This has gone too far

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[u/IronNobody4332]

I’m convinced that there will be (if there already isn’t) a sort of black market service sector dedicated to jailbreaking cars and getting all the services just like what we saw with phones. Should appear sooner rather than later at this rate.

[u/SimilarMidnight870 → u/IronNobody4332]

Then they will convince law makers that your car insurance will become invalid if you car has been hacked in this way.

[u/paradisewandering → u/SimilarMidnight870]

Just like tuned cars, where manufacturers attempt to void warranty for modifications.

[u/ArtoriasAbysswalker6 → u/paradisewandering]

Tbf incorrectly tuning/modifying a car is a really easy way to blow up an engine

[u/treypage1981 → u/ArtoriasAbysswalker6]

Yeah but how else are you supposed to get people to notice you?

[u/ArtoriasAbysswalker6 → u/treypage1981]

Ik you're being sarcastic but you can straight pipe from the cat back to make everybody in a 2 mile radius notice you, it's easy and any muffler shop will do it for 100 bucks lol

[u/b_josh317 → u/ArtoriasAbysswalker6]

Only $100 to prove to the world you don’t have a small penis?

[u/lemmzlol → u/SimilarMidnight870]

Then you'll do an insurance spin-off company to cater to jailbreakers for maybe a slightly higher premium - or smarter pricing models that are even cheaper!

[u/Flybaby2601 → u/lemmzlol]

Oh... you still think laws are made to protect you and not capital.

Bribery Lobbying makes the laws of the land. Until your coffers are bigger you are just along for the ride.

[u/amasimar → u/Flybaby2601]

Oh... you still think laws are made to protect you and not capital.

Yeah I'm in Europe so the companies have to either get on their knees like Apple or Youtube or gtfo (which they can't) instead of making worse products for higher price for the income charts to go up like in the US

[u/Flybaby2601 → u/amasimar]

Yall are some real homies for making usb-c the standard.

Enshitification is a staple of the US.

[u/Zealousideal_Sir_264 → u/SimilarMidnight870]

Bold of you to assume we insure our cars.

[u/Bluetwo12 → u/Zealousideal_Sir_264]

Bold of you not too really....

[u/suiyyy → u/Zealousideal_Sir_264]

it's illegal not too, depending on where you are lol

[u/Hi_Im_Ken_Adams → u/IronNobody4332]

There will be, but jailbreaking your car will probably complexly void you warranty and you won’t be able to get it serviced by a Mercedes dealer.

I’m guessing some owners may simply wait until the warranty expires before jailbreaking them.

[u/Bassmekanik → u/Hi_Im_Ken_Adams]

Getting a car serviced by the manufacturers dealers is also a fucking scam. As soon as that warranty is done find a good independent garage. Better service and they won’t claim you need unnecessary work done.

[u/Wendals87 → u/Bassmekanik]

In Australia, any qualified mechanic can service your car without voiding the dealer warranty.

Dealers overcharge so much

[u/dumwitxh → u/Bassmekanik]

Yep, here I need to pay 4x the price at an official dealrship, and even the parts they use are quoted way higher If I got them delivered from the official dealer

Finding an independent trustable garage is the way

[u/re_me → u/Hi_Im_Ken_Adams]

And like the person above you said: void your insurance.

[u/justim → u/re_me]

Car modifications are already a thing. You can reprogram your ECU to change engine parameters and it doesn't invalidate your insurance. Why would this be different?

I look forward to jailbreaking if this is the way things are going

[u/Fun-Dependent-2695 → u/IronNobody4332]

Yep. It’s only a matter of time.

But people are fools to buy these vehicles in the first place.

[u/sepehr_brk → u/Fun-Dependent-2695]

They already exist but kiss your warranty goodbye if you ever use them.

This model is going to spread to other manufacturers and people will eventually have no choice, specially in the US because consumer protection laws are considerably weaker than Europe.

[u/NO_LOADED_VERSION → u/IronNobody4332]

It exists and it's mainly been focused on the right to repair movement, the main bad guy is John Deere in that case.

