online upgrades: Is it broken, a disabled feature, or customer gouging

This topic has 31 replies, 22 voices, and was last updated 16 July 2022 at 11:08 by HOWARDT.

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15 July 2022 at 21:13 #606004
IanT
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@iant
No, in fairness SoD – I have everything I expected (& specified) when I purchased the car – including things like adaptive cruise (e.g. all things which seem to cost more on Beemers these days)

I wasn't expecting the 'connected' facilities (vehicle tracking, theft alerts, roadside assistance, other driver & valet tracking, traffic alert etc) – and hopefully will not miss them too much when they finally expire. I view them more as a bonus whilst they are avaialble. It is a form of 'trial' upsell but everything that was on the original spec when I ordered the car (plus a few that were not) is there and will remain there. Frankly, I am delighted with my new purchase, I think it may well be the best handling car I've ever driven and owned. It's probably also the last car I will ever purchase too, certainly the last new ICE one…

As an aside (and another rabbit hole to dive down) – my son has just aquired a new BMW "plug-in" that he cannot actually plug-in where he currently lives (don't ask). Idle curiousity made me check the specs between our two (similar sized) cars. His hybrid is 415kg (over 900lbs) heavier than mine. I kind of doubt regenerative braking is making too much difference in terms of mpg, when dragging the equivelent of an extra five adults around all the time?

Regards,

IanT
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15 July 2022 at 22:07 #606010
john halfpenny
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@johnhalfpenny52803
My nearly new British car has the features that IanT describes – I expect all new cars are of this kind. Many soft features are enabled for 1-3 years, but require a subscription after the 'free' period expires. It is by some distance the best driving car I have owned, and a tribute to modern tech. A lot of these soft features have functionality from my mobile phone, and remotely. The car will work satisfactorily without these features, and I anticipate not subscribing – but if they prove useful who knows? I certainly don't want to revert to a Morris Minor.
16 July 2022 at 00:41 #606014
Hopper
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@hopper
Posted by john halfpenny on 15/07/2022 22:07:08:

…. I certainly don't want to revert to a Morris Minor.

What?? But … but the Morris Minor is the Rolls Royce of cars. On par with the Myford lathe!
16 July 2022 at 07:36 #606018
Ady1
Participant
@ady1
Hang onto your morris minor

and stick a battery and a scrapped tesla motor into it

With the prices they charge for new electric vehicles it will be a lot cheaper, it's upcycling and it looks waay better
16 July 2022 at 08:30 #606020
john halfpenny
Participant
@johnhalfpenny52803
Actually, my financial adviser has the new car – I have a Reliant Scimitar!
16 July 2022 at 09:06 #606021
JA
Participant
@ja
Posted by Hopper on 16/07/2022 00:41:21:

Posted by john halfpenny on 15/07/2022 22:07:08:

…. I certainly don't want to revert to a Morris Minor.

What?? But … but the Morris Minor is the Rolls Royce of cars. On par with the Myford lathe!

Rubbish!

Hopefully on behalf of all Myford owners.

JA
16 July 2022 at 11:08 #606032
HOWARDT
Participant
@howardt
All this is nothing new. Back in my machine tool days, servo drivers were supplied with features turned off. This makes sense when an axis doesn’t require a feature and never will, but some features where required and you had to pay for an engineer to come out just to move a jumper, which he did behind your back. Eventually we were working close with the manufacturers and got all the codes during development of their kit.
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