this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2024
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Mazda recently surprised customers by requiring them to sign up for a subscription in order to keep certain services. Now, notable right-to-repair advocate Louis Rossmann is calling out the brand.

It’s important to clarify that there are two very different types of remote start we’re talking about here. The first type is the one many people are familiar with where you use the key fob to start the vehicle. The second method involves using another device like a smartphone to start the car. In the latter, connected services do the heavy lifting.

Transition to paid services

What is wild is that Mazda used to offer the first option on the fob. Now, it only offers the second kind, where one starts the car via phone through its connected services for a $10 monthly subscription, which comes to $120 a year. Rossmann points out that one individual, Brandon Rorthweiler, developed a workaround in 2023 to enable remote start without Mazda’s subscription fees.

However, according to Ars Technica, Mazda filed a DMCA takedown notice to kill that open-source project. The company claimed it contained code that violated “[Mazda’s] copyright ownership” and used “certain Mazda information, including proprietary API information.”

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[–] [email protected] 155 points 4 hours ago (4 children)

Subscription services or software restricted features for cars should just be outlawed entirely.

Nobody likes these, if someone is willing to deal with a subscription product then they can do that aftermarket. The car itself should never come with something that will require recurring payments.

[–] [email protected] 27 points 3 hours ago (2 children)

Nobody likes these

Shareholders love them

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 hour ago

Shareholders love lootboxes too.

And one party autocracy.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

I think I can speak for most Americans (and as someone who owns stocks) fuck the shareholders.

[–] sugar_in_your_tea 7 points 2 hours ago

I'm conflicted. On one hand, I'm a shareholder due to broad market investments in my 401k. On the other hand, I'm a consumer.

On net, screw this nonsense, just make good products and the recurring revenue will happen due to happy customers.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 4 hours ago (4 children)

I think it's fair if Mazda has to operate a server to enable it, but I think Mazda should have to pay car owners to allow them to connect the car to a mobile network, especially for operating their spyware/telemetry.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 minutes ago

Well it's double shit if you can't get the remote start on a FOB now. Fuck Mazda for that bullshit.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 43 minutes ago) (1 children)

I think it's fair if Mazda has to operate a server to enable it

No. Either you support it for a predetermined few decades as part of the vheicle cost, or let the consumer switch to a different service.

[–] sorghum 25 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

Option 3 take the stop killing games approach and grant the user the server back end when they stop supporting it themselves so users can host it themselves

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 hours ago
[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 hours ago

As long as they give me a way to run my own server for free, I agree with you.

[–] conciselyverbose 6 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

OK, they can add $1 to the price of the car for a lifetime subscription (and no the load probably will never add up to that).

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

You still have to pay for the cell service to connect the car. That's going to cost a whole lot more than $1

[–] themoonisacheese 2 points 3 hours ago (2 children)

A car is is multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars and a 3g, low data IoT sim card is less than $100.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 56 minutes ago

A car is is multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars

Fucking what?

This is the equivalent of "I mean, it's one banana, Michael. What could it cost? 10 dollars?"

[–] [email protected] 9 points 2 hours ago

Most of us aren't buying lambos.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 hours ago

Yea, that is worse than eWaste, in my opinion. Hope EU does not let this slide for far longer.. It should be illegal to ask for subscriptions for something that is a one time cost for the manufacturer.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

The car itself should never come with something that will require recurring payments.

Cars already do. Satellite radio has been a thing for decades now. I've never used it. Never felt the desire to use it. I haven't even taken the free trial. I'm less annoyed that it exists, and more annoyed that I'm forever fated to receive unsolicited junk mail for this feature that I have to unceremoniously dump in the recycling bin every couple weeks.

As for the remote start, yeah, it's kinda bullshit that they've removed the more permanent, older version of a feature to replace it with something out of the owners' control. If anything, it should exist in parallel with the key fob button, not replace it entirely. I'm less concerned about the fact that it's a subscription than I am about the prospect of that feature dropping support down the road with no recourse for the owner.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Your SiriusXM subscription doesn't go to the manufacturer of the car. This is what they referred to as aftermarket subscriptions in their comment. It isn't any different than if I subscribe to spotify Snr then connect my phone to the car to use it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 hours ago

SiriusXM does revenue share with auto companies.) Old article, but I'm too lazy to dig through a financial report or find something newer.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

I’m forever fated to receive unsolicited junk mail for this feature that I have to unceremoniously dump in the recycling bin every couple weeks.

Imagining a future in which I have to tell my YouTube integrated car company that I don't want to sign up for their music service every time I start my car.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 hour ago

Imagine if you lived in a country where a simple note taped to your mailbox would eliminate all junk mail.