[u/QualityKoalaTeacher → u/IronNobody4332]

If they’re networked (which they will be) the manufacturer will just reverse it or they will brick your car

[u/Extreme_Design6936 → u/IronNobody4332]

Yup, already exists for Teslas. You have to plug in a device though and can't update the Tesla until the third party approves the update. Although in this case Tesla claims that the cars that have greater acceleration actually do have different parts and that jailbreaking could damage the car. They've said the cars with better acceleration have different parts from the start (before jailbreaking) and don't offer a pay to upgrade speed so I'm inclined to believe them. Although they do offer the self driving features at an upgradeable premium and on a subscription model.

[u/SKGrainFarmer → u/IronNobody4332]

There has been for diesel engines, even since emissions with exhaust fluid and egr came out.

I can "delete" emissions from any of the diesel engines on my farm, and run it with no issues. Eliminates all sorts of emissions related codes, frozen and cracked def tanks, soot filled egr valves, rough running engines, and poor fuel efficiency and poor performance.

Voids emissions warranty, but once that is up, doesn't matter anyway

[u/2K_Crypto]

Damn I didnt know EA Games ran Mercedes

[u/vtfb79 → u/2K_Crypto]

Could you imagine if they went the loot crate route. For $100 you could get either power windows or airbags!

[u/Dragnier84 → u/vtfb79]

$50 crate : 74.999% clutch pedal, 25% accelerator, 0.001% brake

[u/Former_Sand_4396 → u/Dragnier84]

You're doing this completely wrong.

50€ crate: 74.999% normal mercedes Star, 25% rare mercedes star 0.001% legendary Mercedes Star. They all do essentially nothing but this one is golden

[u/Satanicjamnik → u/Former_Sand_4396]

EA recruitment here. When can you start?

[u/_stevethegecko_ → u/Satanicjamnik]

mEArcEAdEAs

[u/Satanicjamnik → u/_stevethegecko_]

It’s in the Name.

[u/Dmitri_ravenoff → u/Satanicjamnik]

I heard this.

[u/hawaiianryanree → u/Dmitri_ravenoff]

This thread fucking got me. Reddit you win today

[u/Theamazing-rando → u/Satanicjamnik]

"What's the salary?"

"For 19.99, you can purchase a daily wage box, 99% chance "Pizza Friday Coupon", 1% chance of living wage (minus wage payment subscription cost)!"

[u/Mdub74 → u/vtfb79]

Bigger cup holders and I'm all in!

[u/ErdmanA → u/Mdub74]

That's dangerous drinking quantity for a drive my dude. Gotta get the toilet seat addon

[u/UmbraIndagator → u/2K_Crypto]

I hate to be the guy to defend EA, but at least subscriptions on digital media kind of (with an inhalation of plenty of copium) makes sense. Mercedes and BMW are trying to sell a subscription to something you already own, a physical thing that exists as is.

[u/DMC1001 → u/UmbraIndagator]

How long before people hack it? Who knew modding would become a thing for cars?

[u/Competitive-Hope981 → u/DMC1001]

"you wouldn't download a car"

[u/Kitchen_Extension688 → u/Competitive-Hope981]

Sure as shit I would!

[u/QuariYune → u/Kitchen_Extension688]

We’re getting to a point where you could totally download more ram

[u/Abnormal-Normal → u/Competitive-Hope981]

If the files existed to 3D print a safe and functional car, I would 100% download it and print it

[u/An_Old_IT_Guy → u/Abnormal-Normal]

I don't think I would live long enough for that print to finish.

[u/Lalibop → u/An_Old_IT_Guy]

r/usernamechecksout

[u/KaiserFlash → u/Competitive-Hope981]

Core memory unlocked

[u/Corgerus → u/Competitive-Hope981]

I would 3D print a car and download a V12 twin turbo engine

[u/SlappinHappy → u/Competitive-Hope981]

Sauce: https://youtu.be/HmZm8vNHBSU?si=_cQ3Ur5eJM1jMyUb

[u/uninspired_walnut → u/DMC1001]

It’s been a thing for farmers for…a while now. They have to jailbreak their farm equipment pretty regularly, from what I’ve heard, lest they want to pay John Deere an arm and a leg to maintain their tractor.

