The German car-maker says its “optional power upgrade” is designed to give customers more choice.

  • Evono@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    2 days ago

    So basicly it’s excusing either their bad warranty , their bad planning , or their bad quality.

    None of the customers business and shouldn’t be a subscription.

    I means what’s next ? 3 tires the 4th will be a subscription cause it’s one more tire that needs maintenance ?

    • Wispy2891@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      There’s a $650 lifetime unlock option. What’s the difference between this and the “m series” for BMW that costs $20k over stock, that must be purchased at the time of order??

      At least gives an option to the user, if it’s not fast enough for winning races at the nurburgring, then they can unlock full performance for $650.

      In city it makes no difference except using more energy and consuming tires faster than expected

      • Evono@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        2 days ago

        The difference is , the BMW actually changes something physically.

        The 650 unlock just unlocks something artificially you already had purchased and owned.

      • grue@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Why shouldn’t I break into your house, change the locks, and then charge you a ransom to get access to it back?

        'Cause that’s what VW is doing here.

        • Wispy2891@lemmy.world
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          1 day ago

          It’s completely different. It’s a car that was sold with an option at moment of purchase. 145 HP or 200 HP for more money? Normal people chose the 145 HP because cheaper and pay less taxes and insurance and because when you drive in the city the 50 HP do not make any difference.

          Suppose one day the owner needs to win races at the nurburgring instead of commuting or taking kids at school, so they give the option of unlock the full power instead of buying a new car.

          If it was something like “from today you need to pay a subscription if you want to open the back windows” I would agree with you, but in this case it’s a power unlock that was known from the moment of purchase and not a surprise shock.

          • grue@lemmy.world
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            1 day ago

            No, that’s absolute bullshit.

            In your example, they absolutely and unequivocally bought all 200 HP, from the beginning, and merely got a good deal on it if VW charged a lower price than the identical car with different number on the label. But it was always their property from the beginning because that’s how property works.

            They owe VW nothing after the fact, and always had the capital-r Right to use every bit of horsepower the engine was physically capable of!

            The only reason someone could possibly disagree is if they’re a corporate whore who hates property rights and loves being subjugated. It is not a tenable position for any reasonable person to have.

            • Wispy2891@lemmy.world
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              19 hours ago

              ECU hacks exists since decades ago, it is simply a different, more conservative curve because the car it’s a vehicle for urban usage and doesn’t need to be racing competitive.

              They call it unlock but it’s a different power curve and possibly the 159 kmh limit removed (but with an ev you really don’t want to go over 130 unless you’re racing, the power consumption is so high that you need to stop to recharge after just 100 km)

              I repeat, that this is not something like heated seats or android auto/car play support (BMW did those as a subscription), something that renders the car almost useless if removed.

              99% of owners won’t even think a second about this option

              • grue@lemmy.world
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                18 hours ago

                ECU hacks exists since decades ago…

                They call it unlock

                Yeah, no shit ECU tuning has long been a thing. I’ve got a '98 VW with an ECU tune myself.

                The thing is, they’re calling this outrage an “unlock” because they’re charging for it, which is obviously the essential difference. They are attempting to colonize your property in order to charge you rent for something you are already entitled to do!

                I repeat, that this is not something like heated seats or android auto/car play support (BMW did those as a subscription), something that renders the car almost useless if removed.

                This is exactly like those things, because they are restricting access to stuff that is already rightfully yours. It doesn’t fucking matter whether the feature is important or not; the only consideration is that the car came with it which means you already paid for it, and they’re trying to make you pay for it again.

                How the fuck are you still failing to understand how beyond the pale this THEFT OF YOUR RIGHTS is?!

                • Wispy2891@lemmy.world
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                  18 hours ago

                  Come on, there are dozens of way more useful features that can be unlocked without paying VW using obdeleven, I’m sure the same can be done for this.

                  This is just a fancy way for a driving profile, like eco, sports, normal. Think it like “sports+”

                  99% of people wouldn’t feel the need to enable this even if it was free but buried in the app menus

                  And the most important thing is that there’s still the option to get it lifetime and tied to the car, so when you sell the car the new owner can still use it, unlike Tesla where you pay $10k for “full” self driving but then when you sell the car the feature vanishes into thin air and they keep the money without refund

                  • grue@lemmy.world
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                    15 hours ago

                    What part of “it’s a violation of people’s property rights to try to extract rent for the thing they already own” do you not fucking understand?

                    It doesn’t fucking matter what the feature is. Either get that through your skull, or STFU.