As many of us thought.......from today`s Daily Telegraph

[Malc1]

17 hours ago, J Henderson said:

Whatever next?

nah, just a subscription to keep the car on the road and free of breakdowns maybe would be a great benefit for those  Merc owners to have  🤑

Malc

[ColinBarber]

This is ridiculous and hopefully they will receive backlash from (potential) owners, similar to what BMW with their heated seats subscription.

Personally I dislike subscriptions, but I can see the benefit if the feature you are subscribing to is constantly being developed and improved. Here it is just a static feature so I see no value in this not just being a one off purchase. It is also vastly overpriced.

It just appears to a money grab, or MB have no faith in their batteries and motors and so this is just an extended warranty in disguise to pay for the extra failures they expect due to the extra power demands.

[Rabbers]

10 minutes ago, ColinBarber said:

This is ridiculous and hopefully they will receive backlash …

Completely agree.  If there are benefits to customers they don’t readily meet the eye.  Self-inflicted brand damage seems likely. 

[Boxbrownie]

46 minutes ago, ColinBarber said:

This is ridiculous and hopefully they will receive backlash from (potential) owners, similar to what BMW with their heated seats subscription.

Unfortunately this is just hype and misunderstanding, if you buy your brand new BMW you can order it with heated seats (if it is not standard) just as normal with no subscription involved, but what BMW have done is a first in the industry by making it available to secondhand purchasers if it was not specified when new. The purchaser of a used BMW can add the heated seat feature by buying the subscription.

[Spock66]

13 minutes ago, Boxbrownie said:

what BMW have done is a first in the industry by making it available to secondhand purchasers if it was not specified when new. The purchaser of a used BMW can add the heated seat feature by buying the subscription.

I still think that's very poor, it's either got heated seats or it hasn't.

When buying a used vehicle I always look for the top of the range model with all the options, as often these can be very expensive when new, but add only minimal value to used prices.

[Boxbrownie]

2 minutes ago, Spock66 said:

I still think that's very poor, it's either got heated seats or it hasn't.

When buying a used vehicle I always look for the top of the range model with all the options, as often these can be very expensive when new, but add only minimal value to used prices.

What a strange outlook, yes if its a top model it will already have heated seats, fine.

But, if you buy a lower model which heated seats didn't come as standard you can add them.

[wharfhouse]

42 minutes ago, Boxbrownie said:

Unfortunately this is just hype and misunderstanding, if you buy your brand new BMW you can order it with heated seats (if it is not standard) just as normal with no subscription involved, but what BMW have done is a first in the industry by making it available to secondhand purchasers if it was not specified when new. The purchaser of a used BMW can add the heated seat feature by buying the subscription.

The idea of a one-off payment for a used car purchaser should an option not have been specified at order to have it activated over-the-air (or even by a dealer) might make some sense if the relevant hardware is already there. However, the idea of a subscription (annual payment) to have the option activated is what is off-putting IMHO.

[royoftherovers]

56 minutes ago, Boxbrownie said:

What a strange outlook, yes if its a top model it will already have heated seats, fine.

But, if you buy a lower model which heated seats didn't come as standard you can add them.

Just make sure that the small and smaller print is read and understood and do realise that there will be a date of model construction from which the option CANNOT be specified for adding to a vehicle`s spec.

[Las Palmas]

11 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

Just make sure that the small and smaller print is read and understood and do realise that there will be a date of model construction from which the option CANNOT be specified for adding to a vehicle`s spec.

Countries like Denmark import cars that have all the extras built into them, but not the stalks or buttons controlling them. I know. Have been selling to the car importers all these little things that can make all the extras like cruise control etc. function.

[Boxbrownie]

48 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

The idea of a one-off payment for a used car purchaser should an option not have been specified at order to have it activated over-the-air (or even by a dealer) might make some sense if the relevant hardware is already there. However, the idea of a subscription (annual payment) to have the option activated is what is off-putting IMHO.

I agree, but I guess it depends how long your going to keep the car for and how much a one off payment would be, would have been good to have the option though.

[Boxbrownie]

18 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

Just make sure that the small and smaller print is read and understood and do realise that there will be a date of model construction from which the option CANNOT be specified for adding to a vehicle`s spec.

Yes, I don’t think my old 1972 2002tii would qualify 😁

[Boxbrownie]

8 minutes ago, Las Palmas said:

Countries like Denmark import cars that have all the extras built into them, but not the stalks or buttons controlling them. I know. Have been selling to the car importers all these little things that can make all the extras like cruise control etc. function.

 

Even here in the U.K., the most used one I believe is VW and a stalk change enables cruise control.