[u/ngc2403lisa → u/uninspired_walnut]

True, however it's worse than that. They are having to unlock them in order to perform even basic maintenance on them which without these hacks would likely drive them out of business. John Deere and all others engaging in this practice are essentially modern day highway robbers holding them to ransom for buying their products. It's disgusting and should be banned.

[u/windycityc → u/ngc2403lisa]

Courts ruled in favor of farmers earlier this year. No more of this nonsense.

[u/DreddPirateBob808 → u/ngc2403lisa]

There's a local lad (as in: 70yr old) farmer who lends out his classic 1950s tractor here. He has all the attachments and, though it might take longer, does the bloody job.

[u/Consistent-Ad9156 → u/uninspired_walnut]

it isn't even the paying john deere that sucks for them, they would have to have this equipment towed all the way to john deere (which could be a ways away ) wait for the repairs then bring it back and hope to maintain the schedule they already were on, or they might lose substantial money.

it isnt as much the fee(which is definately overpriced) as it is the whole process jepordaries the viablity of thier farm.

[u/saskyfarmboy → u/Consistent-Ad9156]

Can't quite tell if you are not a farmer, or if you farm in an area that uses much smaller equipment, but in western Canada the equipment is too big to tow, and would have to be hauled in by a semi. As a result, all dealerships have a fleet of trucks to send a mechanic out to the machine to fix. They do this because they consider the mechanic's time driving out to you (and back to the shop) "working on your machine, so you get charged their hourly shop rate for travel time. They also charge you a call out fee, and around here at least, everyone tacks on 10% to your parts and labour bill for shop supplies as well. Farmers pay this, because it's way cheaper and faster than having it hauled in, and because if you're using it, you need it back in service yesterday.

Our machinery is far from new, so we send our combines in to the dealership to be checked out every winter. One of our machines had a ~$50k parts and labour bill, and they charged us nearly $5k for shop supplies. That's a heck of a lot more than they would've spent on the WD-40, shop towels, latex gloves, chain lubricant, grease, break cleaner, emry cloth, and any non-tool item they used to replace those parts. We complained and they lowered it to a couple hundred bucks, but still...

I'm thoroughly convinced John Deere is (not so secretely) trying to generate more profit for their dealers by making service calls (i.e service call out fee + shop rate for travel time) more frequent, which they will also charge you for shop supplies on.

[u/Consistent-Ad9156 → u/saskyfarmboy]

https://www.npr.org/2023/01/10/1147934682/john-deere-right-to-repair-farmers-tractors

https://www.wired.com/story/gadget-lab-podcast-581/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPYy_g8NzmI&t=356s&ab_channel=VICE
-at 6:00
Here are some of the sources I read that mention having to haul it. I think my understanding came from the statement given in the vice video but it also might have to do with locality. again not a farmer by any means and clearly you would know how things go with John Deere much better than I would. But thank you for explaining how it operates from your perspective really informative. Personally, my experience with right-to-repair has been with computers and personal electronics.

[u/pokemon32666 → u/DMC1001]

Yeah it won't take long before someone figures out how to reprogram the ECU, but then Mercedes would say you broke warranty

[u/PomeloLazy1539 → u/DMC1001]

OBD 11 for our Audi unlocked lane assist, for Free Fiddy.

[u/Serious_Hearing_8252 → u/PomeloLazy1539]

Imagine downloading airbags from pirate bay...

[u/lreaditonredditgetit → u/DMC1001]

Modding has always been a thing for cars, fuck you talking about.

[u/JC_Everyman → u/lreaditonredditgetit]

Literally people started the shit trying to mod their damn horse buggies

[u/SkynetUser1 → u/JC_Everyman]

Yeah but when you try to hack your horse's ECU, things get messy.

[u/EffectiveDependent76 → u/JC_Everyman]

I highly suspect that if we went far enough back, some enterprising young man was modifying their handcart.

[u/heyoyo10 → u/UmbraIndagator]

Mercedes and BMW are trying to sell a subscription to something you already own

Like EA hasn't done that

[u/saltymane → u/heyoyo10]

That’s the idea.

