Welcome to a consumer tech advice article on a topic that might seem a little unusual: cars. But with the amount of technology in modern vehicles, this has become a significant tech issue. Many car manufacturers are now requiring subscription fees to unlock basic features. You might have the physical car, but without paying a recurring fee, you can’t use all its functionalities (even though the physical parts could work fine without internet or a subscription). This unfortunate trend raises a serious question: if you have to pay a subscription to use the car you bought, do you truly own it?
This problem isn’t limited to cars. If you pay a subscription for a service, you don’t own the content. You don’t own your movies, music, or TV shows on streaming platforms. Similarly, when you pay a subscription to use a feature that is already physically built into your car, you don’t own the car outright.
Volkswagen
For example, a recent article from Engadget highlighted a Volkswagen model in the UK with 201 horsepower. To unlock an additional 27 horsepower, you have to pay a subscription fee or a one-time fee of around $880 USD. The car already has the hardware to provide this extra power, but it’s locked behind a paywall. The worst part is that even if you pay the one-time fee, it doesn’t transfer to the next owner if you sell the car.
While an extra 27 horsepower might not seem like a big deal, this is about the principle of ownership. The car is physically capable of something, but you’re prevented from using its full functionality unless you pay more. You bought the car, so you should have full access to its features.
It’s like buying a house and being told you can’t use the garage or basement without paying an extra monthly fee, even though you paid for the whole property. Unfortunately, this is the same trend with modern cars.
Toyota
As Forbes reported in January 2025, consumers are slowly losing ownership of their vehicles. For instance, in December 2021, Toyota was criticised for requiring a monthly subscription to use the remote start function on a key fob. While a subscription for a phone app might make sense due to server costs to run the cloud app service, the key fob remote start is a direct, physical function that should not require a fee. After public backlash, Toyota changed its policy, but only for a ten-year trial and only for the original owner. This is a far cry from how it used to be in the early 2000’s when a remote starter was a permanent feature that would transfer with the car.
Tesla
Perhaps the most prominent example of this is Tesla. Many of their advanced features, such as satellite map view, live traffic updates, and weather forecasts, are locked behind a subscription. While Google Maps provides similar features for free, Tesla requires a premium connectivity subscription. This means that a vehicle you bought is not fully functional without an ongoing fee.
A friend with a Tesla, for example, avoids the premium subscription by simply using a phone holder and Google Maps, despite having a massive screen built into the car. This highlights a core issue: you may have paid cash for your Tesla, but you don’t truly own all its components because many features are locked behind a paywall. This extends to horsepower as well; many Tesla models require an extra fee to unlock their full performance capabilities, similar to Volkswagen.
BMW
One of the most egregious examples came from BMW, which in 2023, began charging a subscription fee for heated seats. The hardware was already in the car, but the functionality was locked. My 2020 Toyota Highlander has heated seats that I can use whenever I want with the press of a button, no subscription needed.
When faced with backlash, a BMW board member in sales and marketing, Pieter Nota, claimed that the company stopped this practice because people felt they were paying double, even though he argued they weren’t. This mindset reveals a significant disconnect between executives and average consumers.
Mercedes-Benz
The same trend exists with Mercedes-Benz. If you want more horsepower, you have to pay for it. The car is physically capable of the performance from the moment you drive it off the lot, but it is digitally locked until you pay a monthly, annual, or one-time activation fee. This reinforces the idea that you are not buying a complete product, but rather a car that holds many of its features for ransom.
Ford and Chevy
OnStar, a popular service in Canada and the U.S. for roadside assistance, now offers more advanced features like “Super Cruise,” which provides hands-free driving assistance. While this feature is physically built into capable vehicles such as in Chevy and Fords, it requires a subscription to use.
Emergency Services
A crucial and concerning example comes from Driving.ca, which raised the question: should you have to pay a subscription for a feature that could save your life? Many cars have collision detection and an SOS button, but these features often require a subscription. A consumer might assume they work automatically, but if they don’t, who is liable? If you are in an accident and the SOS button fails because you didn’t pay a fee you were unaware of, is the car manufacturer at fault?
What You Can Do
So, how can you avoid this problem?
The answer is to do your own research. When my family went to a Toyota dealership, the first salesperson was unhelpful. We went to a second dealership where the salesperson was much more knowledgeable and respectful, but even he had to look up some of the car’s features on his phone. This shows that you can’t always rely on the salesperson to know everything. It’s up to you to research the specific make and model you want to buy to understand which features are standard and which are hidden behind a subscription paywall.
A salesperson’s lack of knowledge isn’t a good enough excuse. They’re expected to know a limited number of models and their features for the entire year before the next year’s models roll out, which is far less complex than many other jobs. When you’re at a dealership, don’t be afraid to ask tough questions. If they don’t know the answer, ask for a brochure or some proof to avoid being stuck with a subscription fee you didn’t agree to. You’d be surprised how many horror stories exist online about people getting a surprise bill or discovering a button in their car that doesn’t work because it’s tied to a subscription.
A dedicated SiriusXM button on your dashboard, for example, is useless without an active subscription. You paid for a button that does nothing because you don’t own the service it’s tied to. This is similar to the “C” button on Switch 2 controllers. It’s a button you don’t “own” because it requires online services from Nintendo, in essence a subscription button.
This trend of subscription-based features is a major reason why I’m hesitant to trade in my 2011 Toyota RAV4. I’m very environmentally conscious and an advocate for reducing e-waste. I prefer my older gasoline car because it can be easily fixed by a mechanic, and I have complete ownership. There are no hidden subscription fees and no useless buttons.
I hope this article was helpful. If you found this information useful, be sure to check out my website for more content.