In the old days it used to be if your car didn’t have the puddle lights, or footwell lights it was a matter of just inserting bulbs! 

[ColinBarber]

4 hours ago, Boxbrownie said:

Unfortunately this is just hype and misunderstanding,

Yes a misunderstanding, but the backlash was based on the misunderstanding that it was a subscription. The public, or at least the media, made their feeling know so MB should expect the same.

[Harrier Man]

The link to MB (USA) posted by John clearly states, "The $1,200 yearly fee " and I seem to remember that the original story I read about BMW subscriptions referred to the S Korean market. Manufacturers can play all sorts of tunes with these options, no payment, one-off payment, non transferable subscriptions valid only during ownership, monthly or annual subscriptions. I suspect that what the manufacturers offer us will depend on the country/market we are in and will be based on what they think they can get away with.

[Malc1]

and there we are .  our old and ancient steeds .  well, mine anyway, has in-built from new and quite useable ......  heated seats and functioning Cruise Control  .  now, where's the Cruise missile to take out the odd Merc nearby 😆

Malc

[royoftherovers]

1 minute ago, Malc1 said:

and there we are .  our old and ancient steeds .  well, mine anyway, has in-built from new and quite useable ......  heated seats and functioning Cruise Control  .  now, where's the Cruise missile to take out the odd Merc nearby 😆

Malc

This is the old Merc nearby Pal. Do you wanna play ?

[Malc1]

Chesire's tooooo far from Kent and anyway .  you'd probably deflect a Cruise missile with that quality bodywork ✌️

Malc

[Boxbrownie]

15 hours ago, Harrier Man said:

 I suspect that what the manufacturers offer us will depend on the country/market we are in and will be based on what they think they can get away with.

And when have they never done that?

[dutchie01]

Isnt it the Ryanair system? You buy a car but then need to pay extra to be able to open the passengerdoor. If you forgot to order the dtk ( digital trunk key) you cannot load you suitcase. The cars infotainment system will bombard you with commercials unless you pay. Limitless possibillities!

[Spacewagon52]

My bus pass is becoming even more appealing!

[Rabbers]

Manufacturers that offer a subscription menu of customisations and performance improvements presumably expect to derive enough economic benefits from  simplified production scheduling and faster-moving finished-car inventories to compensate the risk of alienating prospective customers.  If this is the case, and I can think of no other, it indicates that their faith in their brands and the quality of their products is extremely strong - which, by and large, comes as no surprise with MB and BMW.  However, it is hard to see, let alone quantify, how customers might react to getting no benefit for themselves beyond undemonstrably earlier delivery times of their new cars off simplified production lines.

[Boxbrownie]

16 hours ago, Rabbers said:

Manufacturers that offer a subscription menu of customisations and performance improvements presumably expect to derive enough economic benefits from  simplified production scheduling and faster-moving finished-car inventories to compensate the risk of alienating prospective customers.  If this is the case, and I can think of no other, it indicates that their faith in their brands and the quality of their products is extremely strong - which, by and large, comes as no surprise with MB and BMW.  However, it is hard to see, let alone quantify, how customers might react to getting no benefit for themselves beyond undemonstrably earlier delivery times of their new cars off simplified production lines.

All manufacturers offer “customisation” as you call it, most just call it options, even Lexus gives you option packs.

All BMW are doing is giving buyers of secondhand vehicles the choice to upgrade to options that were never picked by the original buyer, I really don’t see the down side, sure it would be nice to have a buy outright option but the if you don’t keep cars that long your may well be paying half the cost for the next owner.

[J Henderson]

Yeah, but the "customisation" Mercedes are charging a subscription for, is something the car is already capable of.

It's just locked away behind a pay wall, videogame-style.

[dutchie01]

To be fair this has been going on for decades already only difference is now it is fully digital and can be controlled from a distance. In the old days you could spec the car exactly how you wanted it ( not if there was much choice).  Nowadays the marketingdept is the deciding factor to drive profits by pushing customers into upgrades. A car is developed and they then take the expected most sold spec as a basis. Everybody wants these wheel/color/upholstery/engine/infotainment and so on. What they then do is take all this OUT of the standard offer and place it into packages or subpackages that are inter connected as well. ( lower stiffer springs and gearboxflippers at the wheel? ok but only if you also take the sports upholstery/setas adding another 4k). This works and almost no car is leaving the factory as basis and depending on make/model the extra income can be anything between 15 and 50% ( MINI!!).   

[Boxbrownie]

25 minutes ago, J Henderson said:

Yeah, but the "customisation" Mercedes are charging a subscription for, is something the car is already capable of.

It's just locked away behind a pay wall, videogame-style.

I am not familiar with the MB system, what are they doing exactly?