[u/Davosz_ → u/UmbraIndagator]

I'm certain EA has pulled the pay $x to unlock something already installed on the disk your just bought from the shop....

[u/NO_LOADED_VERSION → u/UmbraIndagator]

This may be kinda weird to you but games used to be physical things too.

[u/UmbraIndagator → u/NO_LOADED_VERSION]

N64 and Genesis generation. Games also came as is with no updates or patches.

[u/tootapple]

Agreed… the gym subscription model has grown to become an oppressive subscription model and this is bill shit. Ownership is ceasing to exist.

[u/bisho → u/tootapple]

bill shit

I see what you did there. Bill Shit should become a real portmanteau word for what they're all doing.

[u/PsiliguyfromtheH → u/bisho]

I believe its spelled Bill Schitt. William Schitt , actually.

[u/DisastrousOne3950 → u/PsiliguyfromtheH]

Now we're up Schitt's Creek.

[u/Wise-Profile4256 → u/DisastrousOne3950]

That's where Jack Schitt is from. What a coincidence.

[u/Sploitspiller → u/Wise-Profile4256]

Do you know him?

[u/Religious_toxicity → u/tootapple]

Music, apps, now cars.

[u/goonSquad15 → u/Religious_toxicity]

I think it makes sense for some things like music, gym membership, streaming services, but this new found idea of charging for car features that you already bought is insane

[u/winterwolf2010 → u/goonSquad15]

Exactly.. If you’re going to include heated steering wheels and seats, navigation systems, extra safety sensors, etc, into the price of the vehicle, I better fucking be able to use that shit without paying extra, otherwise, remove it from the price of the car. But even then, if shit gets this ridiculous when looking for a car, I’ll walk my happy ass right the fuck outta the dealership and find something else. Fuck all of this automotive micro transaction subscription bullshit.

[u/No_Wait_3628 → u/winterwolf2010]

Indirectly promoting healthy living by giving people the motivation to walk.

[u/SweetBabyAlaska → u/winterwolf2010]

"capitalism breeds innovation!"

the innovation: ...

---

seriously though, this is just absurd, and I can only assume its going to get worse since this is all based on software. Its not well regulated. Most cars are running using some kind of embedded system now, while it could be cool, we end up just getting bs like this or some outrageous data collection that the manufacturer can use as they please and there will be nothing we can do about it. All the car manufacturers will follow suite, and are.

[u/yoghurtorgan → u/goonSquad15]

unlimited ad free music for the price of a cd every 2 months.

[u/Arrandrums → u/yoghurtorgan]

At the expense of the actual musicians… let’s not forget that

[u/BuddhaLennon → u/goonSquad15]

They would argue that these are not the features you bought, but EXTRA features.

They have thrown down the gauntlet to hackers, and I’m sure they know that. Whatever it cost to develop pay-as-you-go performance features, they will have spent fifteen times as much money/resources on designing this system so one cannot bypass, disable, intrude, probe, or in any way do with it as you could with any car you bought new twenty years ago.

You’re absolutely right: ownership is dead. You are now renting from a greedy and capricious landlord.

[u/joshym0nster → u/BuddhaLennon]

There is always a way to hack it.

[u/J3wFro8332 → u/joshym0nster]

Would be willing to bet it voids the warranty on these cars though, so any issues with it and you're fucked

[u/DMC1001 → u/Religious_toxicity]

Napster: Vehicle Edition

[u/Reasonable_Humor_738 → u/tootapple]

How long until you can only lease cars?

"After you're done paying the 15 grand in five years, you have the option to either continue paying the lease or you can get a new car with a new 5 yr lease agreement."

Lease agreements are usually only three. I'm trying to put them at the same time frame as a loan because that's what they'd do.

[u/PM_ME_UR_RSA_KEY → u/Reasonable_Humor_738]

"Welcome to 2030. I own nothing, have no privacy, and life has never been better."

[u/USSMarauder → u/PM_ME_UR_RSA_KEY]

It's weird, some people are still convinced that it's the government that'll do this and that that phrase is a warning about communism.

