed as in the satellite radio scenario. I seriously doubt the price of a BMW has dropped due to this feature.

It only makes sense to fractionalize the expense/cost of a product if you can sell it to many different people and get the utilization of it to a maximum. That's the goal of renting equipment. I pay for it once and rent it out for maximum usage. If I don't use the heated seats BMW can't rent them to someone else. My butt is still sitting on them.

Stupid idea who would possibly pay for that? Then again the Kardashians are billionaires, what do I know.
 

S2k Chris

Well-Known Member
First Name
Chris
Joined
Aug 1, 2018
Threads
32
Messages
816
Reaction score
1,719
Location
Arlington Heights, IL
Vehicle(s)
AP1 S2000, Rubicon 4xe
Occupation
Finance

TimmH

Well-Known Member
First Name
Timm
Joined
Sep 18, 2018
Threads
7
Messages
722
Reaction score
874
Location
Florida
Vehicle(s)
2018 JL Wrangler Sahara 3.6 Auto
Vehicle Showcase
1
Most likely BMW found it was more cost effective to include the seat heaters in all seats, and plan on a certain percentage of people paying the fee. to just increase it's overall revenue.

It wouldn't work for all things, particularly true add-ons (IE: Winches). As someone mentioned satellite radio. It's so cheap to add it to a radio these days, that it is more cost effective to include it than to stock 2 different head units. And I believe Sirius subsidized a portion of the initial implementation.
 

zrickety

Banned
Banned
Banned
Joined
Aug 7, 2020
Threads
20
Messages
1,549
Reaction score
1,840
Location
USA
Vehicle(s)
2020 Rubicon 2DR 3.6L 6MT, VW 2.0T
Build Thread
Link
Occupation
Technician
This will backfire spectacularly.
Only a handful of the ultra wealthy will pay a subscription for something that has been historically affordable or included in many vehicles. Techs will be jailbreaking cars on the weekend, and used car values will rise even higher.
 

Mocopo

Well-Known Member
First Name
Kevin
Joined
Jun 13, 2022
Threads
5
Messages
744
Reaction score
1,488
Location
Arizona
Vehicle(s)
22 JLURXR
Build Thread
Link
No f-in' way. If I want a feature on a car, I will BUY it and use it to my hearts content. Subscription? F you. Ain't happening.
Never say never! World Economic Forum says soon you'll own nothing, and be happier for it!
Sponsored

 
 



Top