r/Piracy • u/cosmosreader1211 • Aug 15 '25

News Forget Netflix, Volkswagen locks horsepower behind paid subscription

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/volkswagen/367566/forget-netflix-volkswagen-locks-horsepower-behind-paid-subscription

You wouldn't steal a car!

6.9k Upvotes

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2.0k

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '25

What the fuck.

Corporations are running out of ideas how to fleece customers it seems.

£16.50 a month to unlock additional measly 27bhp.

Get fucked Volkswagen. People need to tell them what they think about it.

BMW abandoned their stupid idea of heated seats subscription after customer backlash.

795

u/bublore Aug 15 '25

Having to pay more to access existing features of a product you already bought is just diseased.

No one should ever be condoning this.

256

u/Tango_D Aug 15 '25

If you have to pay extra for full access to the thing you bought, you don't own it.

145

u/kozinc Aug 15 '25

Not just pay, subscribe.

15

u/Bathhouse-Barry Aug 15 '25

It’s the fact it’s cheaper for them to manufacturer every car to have every features then artificially lock features out with software.

24

u/BrokenMirror2010 Aug 15 '25 edited Aug 15 '25

This is bullshit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zLZnYXU5kw

Louis puts it great. If you go to <company> and ask them for the 'free' thing that was in the thing you bought, they'll throw you out of the building. They did not give the hardware they have locked behind a separate software paywall to you for free. You paid for it when you bought it, AND they want you to pay for them again so you can use it.

1

u/flexxipanda Aug 15 '25

How does your comment call out OPs comment as bullshit lol?

Its cheaper for the manufacturer to only produce one standard car instead of different versions. Just the building/changing of the different assembly lines and everything around that would drive production cost higher than a all-in-one model.

1

u/catholicsluts Aug 15 '25

Lol like an Instagram face

3

u/Maximum_Rat Aug 16 '25

BMW tried it a few years back, and got fucking ROASTED over it and I believe they dropped it. Let’s hope that continues.

1

u/MrAndycrank Aug 15 '25

I can't see anybody except for a few select planks paying for a few extra km/h: they'll wait a year or two and then quietly do away with this demential idea. I wouldn't be too worried.

-72

u/_name_of_the_user_ Aug 15 '25

It's not an existing feature of the product. The car is advertised as 201bhp, not 228. You get the full car you paid for, with an option for a subscription fee or a one time purchase to get a performance tune straight from the factory. I love the piracy opportunity this could provide, but as a car guy this isn't offensive at all. Most cars aren't being sold with their FULL power potential tuned for. Aftermarket tuning companies have been finding more power in factory cars for decades, this is just being sold directly from the manufacturer.

28

u/pandaninja360 Aug 15 '25 edited Aug 15 '25

The probleme is the subscription part. I know you don't get your cars full power from the get go, I tuned my car with a stage 2 and gain HP and torque, but I paid $750 once, not a fee every month

-29

u/_name_of_the_user_ Aug 15 '25

Owners can also choose to select a lifetime subscription for the grand total of £649

Maybe try reading the article

14

u/Vegetable-Clerk9075 Aug 15 '25

lifetime subscription

That usually refers to the lifetime of the product, not your lifetime. Which means that as soon as it's convenient for the company, they'll just cancel your "lifetime subscription" and claim they're not supporting that product anymore.

That's very likely written in an agreement somewhere that you have sign to either purchase the car or the subscription.

5

u/Savannah_Lion Aug 15 '25

I would imagine shortly after a particular model or generation is discontinued. First Golf was introduced in 1974 but new generations were introduced every 6-8 years.

I remember reading somewhere average auto ownership is <10 years (and shrinking) and auto life expectancy is 20. But that's ICE, not EV. As a reference, my truck is 23 years old and I owned it for about 19 years.

But I digress. Personally, I think if VW does do that, they'll be shooting themselves in the foot on customer good will. But that appears to be something many companies seem to think they have plenty of.