Instead it's big business capitalism

[u/Wendals87 → u/Reasonable_Humor_738]

15k every 5 years for a new car? Sign me up!

Seriously that is good value. I'd take that in a heartbeat.

[u/notoriouspig33 → u/tootapple]

"You will own nothing and you will be happy"

[u/shinydewott → u/notoriouspig33]

Funnily enough, the people who most spout that sentence are also adherent fans of the system that created the model

[u/Japsai → u/tootapple]

Billshit!

I also will use this excellent term, and be sure, where possible, to credit Tootapple. Even if it's just an excuse to say Tootapple

[u/NotDiCaprio → u/Japsai]

Tootapple

[u/vittaya → u/tootapple]

Thanks Tesla.

[u/Joker-Smurf → u/tootapple]

Wait until they charge a fee for opening the fuel cap/charge port.

A fee flag-fall per passenger.

Need to stop the car? Please enter your credit card details.

[u/joausj → u/Joker-Smurf]

"Wanna track your abducted child in your car? Fuck you, pay the subscription bitch."

-VW, apparently

https://www.google.com/amp/s/arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/02/vw-wouldnt-help-locate-car-with-abducted-child-because-gps-subscription-expired/amp/

[u/CanoegunGoeff]

Yeah I’ll keep driving my 30 year old Toyotas. Thanks.

[u/budz047 → u/CanoegunGoeff]

99 4Runner Limited still going strong @ 258k miles .

[u/CanoegunGoeff → u/budz047]

My 98 RAV4 just hit 230,000 miles and I’m just replacing the water pump and the oil pump because one started leaking and the other is eating its own bearings. But it still runs just fine. So that’s cool. And when the auto trans died in my 96 Camry, I just manual swapped it. Problem solved lol.

[u/budz047 → u/CanoegunGoeff]

They don't make them like they used to, that's for sure . Now a day , you can't even change a damn turning signal bulb without going to the dealership

[u/CanoegunGoeff → u/budz047]

Right? There’s a control module that needs to be relearned for fucking everything these days. I prefer my car dumb as a box of crayons in that it doesn’t care much that it’s running a manual 5 speed when it’s expecting a 4 speed auto.

[u/phosphoenolpiirate → u/budz047]

'01 Camry with 302k km and the only issue I've had with it in the last five years was a rusty exhaust pipe. I will drive this thing until it's nothing but a steering wheel before I even consider "upgrading".

Edit: autocorrect changed 302k km to 302km rip

[u/plusoneasian → u/budz047]

Mean while my 2019 equinox is about to blow up at 180

[u/Traumatichamster1995 → u/CanoegunGoeff]

Drove my ‘97 Camry until 2020. Think it had like 270k miles on it

[u/SirRipOliver]

Did that mother fucker just pass me!!! Not on my watch…babe you got $1200 you can plug into this app right quick?

[u/StayingUp4AFeeling → u/SirRipOliver]

Inaccurate. This is a Mercedes Benz, not a BMW.

I'm joking, but BMW has that rep more than Merc.

[u/maybejustadragon → u/StayingUp4AFeeling]

BMW, where you pay to turn off your turn signals.

[u/SolarXylophone → u/maybejustadragon]

BMWs have turn signals?!

[u/NO_LOADED_VERSION]

The right to repair movement don't sound so fringe anymore do they ?

[u/Hot-Operation-8208]

Corporations getting more and more greedy. I'm wandering if there will ever be a breaking point.

[u/MemeEndevour → u/Hot-Operation-8208]

The day we stop buying

[u/Hot-Operation-8208 → u/MemeEndevour]

So never.

[u/MemeEndevour → u/Hot-Operation-8208]

unfortunately

[u/Utsutsumujuru → u/Hot-Operation-8208]

That’s literally the problem with basing success on ever increasing profit margins for stock price success

[u/Old_Baldi_Locks → u/Hot-Operation-8208]

Well yes, but not until people's kids are starving.

The corporations are hoping by that point they've purchased enough politicians to use the military to save them.

