Posted on 05/01/2026 2:03:37 AM PDT by dennisw
Popular Ford feature that has always been free now costs $455
Remember when buying a car meant paying once, grabbing the keys, and driving off into the sunset?
That era may be fading fast. Automakers are quietly transforming the way drivers pay for their vehicles - and your next car could come with a growing list of monthly charges long after you've left
General Motors is leading the charge, betting that subscriptions for features like navigation, safety systems, and hands-free driving will soon become a major profit engine - potentially generating billions of dollars a year and, in some cases, even more than selling the cars themselves.
GM says its software arm keeps about 70 cents of every dollar it makes - a staggering level of profitability in an industry where selling a car typically brings in just 4 to 10 cents on the dollar.
Instead of paying upfront for everything, drivers now get certain features included for a limited time - often just a few years - before being asked to pay monthly or annually to keep them.
In its latest earnings update on Tuesday, GM said it expects to generate $3.1 billion from digital subscriptions this year.
‘We think there’s a growth opportunity there with very attractive margins,’ CEO Mary Barra told investors.
GM already has around 13 million subscribers paying for various in-car services, and that number is expected to climb rapidly as more vehicles come equipped with built-in technology.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.com ...
FSD?
2021 4Runner has a subscription for the nav system
supply and demand...
I dont blame them as much as I blame the spoiled stupid masses that cater to these “Luxuries”. If you want to impress your friends that much, while paying for someone else to take care of you, then dig deep and spend your money fool heartedly...
I think consumers will embrace subscription software and cars if they can get them cheaper and get future enhancements thrown in as part of the subscription.
The manufacturers will force you to upgrade by creating features that require more hardware than your current hardware has.
The government could require FSD in future, but I don’t think it will get to that when consumers realize how much safter the roads will be when FSD is embraced by a majority of the consumers, manufacturers will be forced to incorporate the feature.
Even before subscriptions, there were "map updates" for the navigation system. Now, everyone I know uses their phone for navigation. Most car manufacturers have given up on NAV systems and offer CARPLAY/Android Auto for free.
Don't know if you can buy new a car without a navigation system. You don't have to use it. What is nice is having Apple/Android CarPlay.
“Manual driving” is definitely going to be rare in the not too distant future. That includes me. While we all worried about our parents driving when they were “too old”, that won’t be a problem in the future. Either a self driving car or a self driving taxi service will take over. For our grandkids, it will be totally normal.
As for other subscription services, it will be just like credit. Younger people will embrace it, while those more experienced will see it for what it is, a money grab.
Found
On
Road
Dead
Property taxes for the home you own…
…and now subscription services for the new car you own.
I might be wrong, but I thought Toyota was the first to do this do this, maybe with heated seats?
I agree with your comment, but another cash cow for automakers is selling parts. I read years ago cars are relatively cheap compared to the parts they sell. For example the rear view mirror on the doors of our F150 are $1400 each.
I have an 09 truck.
I had found a way to disconnect the shark fin antenna from the computer.
Never executed
Will have to dig and find those instructions
great jeans
Look at telephones, Apple keeps adding features to the software that eventually require an upgrade, most of the time you can get the latest phone for far less than the advertised price, if you agree to keep the phone for a set amount of time.
Suppose a car company adopted the same philosophy, that the hardware is a commodity, it’s the software and it’s features that are the profit center and motivation for people to upgrade.
The IT industry has adopted this model for years, the hardware is the commodity, the software is the profit and combined with software services makes companies like Microsoft and Apple insanely profitable.
“I might be wrong, but I thought Toyota was the first to do this do this, maybe with heated seats?”
BMW was famously first in 2022 with the heated seats you need a subscription for. BUT >>>>>>
What happened after
The backlash was intense, with customers feeling like they were “paying twice.”
BMW killed the heated-seat subscription by 2023.
They later admitted it was basically a mistake.
BMW tried charging for heated seats in Europe and elsewhere, but not in the US. They gave up on the plan after customer outrage in 2023.
…you will own nothing.
Toyota is not stupid enough to do that.
BMW however, tried this. And got absolutely destroyed over it.
Exactly... I've been buying (or have been given) older vehicles for the past 25 years. My newest is a 2002 Ford Excursion Ltd, bought new in 2001 for about 40% off of the sticker price using the Ford "A Plan" since my wife worked for Ford. That one now has 510,000÷ miles on it. Next is a 1991 Chevy Caprice, bought from the original original owner 5 years ago when it had only 86K miles. Then I have a 1983 Dodge Ramcharger that I drove off the showroom floor in that same year - 200K miles. Lastly, and just given to me, a 1968 GMC C1500 Sport Custom long bed pickup truck that my wife's grandfather bought new in '68, with 87K miles on it (that has been sitting in the barn for 34 years - another second owner vehicle for me.)
If you really want to keep a vehicle on the road, it can be done... with timely and proper maintenance. It really is cheaper in the long run. I hate making car payments, and haven't had one since 2004 when I paid off that Excursion early.
I also hate paying for car repairs on technology simply because I don't have an OBDII diagnostic computer system that does everything like those at the dealership. The last time I paid a dealership to make a repair on anything I owned, the hourly rate for mechanic work was $65/hr. But what really caused me to reject the very idea of paying for dealership car repair was the fact that they charge by the hour, and then they have a book that tells them how many hours a certain type of repair "takes." It doesn't matter if the technician had the vehicle repaired in 1.5 hours - the book says the job takes 3 hours, therefore you must pay for 3 hours labor. So they might "claim" lowest rates in town to get you in their shop, but they will still get you with the book that overstates the time it takes to do the job.
I'll end my rant now... But I do feel vindicated, now more than ever, on my "anti-new car" position. I'm just fortunate that I had a father that taught me how to do my own auto repair on vehicles that come from my "pre-computer" age past.
Very true. I just came back from a trip to Mexico. It’s crazy all the different car brands and models available and common in Mexico that are not available to the US. Many of them are BYD, GWM, and other Chinese brands. I converted the msrp price on a billboard for a GWM new SUV and it came out to 22k dollars.
It’s very interesting to see the difference. In Mexico you can buy brand new Nissan work trucks with a manual transmission and long beds with lashing hooks integrated into the bed rails. It’s like they still make vehicles for working people in Mexico....oh wait ...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.