General Boards > Off Topic

Why never buy a BMW or any other that does the subscription scam

<< < (5/7) > >>

Munro:

--- Quote from: dilbert on Oct 21, 2022, 08:41:32 PM ---it is naive to believe that a manufacturer installs inactive hardware in a new car for free, and they only charge customers who opt to activate said hardware.

--- End quote ---
I believe any differences would, by law, be made obvious in the bill of sale.  Anyone with the wherewithal to buy a new car is capable of checking their bill and asking the relevant questions, as easily as they can blindly pay the moron tax.  Forgive my likely-outdated mental map of the 3-Series hierarchy, but expecting 335i features for 318i money, purely because various bits might be present and ready for deployment at the customer's financial discretion, is just daft.

Whether models in the range do go up in price purely because of added elements is open for debate... but the list price of nearly every new car has gone up anyway for reasons ranging from zero, to COVID, to "demand", to midlife upgrades.  Looking for granular detail and transparency in that arena is like dissecting warm jelly with a scalpel.  Good luck.

wj957:
While I too find it hard to believe that a manufacturer would only build one model with all the top end electronics physically installed, but not activated, that is until sold.
You tick the boxes and pays ya money.

I have a $5k hearing aid, custom molded to fit my ear canal. There are five different models to choose from depending on the features and level of performance your require (or can afford).

You put the hearing aid in, the consultant/technician/sales person turns on each individual feature you require, and tunes it via bluetooth from their pc. Then hands you the invoice.

Each device is physically equipped with the latest electronic features.
At any time you can upgrade your device to a higher standard, via their bluetooth, and your cash.

yvesjv:
Where does it stop?
I think this is a rort.
A very dishonest practice taking advantage of people that buy a product for prestige, bragging points and the likes.
It may generate a generous income stream for the business but it would be akin to paying multiple rents to an astute grifter.

Meanwhile I bet the rest of us just want the product as advertised, period.
Buy the car as built, pay the yearly insurance and the road-assist and done.

Navigator:
I'm still failing to see why this is an issue, or why people are so scared of it.   If you're buying the car new, and you want something available with it, tick the box, pay your money and it's yours for life.   Your circumstances change a year later and some function you didn't select would now be beneficial for you, subscribe and activate it.  Ditto if you buy the car second hand and the original buyer didn't pick something you want.

Munro:

--- Quote from: Navigator on Oct 22, 2022, 02:42:00 PM ---I'm still failing to see why this is an issue

--- End quote ---

I think there's a preconceived notion that because some widget or other is present in a device but not enabled, you're somehow being ripped off, even when it can be demonstrated that the next customer with the feature enabled pays more.

WJ957's example is very apt; in some cases streamlining the production process by including as much potential functionality as possible will help to make a complete product accessible to more customers more readily, instead of fiddling with a hundred different configurations specifically to order.

The only argument with any traction that I can see is the possibility of the base price of something being inflated to compensate, but that argument deliberately ignores potential savings made along the way in personnel, machinery, buildings for production lines and the like.  And even if the price has increased by a consolidated amount for consolidated reasons... good luck breaking that down into double or triple-digit figures for widgets.  That's wishful thinking.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page