[u/QualifiedApathetic → u/Old_Baldi_Locks]

People's kids are starving right now. They've been starving for all of history. The corporations have always owned enough politicians to keep the status quo.

[u/5949]

Don’t buy it

[u/DEATHROAR12345 → u/5949]

Won't matter. Car manufacturers are just going to do it across the board and unless laws are put in place you'll just have to deal with it.

[u/SneakyStorm → u/DEATHROAR12345]

I guess Europe will have to save us again.

[u/Krish12703 → u/SneakyStorm]

Mercedes is European. So let's see.

[u/StockExchangeNYSE → u/Krish12703]

Only american cars get subscription services lmao

[u/Effective_Juice_9452 → u/StockExchangeNYSE]

UK do as well

[u/Dragongard → u/Effective_Juice_9452]

Brexit was a mistake

[u/LazyCat2795 → u/Dragongard]

They knocked it out of the park on that one. Lying to the most gullible group, barely suceeding on the vote and struggling on a proper deal, but not actually doing another vote once the consequences became clear before the brexit because that would be "undemocratic" you know, opposed to listening what the voters actually want right now, lets stick by a decision made months/years ago.

Fuck I hate (corrupt) governments.

[u/Webbyx01 → u/DEATHROAR12345]

Don't buy them. Buy older cars. The real problem is that sales hardly are diminished and they still make as much money anyway.

[u/GuitardedBard → u/DEATHROAR12345]

Don't buy them

[u/Littlest-Jim → u/DEATHROAR12345]

Not if people stop buying new. The worst that will happen to most of us is that used car prices will go up a bit.

[u/XiMaoJingPing → u/5949]

NOOOOO but i need to buy it >:(((((( but hey guys is 30% apr loan for 1000 months a good deal for this car? i work at mcdonalds making $10 an hour

[u/Doughspun1 → u/XiMaoJingPing]

In my country the current price for a c-class Mercedes is US$ 389,812, so that is the loan tenure you might literally need.

[u/geoemrick → u/XiMaoJingPing]

That IS a good move. But why not stretch it out to 2,000 months? Sure it’ll be 50% APR but oh well.

If you do 80 hours a week plus another job at 80 hours a week you should be able to afford the $2,000 monthly payment.

It’s worth it at any rate so you can impress your McDonald’s coworkers and drive like a maniac in traffic since you have a Mercedes.

[u/bohden420 → u/XiMaoJingPing]

Well let me tell you about the tonsil hammering I offer for 45% APR for 42069 months

[u/Drakoneous]

Fuck.... That... Shit.

[u/grahmzilla → u/Drakoneous]

That’s a different paywall app to purchase but it’s only $69 per use.

[u/Minimalistmacrophage]

Electric cars have way too much post purchase corporate control.

It's ludicrous to have to pay an annual fee for a feature the car already has.

[u/skynetempire → u/Minimalistmacrophage]

It needs to be fought now because other car manufacturers have been talking about this like Toyota, BMW, Ford

[u/-rwsr-xr-x → u/skynetempire]

It needs to be fought now because other car manufacturers have been talking about this like Toyota, BMW, Ford

There is a solution to this. It involves not supporting manufacturers who promote this anti-customer behavior. They're already building in regulations that allow law enforcement to remotely monitor, control and stop your vehicle for any reason, or no reason at all.

Why would you spend $50k-$100k+ on a vehicle that held you hostage behind its micro-transactions?

[u/dabooi → u/skynetempire]

Tesla has been doing it since the start

[u/peachesgp → u/Minimalistmacrophage]

Yeah it's understandable to pay more for a car that has better features. It is incomprehensible to pay more to get things that your car is already completely capable of.

[u/gavichi → u/peachesgp]

Cries in AAA gaming

[u/anjowoq → u/Minimalistmacrophage]

How is this an electric car thing? Capitalist douchebaggery is widespread.

[u/Webbyx01 → u/anjowoq]

It's easier to limit the max current into an electric motor.

[u/anjowoq → u/Webbyx01]

All cars are run by computers now so that could be used to throttle any and all of them.

[u/Littlest-Jim → u/Webbyx01]

Not really. Governors for engines have been a common-place thing for a long time.