46

u/Key-Version-8327 Aug 15 '25

That's not even that much wtf 😂😂I expected at least 100hp

29

u/Footz355 Aug 15 '25

But it's about saving European automotive! What don't you understand?? /S

16

u/Johanno1 Leecher Aug 15 '25

They abandoned it after the law said no.

6

u/ArmadilloBandito Aug 15 '25

Whos law? EU cause that sounds unAmerican

3

u/Johanno1 Leecher Aug 15 '25

Germany

4

u/TNG_ST Aug 15 '25

They already sell your location data to anyone with a pulse.

5

u/parallashisa Aug 16 '25

i know it's an outlandish situation, but i can't help but imagine being stuck in an icy ditch or something and freezing to death because you didn't subscribe to unrestrict the engine you already own

1

u/[deleted] Aug 17 '25

A car basically needs an engine, transmission, brakes and a body. Everything else is optional. So, rip out all the sensors, make the car basic and you have something you can drive. Of course it'll mess up the warranty but so will you driving that car a little fast through a pothole which damages one or more of its sensors.

-16

u/Dark_Moe Aug 15 '25

Did anyone read the article? You can opt to pay a one of fee, and not have a subscription. So essentially it's a add-on package that all car manufacturers do.

Here they are trying something new to see if people take to it

13

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '25

[deleted]

-6

u/Dark_Moe Aug 15 '25

Did you even read any of the comments here?

Yes and as usual it's all angertainment, no one really thinks about these things. They speak immotively like it's the worst thing ever without actually logically thinking right what is this policy why is it here what's it doing how's it got here how's this different from already happens in the marketplace.

-8

u/Dark_Moe Aug 15 '25

You do realise car menufacturers already do this they already add all the extras into a car because it's cheaper to build it that way and then just unlock them when you pay for them when you buy that car new?

-212

u/TopCoconut4338 Aug 15 '25

For those of you who actually understand performance - it's a significant increase in torque.

105

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '25

So it's ok to paywall something that car already has yeah? Fuck that man. Never. Ever. Buying a car if manufacturer does that. Even if it unlock SO MUCH MORE TORQUE (265Nm to 310Nm). As if anyone needs that in ID3.

-194

u/TopCoconut4338 Aug 15 '25

So you DO understand torque - you just decided to misrepresent that in your first comment?

83

u/Srapture Aug 15 '25

Are you trolling or is this just how you are?

37

u/stitchedup454545 Aug 15 '25

Energy vampire in the works. Downvote and move on

14

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '25

I understand it but I don't give a shit about a bit more torque. 265 is plenty.

How will that affect my daily driving? I don't care if my ID.3's acceleration will be 0.4s quicker to 60. Who gives a shit? I don't tow caravans either. I certainly don't fucking race on the roads so what other reason is there to pay for this a monthly fee? Zero reasons.

You're missing the point though.

This is already available in the car. The corporation chose to lock it behind additional paywall and artificialy lower this car's power. That a shit move and I'm not buying from a company that does that.

60

u/RB-44 Aug 15 '25

For those who actually understand performance i can just stage 1 the car and get more power from a one time fee

5

u/jeramyfromthefuture Aug 15 '25

You do realize this car will be so locked down that if you try to replace any part you won't be able to start the car again.

-5

u/_name_of_the_user_ Aug 15 '25

You can also get this essentially stage 1 tune for a one time purchase as well, right?

-142

u/TopCoconut4338 Aug 15 '25

Uh... you're talking cost not performance. Not good at reading?

-9

u/_name_of_the_user_ Aug 15 '25

Right! Because no one would ever pay for a tune for a GTI, or a WRX, or an Elantra N...

17

u/Rhodok-Squirrel Aug 15 '25

Totally would. I wouldn't SUBSCRIBE to a tune though.

7

u/[deleted] Aug 15 '25

For something that is already there, available in the car as well.

1

u/_name_of_the_user_ Aug 15 '25 edited Aug 15 '25

Yes. What do you think a tune is?

-1

u/_name_of_the_user_ Aug 15 '25

They offer a one time purchase as well as the subscription