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Imagine buying a used BMW, being impressed by a feature only to find it deactivated when the car is collected because it’s a rented extra.
I’d be well peed off if my cruise control radar was dependent on a now cancelled monthly payment !
Can see the economics working either, fitting all these parts and only getting revenue if they are used!
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Or looked at another way: You don't have to scour the country looking for the used car with the feature set you want. You buy a plain vanilla one locally and add the extras you want. Taken a bit further, don't bother about colour even, just get it "wrapped" the colour you want.
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Nor do you have to pay for a feature you don't want when you couldn't find the model you wanted without it.
It'll also be in the manufacturer's interest to keep software and data up-to-date even in older second-hand models since it will be ongoing revenue for them.
For the hardware, then it's so cheap that I am sure the additional cost for including it in all cars as opposed to managing a decision process when each custom car is built is minimal.
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I think it makes sense. In a feature rich car you can decide to peel items off if you never used them. There's a couple or dozen on the V60 which I'd never use...well maybe not a dozen. E.g. The self steering thing - fine as a little bit of a novelty for a while, soon got bored of it.
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There are a number of features on my car that I never use. Lane departure warning. Smart tailgate (in theory, opens when you approach). Quite a few I'd happily live without.
BMW could make indicators optional!
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My concern would be that if equipment in your car ceases to work, even if not rented, would this impact a future MOT regime.
Not going to be an issue with a heated steering wheel, but could be with any safety fitted equipment such as radar.
How would insurance companies look at it?
The premium for my Tucson was £300ish a year. It has BLIS and radar braking.
The cheaper model cost £350ish a year. Could cause problems mid year if a feature was deactivated due to non-payment.
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Reminds of my next door neighbour who bought a brand new SAAB in the early / mid 80s.
SAAB charged something like £300 for Cruise Control the feature if you ticked the box on your order form.
It turned out that all SAABs of that model had the complete wiring harness and function. For £50 or thereabouts he bought the Cruise Control lever and spent about an hour fiddling with a screw driver to connect the wiring & attach the lever. Job done.
Great solid car but he retired and traded it in for a Volvo 360 - not the best buy!
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>> It turned out that all SAABs of that model had the complete wiring harness and
>> function. For £50 or thereabouts he bought the Cruise Control lever and spent about an
>> hour fiddling with a screw driver to connect the wiring & attach the lever. Job
>> done.
Seems I could do this with a control bought from Ali-Baba for peanuts on my Toyota. Haven't bothered.
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Cars have just about completely morphed into computers on wheels (slight exaggeration).
Many gizmos are simply software configuration with limited costs attached to the hardware. And the hardware will increasingly be designed for easy owner installation, and/or a dealer profit opportunity.
So it is not surprising they are taking lessons from the IT, media and gaming industries.
Microsoft Office once came as a one off cost. Software updates were provided FoC. New releases typically backwards compatible. Only became unsupported after a decade or more.
They now sell licences having realised that most users never upgraded as they only ever used (say) 25% of software capability. One off income was not good for revenue growth!
Increasingly plausible that car manufacturers will sell a package with only essential legal, safety and basic functionality enabled. They will then sell a series of licence packages charged monthly, annually, or for other fixed period - you may:
- get a basic sat nav but pay extra for updates and real time traffic
- get basic aircon but have to upgrade for full climate control
- need to pay extra for an onboard vehicle configuration package
- need to pay extra for DAB, auto headlamps, auto wipers
- etc etc
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Layered I expect.
Car w/o Sat Nav
Car with subscription Sat Nav +£10 p.a.
Car with permanent Sat Nav +£30
Configured and priced per market.
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Its going to be a problem with older cars when BMW or whoever say that they no longer support software updates for a particular model, so you may have the hardware but they refuse to provide the enabling software.
Also, what happens if the motor manufacturer ceases to be like Rover, Mercury, SAAB etc. relying on software updates could make expensive hardware a lump very quickly.
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>>Its going to be a problem with older cars when BMW or whoever say that they no longer support software updates for a particular model, so you may have the hardware but they refuse to provide the enabling software.
Yes, it's secondhand value will be lower. As, for example, with all the cars around at the moment which have older Sat Nav not receiving updates.
You manage without.
>>Also, what happens if the motor manufacturer ceases to be like Rover, Mercury, SAAB etc. relying on software updates could make expensive hardware a lump very quickly.
Same as happened then. Gradually parts and servicing becomes a problem. however, you stand better chance of being looked after if you're part of a current revenue stream rather than someone who used to be a customer 10 years ago.
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>> Also, what happens if the motor manufacturer ceases to be like Rover, Mercury, SAAB etc.
>> relying on software updates could make expensive hardware a lump very quickly.
Rover and SAAB cars quickly disappeared from the streets. Neither of them required software updates. Its a recognised fact, if the maker of your appliance goes under, support of same quickly becomes untenable.
The car you bought will still function as a car, to the required mandated legal requirements in force at the time of purchase, even if your feature laden luxury list expires.
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>> Could cause problems mid year if a feature was deactivated due to non-payment.
>>
Clearly, for the reasons you stated, that can't happen.
Last edited by: Bill Payer on Mon 6 Jul 20 at 10:46
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Manufacturers have often fitted stuff that wasn’t activated; since the introduction of drive by wire throttles cruise control has often been a simple replacement stalk and coding work to activate. Indeed I did just that on my 2007 A4 convertible. That was also built with the wiring for heated mirrors, but not heated mirrors. Swapping out the mirror glasses was all that’s was required, and just cost £20odd. I know that my F10 5 series had a number of subscription services available, though at the time 3 years use was bundled in. I think, but cant’t be sure, that my 2005 E61 5 series (which had ‘professional’ nav) also had a subscription model for real time traffic and concierge services after the initial 12 month period.
More recently, every version of the last generation A3 (2013 to 2020) was built with navigation hardware installed. If you didn’t spec nav it could be activated later by a dealer (at a cost of £500 from memory).
It could be a challenge for managing private used car sales though; look and test drive a model with all the bells and whistles, but when it’s re-registered to the new owner the manufacture is notified and they deactivate everything!
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I imagine, like TV subscriptions, will be in packs of things you want and things you don't. e.g. you can only get garage door opener with heated steering wheel and heated seats - Weather Mitigation Pack or such codswallop.
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BMW - BMW feature rental - T junction