[u/gorilla_dick_ → u/Webbyx01]

Most ICE’s already have an arbitrary speed cap. 150 is common

[u/joshthehappy → u/Minimalistmacrophage]

It's not just electrics man.

[u/BuiltLikeAFridge]

I looked up how much the electric suv cost and the sticker price was $225k cad 😂

[u/roraverse]

This really should be illegal. It won't be though because anyway the corporate overlords can make a buck they will.

[u/silenceispainful → u/roraverse]

It is! .. well, in the EU.

Manufacturers can't use subscription services for something that does not require continuous effort from their side / they need to keep doing something to offer a subscription: e.g. a cloud service is allowed to have a subscription model because the makers would have to keep the server running, change storage everytime it fails and so on, but same thing can't be said for a car, they do not need to do anything with the acceleration or the car itself once it's out of the factory

[u/_Halt19_ → u/silenceispainful]

holy fuck i love the eu so much sometimes

[u/Automatic_Gas_113 → u/roraverse]

Having a faster accelaration might be something that helps you to get your car out of a dangerous situation.
If any insurance figures out, that you could have moved the car out of the way in time with the faster accel. ...
Who is to blame? The person that did not want to pay for the upgrade or the manufactor that locked the feature behind a paywall?

[u/ShadowDemon129]

Boycott companies doing this.

[u/maybejustadragon → u/ShadowDemon129]

People who buy Mercedes buy them to show us how money means nothing to them.

It’s actually sad. This boycott will not happen. That’s why they do it.

[u/Infamous-Steak-1043]

"Car as a Service" is something I'm not ready for / interested in.

[u/DS_9]

Don’t buy vehicles that have subscriptions.

You’re encouraging this business model if you do.

[u/ImSoSalty88]

I blame EA for this

[u/ZealousidealShape547 → u/ImSoSalty88]

It all happened because of horse armor in Oblivion

[u/jradio]

I've been boycotting them this whole time.

[u/Independent-Ad5852]

Can’t tell if this is rage bait

[u/bs000 → u/Independent-Ad5852]

well it's a bot copying and pasting a year old post. so everyone's getting mad at something they were already mad about last year

you can also purchase faster acceleration outright for $2k, which is about the same price tesla charges, which no one seemed to have a problem with

[u/Enlight1Oment → u/bs000]

Yeah I remember posting about last time that depending where you live having your car go beyond certain specs change the tax on it. By selling you the lower spec you get to pay less.

Example, most standard edition cars have a speed limiter of 250 kph, 155 mph, even tho the car themselves could go faster. In the past the highest trim might remove that but for thousands more. While that's more an eu agreement, stateside you'll see taxes jump up on what regulations would define as super cars.

[u/JealousIniquity → u/Independent-Ad5852]

I think this is a real thing thats happening.

[u/Chris_the_Otter]

The intent is to give Mercedes owners a sense of pride and accomplishment

[u/grahmzilla → u/Chris_the_Otter]

Toyota does this with their remote starter (which also requires you upgrade to the premium stereo system). So much pride, so much accomplishment.

[u/Extreme_Design6936]

I hope someone will release a car where you can't simply buy these features but instead you have to earn them. Like 250 safe overtakes to unlock automatic windshield wipers. Let 1000 pedestrians cross for a 0.2 second reduction in 0-60 time. Pulled over appropriately for emergency services 150 times, unlocked 3 new sounds for the horn.

[u/mrjackspade → u/Extreme_Design6936]

The approach is to offer drivers a sense of pride and achievement for unlocking enhanced performance features.

Regarding the cost, we established initial prices based on data from early customer feedback and adjustments to pre-launch offers. We're also considering average customer engagement and will continuously adapt to ensure that the upgrades offer compelling, rewarding, and achievable enhancements through vehicle use.

We value the honest feedback and the enthusiasm our community has shown on various platforms, including social media and forums.

Our team is committed to ongoing modifications and will keep monitoring community input, providing updates as swiftly and frequently as possible.

[u/Bear3090]

If this is the future then I will gladly stay in the past

[u/yIdontunderstand]

Pay to win is spreading like cancer.

