2020 Honda Accord Touring 2.0T A (former) Honda owner in the Toronto area is expressing frustration with the automaker after it allegedly told him it knew where his stolen vehicle was but couldnt let him know since he hadnt paid for the companys optional tracking service.Layth Ablhd of Vaughan, Ontario has his 2019 Accord swiped from his driveway in the middle of the night, according to a Global News report.According to a neighbours security camera, it was taken around 5 a.m. Ablhd phoned the police, who contacted Honda Canada to see if the vehicle could be tracked. The representative said it could but not for free.Ablhd alleges the Honda rep on the other end of the phone said the companys tracking tech was showing him exactly where the car was during the call, but he could not disclose the location to Ablhd or the police officer, who had jumped on the call as well via speakerphone, because Ablhd was not subscribed to HondaLink, the companys emergency response system.The investigating officer asked to speak with the reps manager, who said the police would need to present a warrant if they wanted to know the location of the vehicle. Ablhd said he had not been informed of the optional service when he purchased his Accord, and that he would have bought it if hed known of it. Ablhd immediately signed up for the $148 subscription, and a few minutes later called the rep back, but they then said it was too late Honda was no longer getting a signal from the car.This customer did not have an active HondaLink subscription, which is required to locate the vehicle, clarified John Bordignon, a Honda Canada brand spokesperson. Without an active subscription, the police would have to present a warrant to activate the location services on the vehicle and no such warrant was provided.Contrary to what Ablhd and the officer were told on the phone, however, Bordignon says At no time was Honda or its HondaLink provider aware of the location of this vehicle.Honda Canada said it would reimburse Ablhd for the cost of the HondaLink
Origin: Honda owner says company withheld stolen car’s location over subscription fee
subscription
Apple CarPlay subscription no longer ‘free’ for new cars
A year has passed since BMW released what it called OS7 – the seventh iteration of its iDrive infotainment system – but the first customers are now being asked to hand over money in order for some services to continue. Owners are now seeing the message: “Your free trial of Apple CarPlay is up. Would you like to renew? Please pay £85 for another year.” We’re used to automakers bundling in free infotainment features such as CarPlay and Android Auto, both of which migrate functions from your phone to the car’s multimedia system, but manufacturers are now starting to ask customers to pay for the services. It’s the start of a revolution called ‘features over the air’, which offers the ability to continually upgrade cars remotely with both useful and frivolous software functions. CarPlay is not free. Apple charges car makers £45 to £90 per car to use it. Then it has to be integrated into the screen, which incurs further costs, all of which are factored into the list or lease price. BMW owners now have to choose whether or not to pay for it to continue being a feature of their car, alongside add-ons such as a digital ‘key’ for up to five phones. Mercedes-Benz is also charging customers for its new MBUX operating system via the Mercedes Me Store, where CarPlay or Android Auto can be downloaded for a £267 one-off payment. Audi, meanwhile, has kicked off its over-the-air feature range with the electric E-tron SUV. Launch models are fully loaded, but on future, cheaper versions it will be possible to upgrade after the factory build, even swapping the LED lights to fancier matrix ones. The pioneer for all this is Tesla, which has long upgraded software and added features via wi-fi. The latest addition is the ability to watch Netflix programmes on the dashboard screen while charging. “CarPlay, Android Auto and infotainment upgrades are just the beginning,” said Krishna Jayaraman, program manager for connectivity and telematics at consultants Frost Sullivan. In a recent analyst report Jaguar Land Rover highlighted that three electronic ‘modules’ in its newest cars were updatable over the air, with the feature mainly used to update infotainment software. In the medium term that figure is set to rise to 14 modules, with “all” modules eventually being upgradable over the air. In future customers could, for example, download circuit-specific suspension settings the night before a track day. “Today the role of the car maker is changing,” Jayaraman said. “It’s in the business of selling an experience rather than the car itself.” Jayaraman believes subscriptions will come into their own when paying for really expensive technology, such as autonomous driving functions. “CarPlay could cost a company £90, but a self-driving feature could cost thousands,” he said. “How do you break it down so the customer can afford it?” One way is via a one-off payment for, say, a long motorway trip. This new technology does, of course, present a security risk. Volkswagen, for example, reportedly delayed sales of the next Golf because of issues with the over-the-air capability of its next-generation software for the infotainment system. The overall concept, though, is here to stay. If you don’t like the idea of it or can’t or don’t want to pay, then simply don’t subscribe. But at least now you can change your mind. Nick
