Heated seats as a subscription

[Dole]

Just wanted to give a heads-up that BMW has started charging some car owners a monthly subscription fee to use their heated seats. These are literally already built into the car, so you might mistakenly assume they're included in the purchase price, as they were in the past. Unfortunately, you really have to pay attention to that when buying a new BMW moving forward. It's a shame that BMW decided to nickel and dime their customers.

 

[Arkansas]

I'm glad that it hasn't hit the US yet, but I saw that they've initiated that payment model in the UK, South Africa, Australia, and some other places. I bet it's only a matter of time before they do it here. I don't understand why they've made this decision instead of simply charging more for the features outright. I doubt most customers want to pay a monthly fee to fully use their car.

 

[Dole]

I don't understand why they've made this decision instead of simply charging more for the features outright.

They do. However, you have to read the contract carefully to determine what you're getting and for how long. Unfortunately, it's not always clear. They use terms like "dealership special", which doesn't exactly tell you much unless you're in the business. Cars are lasting longer than ever, so I guess BMW is looking to make some extra money off subscriptions. It seems in poor taste, though, given the price of the cars and the competition in the industry.

 

[Piper]

Maybe they're going after the pre-owned market with this. Those swanky features were only sold to the original owner, not the resale buyer. It's still hard to take that argument seriously, though. I hope most owners rebel.