Stop renting me the seats I already bought

The heated seats are already in the car. The wires are installed. The heating elements are sewn into the fabric. The only thing standing between you and a warm seat on a cold morning is a line of software, and a monthly fee.

This is the direction parts of the car industry are heading: building features into every vehicle, then charging owners a subscription to switch them on. Heated seats. Faster acceleration. Better headlights. Remote start. Some of these offers have been withdrawn after backlash. The idea hasn’t gone away.

The pitch

The industry argument goes like this. Building one version of a car is cheaper than building ten. Subscriptions let buyers try features before committing, and let second owners add what they want. Everyone wins.

It’s not a crazy argument. Software-unlocked features can make sense for things that cost money to run, like navigation with live traffic or a cellular connection. Those have ongoing costs.

The problem

A heated seat doesn’t. Once it’s installed, it costs the manufacturer nothing to keep working. Charging monthly for it isn’t a service. It’s rent on hardware you paid for when you bought the car, because the cost of that hardware is built into the price.

If the part is in my car, I’ve already paid for it. The only question is whether I’m allowed to use it.

And subscriptions have a way of spreading. Today it’s comfort features. Tomorrow it could be safety features, or performance you were promised at the dealership.

What drivers can do

Ask before you buy: which features in this car require a subscription? Can they be bought outright? Do they transfer to the next owner? If the answers are bad, say so, loudly, and shop elsewhere. Carmakers are watching how buyers respond.

What regulators should do

At minimum, require clear disclosure at the point of sale, and ban subscriptions for hardware features with no ongoing cost. A car is one of the most expensive things most people ever buy. They should be able to use all of it.