Would you pay $90 a month for 80 more horsepower?

Monthly, no.  Nothing would irritate me more than paying $90 each month to maintain the same level of performance I've come to expect from my car.

But weirdly enough, I would pay the "one time fee" of $2950 once, and then sell the car in less than two years when I got distracted by a different one and would never ever think twice about $790 I lost.

 

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

I hear you on the monthly or even yearly subscription. I don't think I'd like that reminder, as you pointed out.

And I'm not a very experienced wrencher, but am I crazy for thinking that $2000 isn't too bad for a nearly automatic 60 horsepower to get added to my car? 

I'd be more interested in a short term rental. Like for a week or 48h, because I have an autox :)

Colin Wood said:

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

I hear you on the monthly or even yearly subscription. I don't think I'd like that reminder, as you pointed out.

And I'm not a very experienced wrencher, but am I crazy for thinking that $2000 isn't too bad for a nearly automatic 60 horsepower to get added to my car? 

That's exactly what I was thinking. 

Short of a $5k turbo kit, I couldn't hope to ever add 60hp to my RX-8 for that much money.

But then again, I think Mazda kinda threw everything they had at the Renesis when they developed it.  Mercedes leaving fat on the table and then charging for it...  That's kinda lame.

In reply to Hungary Bill (Forum Supporter) :

I suspect the extra cost covers the increased warranty costs from the increased chance of a failure. You get more power by shaving the margins. The GM 525 hp crate motor is like that, I think. 

Kinda like the Polestar reflash you can get, more power and a warranty for a one-time cost. Or the Tesla power boost.

Monthly? No Way. A $90 a month subscription on my current daily driver Speed3 would have cost me over $15,000 at this point. 

It looks like they also offer this upgraded tune(?) for under $3k which seems reasonable enough for something OEM from Mercedes. As long as the "life of vehicle" purchase is transferable to the next owner, I don't have any issue with this. 

CrashDummy said:

Monthly? No Way. A $90 a month subscription on my current daily driver Speed3 would have cost me over $15,000 at this point. 

It looks like they also offer this upgraded tune(?) for under $3k which seems reasonable enough for something OEM from Mercedes. As long as the "life of vehicle" purchase is transferable to the next owner, I don't have any issue with this. 

Agreed, I usually keep cars for long enough that I'd much rather pay once up front than every month.  And yes, it needs to be transferrable.

How about $90 extra per month for a Mercedes that doesn't look like a 2015 Civic?

I might go for a fixed fee calculated based on how often I demanded/used in excess of the basic output of the base engine.  That way I would have the extra on call but would mentally 'blame' myself for using it and wouldn't resent paying as it had been my decision.

If I never used it, it wouldn't cost me anything, but I would get charged depending on how much I did use it, right up to the maximum charge per month.  Kind if like having a NOx bottle on board - it is a capability that only costs you if you actually use it. 

Otherwise having paid the whole fee up front would make one want to get the most for their money and they might drive like  speed mad moron.

PS - when did we get so politically correct that when you type 'moron' and that is what you mean, the software asks you to change it to "person with cognitive or intellectual  disabilities"

Companies used to roll out new or better features to compete with one another for our business. Now they hold back new features and use them to dream up inventive new ways of extracting more money. Stories like this do nothing to buy my brand loyalty.