Oh shit the DLC virus has spread
this post was submitted on 15 Aug 2025
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JFC, what on earth am I going to do if I need to buy a car in 20 years?
Wait, no, that doesn't make sense either. What about the used car market? This is untenable. Hacks must emerge.
Hacks are an inevitability for any product with a computer in it.
What about the used car market?
"Please purchase a public road pass for multiplayer access"
They already do this, it's called tolls
Yeah but VW needs it's share too. Stop being so greedy!
This behaviour needs to die.
It’s not reasonable for companies to charge subscriptions to hardware that you own that require zero external connections.
The engine is not a connected component. There is zero reason it would ever be constrained by connected features.
Did you know that actually happens with jet engines for a long time now? Companies lease jet engines and they have licenses for a certain number of engines in different max outputs, they can even transfer between them like, one 100% engine got damaged so they they transfer the 100% license to an 80% engine while it is in maintenence (all numbers are made up but the idea is the same).
But yeah, shit is fucked.
That kind of makes sense in context, since for leasing it’s not their hardware and they’re probably doing accounting based on the amortized costs of using them
But no I did not know that and it is pretty cool
So I’m carrying around extra weight I don’t need if I don’t want the extra horse power?
Same man, same. Weight loss is hard.
It's always been like this
Cardio
So a software hack could unleash the extra power?
This has been true for decades with VW and other cars… I had my 2000 Jetta chipped and got all kinds of HP and torque. Some dude just plugged in a laptop, beep boop, vroom vroom. $600 please.
This just seems like VW cutting out those middlemen.
That's tuning, and that's different. There's tradeoffs with tuning besides the obvious more wear.
Its the same IMO, but instead of a go faster switch in the car, its remote controlled.
Nope. With tuning you can bypass the safety limits as well. You can easily tune the car to be unsafe or suffer extreme wear.
You can damage a car with bad tuning but that's not what he's saying. I think the manufacturer will create an ECU map that delivers safe power, and then they will create a map with less power and then deliver the car with the underperforming map. Then, when you pay, they change to the map with higher performance.
They will probably just switch ECU maps when you pay their subscription, or they'll have a similar way to perform the same function. Using the accelerator more creates more wear too.
In many cases there’s no extra wear. I paid $800 for a Ford ecu update that improves engine output but also retains any warranty.
I bet this has more to do with emissions.
The id3 is electric though
Greedy.
Nah, some came with a little controller and you could change settings on the fly. The immediate benefit is better fuel economy on almost any mode. All it does is mess with the ecu within its limits. Doesn’t affect warranty and doesn’t cause any more wear.
I know GM and Toyota like to squirrel away a little extra fuel economy and a few extra HP because they don't think you deserve it.
The major tradeoff being that environmental regulations being unhappy.
Increased hp and torque while reducing efficiency. Good job.
A lot of dailyable tunes actually make the car more efficient, not less. Engine wear, and knock are the limiting factors.
I'm sure it's already being developed. Those guys don't fuck around
nobody is going to take my ponies away from me
John Deere? Is that you?
I eagerly await cars that require subscriptions for air conditioning, sound system access, etc.
Already happening. That shit should be outlawed a.s.a.p.
Won't happen soon. Most of the people that can outlaw this don't even drive their own cars.
Then again, it's german corporate software...there should be a hack for that in no time 🤡
I loathe the idea of a subscription, but you buy a car upfront knowing what specs you're getting.
If they want to unlock more power for a one time fee, that's fair game. It actually does have a cost incurred on them via increased wear and tear and warranty claims.
But it's gotta be a 1 time purchase and is lifetime of the car.
Also tough luck if you failed to secure it properly and someone jailbreaks it. It's their car they can do whatever the fuck they want to it.
Insurance and taxes declarations are going to be fun! Either you'll have to pay for the actual power of the engine (that you don't actually use), or you'll need to modify the documents after unlocking the feature.
What happens when you sell the car? Does it go back to factory features?
In older Tesla Model 3s if you sold it back to Tesla they'd revert it, but if you sold it private it wouldn't be reverted.
What happens when you sell the car? Does it go back to factory features?
I already said - But it’s gotta be a 1 time purchase and is lifetime of the car.
or you’ll need to modify the documents after unlocking the feature.
Usually when you unlock something it increases the value of the vehicle, and you need to let insurance know or the extra value won't be covered. This is already pretty normal in any kind of insurance if there's a change that can be considered material. If you don't let them know, they won't cover the cost of the altered/new item.
In France, VW cars are usually bought by our local rednecks. I would be curious to know who buys those cars in other countries.
I have a VW ID.4.
In NZ they have no internet connection, no subscriptions, basic driver assist features, made in Europe, not made by Tesla, and are (were?) as cheap as BYDs, MGs, and Model3s.
I love VW Golf.
My Mercedes has subscriptions for things like locking your car from the app or locating it 😂.
At least that has SOME justification since there's a cellular connection and servers involved
I don't think I know anyone with a VW made after 2013, I guess that's not going to change anytime soon now
Plenty of people with new Porsches and Audis