[u/Dusk_Abyss]

I wonder when we will need to pay for our monthly clean air subscription

[u/cra3ig → u/Dusk_Abyss]

Nestlé is working on it as you speak.

[u/NarrowButterfly8482]

Next up? Pay-walled airbags.

[u/MDFan4Life → u/NarrowButterfly8482]

And, brakes.

[u/Cuppy5]

If you don’t buy it it won’t be a thing

[u/HNL2BOS]

I'd appreciate it if the Govt could save me from things like this instead of Drag Queens.

[u/suid]

The next evolution will be "Mileage Caps". You can depend on it.

10000 miles per year. And you get charged 25c per mile for every mile beyond that. The enshittification of automobiles is gathering steam (so to speak).

Edit: I'm not talking about leases. I'm predicting that the old-fashioned concept of "buying" a car will go the way of "buying" software (i.e. turn into a glorified lease with payment up front in full).

[u/sinadis → u/suid]

Doesn't something similar to that already exist if you're just leasing a car?

[u/LawlessCoffeh]

A payment to unlock a hardware feature is one thing but making it subscription based is in my eyes an order of magnitude more severe of an offense.

[u/NeverNeverSometimes]

Subscriptions are only acceptable for services being rendered, not for physical objects that I already own. Throttling my acceleration or disabling my heated seats unless I pay is not a subscription service, it's extortion.

[u/Bleaklemming]

This is modern slavery. You no longer own anything, it's the illusion of ownership while you get charged for every action you take

[u/-V3R7IGO- → u/Bleaklemming]

For real, you can’t even type a fucking word document without a subscription anymore. We need laws to curb this immediately

[u/secretbudgie]

What kind of simp loser buys a Mercedes to rent his own gas pedal?

[u/Morgen019]

I’m too old to throw my money away on subscriptions for cars. It’s ridiculous. These cars are not cheap to begin with. This is crazy.

[u/jgriesshaber]

Please stop buying those Mercedes and BMW craptastic cars.

[u/Picklepartyprevail]

There’s just never enough is there?

[u/Tour_De_Volken]

You will own nothing and you'll be happy about it!

[u/Dainaz2021]

Fuck that

[u/guyguy46383758]

Video game companies have proven how this works long-term. What happens when supporting these older models is no longer profitable?

“Oh sorry, you can no longer use the full features that are built into the car because we can’t be bothered to keep the billing server up and running. Sucks to suck I guess”

[u/scots]

Hack forums in recent years: Cracked Windows activation keys

Hack forums 5 years from now:

m3rc3d35_amg_ROMkrak.zip

m3rc3d35_ROMflashUTIL_EXE.zip

[u/Failshot]

I wanna see a Fast and furious movie with a character forgetting to top up the sub fee.

[u/Binkusu]

This will continue until people stop paying.

[u/Krisuad2002]

Afaik they aren't allowed to do this in EU because the it's considered a dick move here. So Norway, UK, Switzerland and everyone else outside EU and Europe, you're fucked and need to tell Mercedes to go suck a decade old bratwurst

Edit: I couldn't find a source on my claim. Dammit...

[u/No-Hat1772]

Old classic cars won’t do this to you……

[u/Ancient_Signature_69]

How did anyone NOT see this coming? Everything will be SaaS, everything will be AI and it will all be IoT.

[u/ConcentrateWrong8953]

They're so corny with this...

[u/[deleted]]

Some manager or exec trying to meet bonus targets by brainstorming ways to charge more without adding any value

[u/IntertelRed]

Don't buy cars that do this. Much faster then regulation this will have an effect if this becomes more popular we should move onto regulation but right now these sorts of models are just experiments if it loses them money there not continue the idea.

If it get's drawn out and we need to regulation you have to apply more justification to it and it becomes harder aswell as a much longer process. If regulation is needed though then it's needed.

[u/sbray73]

The best way to prevent them from going that route is to refuse to buy these cars.

[u/vegebloomstein]

If you're dumb enough to buy it, you're dumb enough to pay it.

[u/maddasher]

What happens in the future when they don't support these cars' software updates?