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Comment by slt2021 | Hacker News Reader

slt2021

just multiply the monthly payment by 12*6 (avg time to own a car) and imagine giving the full amount upfront to the dealer for the full horsepower.

I dont understand why people balk at car subscription for some feature, but perfectly fine with leasing a car => which is basically a car subscription driven to its logical end?

does it matter if you have to pay $700 to your bank for lease and separately $20 to VW for some feature?

would it matter if you had to pay $720 to your bank instead for full features???

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> I dont understand why people balk at car subscription for some feature, but perfectly fine with leasing a car => which is basically a car subscription driven to its logical end?

Because that’s a choice with alternatives. This time they offer a “lifetime subscription”, not a purchase mind you! a subscription, next time they might not.

And since it’s a life subscription, does it transfer to the next owner? Or do they have to pay it again, a la Tesla? Will it get invalidated if I make a modification to the car?

They said lifetime of the car. So they can decide the car lifetime is 5 years, or 3 years. Amd then charge you again for an “extended support” subscription.

The difference is that the bank can't suddenly decide that you owe them $800 each month instead of $720, but VW can decide that your subscription costs $100 instead of $20.

And at some point the bank says “You’re done! Loan paid in full!”

because they can do, but doesn't mean they will do that.

You know what else VW can do: price each car at million dollar MSRP minimum, to make more money, but they dont do that. What do you think holds them from jacking up prices to $1 mln ?

Jacking the price up before you buy allows you to decide not to buy, and to switch to an alternative instead. So VW has an incentive to keep up-front prices low.

Once you have bought the car, you are locked into paying the higher subscription costs, because the costs of switching are much higher than the increased subscription costs. There are no alternative suppliers for "increased performance" of your VW. Thus, the disincentive of lost sales is removed, and VW is not incentivised to keep subscription prices low.

(See also: Netflix)

I absolutely balk at these sorts of subscriptions. I'm allergic to subscriptions generally, and especially when the "subscription" isn't to compensate for the ongoing cost of a service, but to allow the use of something that I already own.

I would also never lease a car.

To my understanding, most people who do leasing (at least in EU) do it because it's much cheaper due to tax regulations (if you buy a car for the company you own).

It's because turning the hardware on or off based on the payment is more or less pure rent seeking.

I mean, lots of people here resent charging for software also!

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