Anyone else feel like we are being gamed by the automakers?

Record low sales and  yet record profits.

I have a feeling that the old saw of "Never let a good crisis go to waste" is being pulled on the consumer market.  I highlight cars, but feel that it is a broad based reality. 

Capitalism in a nutshell has come down to a Meme.

When somebody tells me there is a shortage of something I feel like they're making it up.  

Isn't BMW making you pay monthly for heated seats now?

In reply to ShawnG :

And you need a subscription for Toyota's remote start. 

It's really hard to get excited about any new car or truck now. It's guaranteed to be nearly impossible to find and unbelievably expensive. 

I literally do not care about new cars anymore.  I am starting to understand my non-driving 27 year old daughters feeling about the whole industry: "Meh?, who cares?"

Welcome to Capitalism, which is literally killing the planet for quarterly profits.

The end consumer is not the auto manufacturers customer, the dealer is. Dealers are making more profits on less cars, but the manufacturers have zero incentive to create a fake shortage. If you could arbitrarily dump your product on your customer and not care if they sell it, would you want a shortage?

barefootcyborg5000 said:

In reply to ShawnG :

And you need a subscription for Toyota's remote start. 

BMW heated seats is in Europe only, and realistically it's cheaper for the consumer. If I use heated seats for 4 months a year, it's $64. The package now is $650, so 10 years to break even on it. 
 

as far as Toyotas remote start, here's a little known secret, if you have the JBL radio, hit lock on your remote 3 times, and hold it on 3. 95% of them will start because they never took the programming out. 

ShawnG said:

Isn't BMW making you pay monthly for heated seats now?

Well, yes, they do. But you can also pay $400 or so for a lifetime subscription.

In reply to Duke :

It's not subscription based in North America, the recent headlines like to leave that out though. 

barefootcyborg5000 said:

In reply to ShawnG :

And you need a subscription for Toyota's remote start. 

Kia is doing that as well. The remote start is through an app on you phone now. 

Javelin said:

Welcome to Capitalism, which is literally killing the planet for quarterly profits.

So, as a mod, it's ok to make a highly politically polarizing statement, because you know the other mods agree with you. But still claim there is no bias, and get all huffy if someone suggests  there is. 
I guess it's only when someone has the audacity to not believe exactly like you do, that it's not allowed 

No bias there at all...

I do not believe anyone here has claimed there is no bias. Nobody said that, nobody thinks that.

I read the whole thing as - berkeley - it is a tough time to be alive right now.  There is a reckoning for all the things we hold dear as a culture and how we make money and the nature of work, and safety and health. We should probably err on the side of forgiveness and understanding. 

Javelin said:

Welcome to Capitalism, which is literally killing the planet for quarterly profits.

Yeah, what good has ever come out of capitalism?  Communism has clearly done sooo much better in that respect....

...or what is your alternative?  (I am not sure you realize what you are saying / implying).

BTW the heavy restriction / control of capitalism (even if was done for a perceived good reason) is a very large percentage of why the US, and world economy is in the condition it is now.

03Panther said:

Javelin said:

Welcome to Capitalism, which is literally killing the planet for quarterly profits.

So, as a mod, it's ok to make a highly politically polarizing statement, because you know the other mods agree with you. But still claim there is no bias, and get all huffy if someone suggests  there is. 
I guess it's only when someone has the audacity to not believe exactly like you do, that it's not allowed 

No bias there at all...

Because capitalism isn't political, it's an economic system. A democracy is a political system. Your political system might support capitalism as it's chosen economic system, but that doesn't make it political. Capitalism is a worldwide problem, not just the US. 

In reply to Javelin :

I would appreciate  it if you would change "your" political to "a" political in your specific response to me... you do not know me well enough to know what my political beliefs are. I only point out your bias as a mod; I am nether agreeing with your political views, nor disagreeing ... since politics are not allowed. 
The word is a description of economics - that cannot be discussed without devolving into a political discussion of the US (and the world, since socialism is not limited to the US)

The very reason politics is not an allowed discussion, is due to the extreme polarizing statements it causes people to make, and your statement is a perfect example of that.  

No Time said:

barefootcyborg5000 said:

In reply to ShawnG :

And you need a subscription for Toyota's remote start. 

Kia is doing that as well. The remote start is through an app on you phone now. 

Ford as well, just no subscription. Still free

Oh, yippee!  I didn't realize arguing with the mods was allowed!

Lets all watch the fun!!...

chandler said:

No Time said:

barefootcyborg5000 said:

In reply to ShawnG :

And you need a subscription for Toyota's remote start. 

Kia is doing that as well. The remote start is through an app on you phone now. 

Ford as well, just no subscription. Still free

The heated seats on my Mustang are free. Not that it really matters when it is 104 degrees outside.

While I do have my own opinions on the subject, economics always leads to politics so I will stay away.

So is the current pricing of cars a deliberate thing that the Automakers are stick-handling to their benefit, or is it just a temporal collection of circumstances that will pass? That was more the question.

In reply to 03Panther :

Colloquial "your".

I am not attacking you (non-colloquial) at all, nor do I care what your beliefs are. You (specifically just you and no one else) are trying to be a victim of a broad, generalized statement of frustration at the human race as a whole. At that, I'm stepping away, because this wasn't supposed to be some sort of ideological statement and I have neither the current bandwidth nor care to engage with you at all over it. Good day.

In reply to NOHOME :

It's circumstance. The Automakers have no benefit to selling less cars.