News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Car companies will charge you monthly fees for add-on fea... by MattGaiser on Saturday February 05, 2022 @07:07PM (#30227773)
Most people already focus on the weekly/monthly payment. That has been the focus of auto advertising for my entire life.
Re:Car companies will charge you monthly fees for add-on fea... by greenyoda on Saturday February 05, 2022 @08:23PM (#30228303)
But after I pay off a loan on a traditional car, I own the car outright and can use all its features for the lifetime of the vehicle. I can also sell the car to someone with all its features intact.
Re:Car companies will charge you monthly fees for add-on fea... by decafninja on Sunday February 06, 2022 @04:59PM (#30237445)
That probably puts you in the minority these days. The typical buyer is willing to pay $500/month in perpetuity to lease a BMW rather than pay $500 to finance a Honda even if it means they'll own the Honda outright in X years.

I don't not-sympathize with them. It's not like when you bought a model year 2000 car. Ten years later it didn't end up being significantly worse than a 2010 car. Nowadays if you buy a 2022 car, you're probably going to end up having a Flintstonesmobile in 2032.

Due to the way they're calculated, the lease payments can often be determined in an opaque way that is not apparent to the customer in terms of a car's MSRP. Thus you can end up with a $50,000 BMW whose monthly lease payment comes out to be cheaper than the monthly payment leasing a $35,000 Honda.

Re:Car companies will charge you monthly fees for add-on fea... by thoughtstheseus on Saturday February 05, 2022 @08:18PM (#30228269)
It’s not a cost is it’s an agency issue. The device should work for the buyer not the seller.