Lethe200
Senior Member
- Location
- San Francisco Bay Area
Interestingly, 3 yrs ago our friends and I were test-driving cars, and the Mazda 3 was one of them. No reviews by anyone, no car literature, nor the salespeople ever mentioned there was a limited trial feature on the car. (link is free)
Mazda angers owners by making them pay for popular feature
TheStreet 08Aug2024
Mazda forcing owners to subscription service
(excerpted) Like it or not, subscriptions are the new norm for everything we like. Anything and everything you can think of can be made better with a subscription.
... However, not everything needs to be a subscription, especially things related to the cars people drive to work and school every day.
... Mazda's subscription dilemma
In 2021, Japanese automaker Mazda (MZDAF) made a sneaky move and removed remote start functionality from its key fobs. Instead of packaging them physically with the car, Mazda introduced its Mazda Connected Services smartphone app, through which owners can control their Mazda's climate control, start their vehicles remotely, and check up on their vehicles' status.
These functions are available to owners through a $10 per-month subscription. However, Mazda gave owners a three-year free trial to try out these functions before they committed to the subscription, which may have been a bad call from the start.
On the r/Mazda community on Reddit, Mazda CX-90 and Mazda 3 owners have aired out their grievances over the fact that their three-year free trials are now over, noting that a feature that once came free with its cars is now paywalled.
In the comments of a post about the free trial ending, Reddit user and Mazda owner u/Codeman8118 said, "You pay 30-60K for a car. Remote start should least be on the key fob and the app where the app has further range and capability, but you still have the option to start your car when it's snowing outside."
Another owner, u/Own-Opposite1611 complained that the app isn't worth the $10 per month, noting that it "doesn’t even work for me half the time."
Mazda angers owners by making them pay for popular feature
TheStreet 08Aug2024
Mazda forcing owners to subscription service
(excerpted) Like it or not, subscriptions are the new norm for everything we like. Anything and everything you can think of can be made better with a subscription.
... However, not everything needs to be a subscription, especially things related to the cars people drive to work and school every day.
... Mazda's subscription dilemma
In 2021, Japanese automaker Mazda (MZDAF) made a sneaky move and removed remote start functionality from its key fobs. Instead of packaging them physically with the car, Mazda introduced its Mazda Connected Services smartphone app, through which owners can control their Mazda's climate control, start their vehicles remotely, and check up on their vehicles' status.
These functions are available to owners through a $10 per-month subscription. However, Mazda gave owners a three-year free trial to try out these functions before they committed to the subscription, which may have been a bad call from the start.
On the r/Mazda community on Reddit, Mazda CX-90 and Mazda 3 owners have aired out their grievances over the fact that their three-year free trials are now over, noting that a feature that once came free with its cars is now paywalled.
In the comments of a post about the free trial ending, Reddit user and Mazda owner u/Codeman8118 said, "You pay 30-60K for a car. Remote start should least be on the key fob and the app where the app has further range and capability, but you still have the option to start your car when it's snowing outside."
Another owner, u/Own-Opposite1611 complained that the app isn't worth the $10 per month, noting that it "doesn’t even work for me half the time."