Origin: Apple CarPlay subscription no longer ‘free’ for new cars
Porsche’s US$3,100-a-month subscription service is coming to Canada
2019 Porsche Cayenne SNick Tragianis / Driving Porsche is expanding its app-based subscription service to four new cities in the U.S. and Canada, deepening its experiment in flexible car ownership even as other automakers back away.The luxury sports-car brand of Volkswagen is adding Las Vegas, San Diego, Phoenix and Toronto to the pilot program it started in Atlanta almost two years ago.The price of its two-tiered monthly subscription service, Porsche Passport, will cost US$3,100 a month in the States; and $3,200 a month in Canada.In Canada, the first tier will let users swap between Porsches 718, Macan and Cayenne models and their variants; while the higher $4,200-per-month Accelerate level opens up the chance to drive its 911 and Panamera cars as well.Automakers are dangling subscriptions to try to reach younger consumers accustomed to streaming movies on Netflix or summoning rides from Uber, with mixed results. While Porsche and Mercedes-Benz are expanding their tests, General Motors pulled the plug on its Cadillac BOOK subscription service in December; and Volvo Cars is battling California car dealers over its Care by Volvo program, which combines lease, insurance and maintenance into one monthly payment.Its not fundamentally a cheaper way of consuming your mobility, said Mark Wakefield, head of the automotive practice at consultancy AlixPartners. There has to be enough people that want to pay for the convenience factor.Most subscription services cost more than a comparable three-year lease, which limits their growth potential, according to a study that car-shopping researcher Edmunds released last year.That may not be a problem for a company like Porsche. The US$2,100 tier of Porsche Passport is 20 per cent more expensive than leasing a Porsche for three years, the automaker said. Still, 180 people subscribed over the course of two years, 80 per cent of whom had never owned one before. Typical users were in their mid-40s, eight years younger than the average Porsche owner.The question is not a bookkeeping exercise or accounting; the question is how much are you willing to pay for that much freedom? said Klaus Zellmer, head of Porsche Cars North America.Monthly subscribers can drive as many as 20 different model variants, have vehicles delivered to them, and only pay for gas, after a US$595 one-time activation fee. Insurance and maintenance are included. Porsche chose the four additional cities based on their support of the brand and the companys expectation of
Origin: Porsche’s US$3,100-a-month subscription service is coming to Canada
Hertz launching car subscription service for US$1,000 per month
Hertz is joining a host of other companies, including several automakers, in offering a vehicle subscription service, which lets customers take home and used a borrowed car for an indefinite period of time, for a monthly fee. Labelled Hertz My Car (your author would have gone with Hertz My Ride, but whatever) the program will offer two different tiers of cars. Tier One is priced at US$999 per month and includes full-size sedans, small SUVs and trucks. Tier Two offers snazzy luxury sedans, regular SUVs and large trucks for US$1,399. Customers can exchange their vehicle twice a month for another make or model within the tier but, if they want to switch it up more frequently, they can do so for a US$75 surcharge. There’s also a one-time enrolment fee of US$250. The all-inclusive monthly subscription covers vehicle maintenance, roadside assistance, vehicle damage and limited liability protection. There’s a US$1,000 deductible if you beat stuff up, by the way. Hopefully Hertz has cleaned up its computer records, as a “glitch in the system” recently led to several people being summarily hauled away by the cops after Hertz reported the vehicles they were renting as stolen. One person apparently spent over a week behind bars while others tell tales of ending up on the business end of handcuffs before getting the whole mess sorted out. One thing that’s certain is that consumer preferences toward vehicle ownership and leasing are shifting. Hertz cites a survey by Cox Automotive that claims nearly 40 per cent of respondents said while access to transportation is necessary, owning a vehicle is not. For urban respondents, 57 per cent said private vehicle ownership is not necessary to get from point A to point B. Hertz My Ride kicks off in the cities of Austin and Atlanta, but sadly does not include any scheduled appearances by Xzibit or Chamillionaire at those launch
Origin: Hertz launching car subscription service for US$1,000 per month
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