I own a Jeep Wrangler. I was considering buying another one. Not happening.
Here's the Stellantis customer agreement.[1]
Free Access Subscription Plan: The Free Access Plan is our free advertising supported Subscription. You may be offered the opportunity to self-activate this Plan or we may activate your vehicle radio after your Trial Subscription or paid Subscription Plan. The Service will continue until: (i) you or we cancel this Plan; (ii) your radio is transferred; or (iii) you purchase a Subscription. The content available may differ depending on the capabilities of your radio and this Plan is not available on all radios. You agree that we may activate this Plan on your inactive radio and the availability of this Service is determined solely by us. If this Plan has been activated on your radio, you may cancel it as set forth in Section 4. You may request that your radio not be activated with this Plan after your trial or paid Subscription by mailing a letter to Sirius XM Care, PO Box 33174, Detroit, MI 48232, Attention: No Free Access Subscription. In your letter include: (1) your first and last name; (2) email address; (3) postal address; (4) Vehicle Radio ID/ESN; and (5) indicate that you do not want the Free Access Plan.
Stellantis stock has dropped from 29 to 12 over the last year.
SiriusXM is not just the radio programming. They’re the service provider for a lot of OEMs data connection. If your head unit has any features like traffic, weather etc, it’s likely via a partnership with Sirius
I had sirius xm with a new car, I subbed for a year or two additional then cancelled as a cost savings when I got the axe at work. I still every few months or so maybe get my radio switched back to xm for an ad for another xm subscription.
As I've been resigned to the decline of civilization I just sort of noted that I had a few seconds worth of work added to my life in turning it off to the profit of someone else so it really isn't that bad I guess, especially as it only happens when starting the car which is the best case if it has to be that way.
This particular ad, at every stoplight well thats quite a bit worse in my opinion. I feel lucky now that its just sirius xm ads for me.
Did the spark trick work? 110v does wonders for rendering ... oh, just unplug it.
I had a friend who did not like his seat belt warning beeper. It took over 4 hours to get the dashboard entirely apart, drill a hole in the beeper, and then put the thing back together. 9 months later, the engine ceased... Hmmmm... XM Radio used to give away devices for free... no free lunch.
SiriusXm claimed, in the original article, that somehow buying a Stellantis vehicle committed the customer to the SiriusXm agreement. You get a free trial when you buy the vehicle, and thus using the infotainment system then binds you to SiriusXm's terms. Or so says SiriusXm. Then, when the free trial runs out, they either rebill your credit card if they manage to capture it somewhere, or drop to ad-supported mode.
Pre-Stellantis, and Chrysler bankruptcy, they were at least OK. Post-Stellantis, prices are up, parts prices have doubled, quality is down, powertrain design is not very good, and the dealers are fed up.
From the Stellantis dealer association:[1]
In 2023, you engineered a record year of profitability for Stellantis, earning you the title of the highest-compensated automotive CEO. You personally earned a record amount of almost forty million dollars that year. Unfortunately, the engineering and structuring of that year have led us to exactly where we told your executives we would be today.
The reckless short-term decision-making to secure record profits in 2023 has had devastating, yet entirely predictable, consequences in the US market. Those consequences include the rapid degradation of our iconic American brands - brands like Jeep, Dodge, Ram, and Chrysler that have over a century of history in America. The market share of your brands has been slashed nearly in half, Stellantis stock price is tumbling, plants are closing, layoffs are rampant, and key executives fleeing the company. Investor lawsuits, supplier lawsuits, strikes - the fallout is mounting. Your own distribution network, your dealer body, has been left in an anemic and diminished state.
Unfortunately, these are just the consequences we feel today. The drastic market share downturn will have a long lingering painful fiscal impact on your parts manufacturing business for many years to come. The pain will not be confined to the company and its investors. Your dealer network, their employees, your suppliers, and most of all, your own workforce - everyone will suffer the consequences of these disastrous choices.
The bill has come due for the decisions that you made to engineer those profits in 2023, and your attempt at a soft landing on the backs of your employees, your dealers, and your suppliers is frankly just wrong. We did not create this problem, the federal government did not create this problem, the UAW did not create this problem, and your employees did not create this problem - you created this problem.
In December 2024, the CEO of Stellantis was fired. This was spun as "unexpectedly resigned" due to "increasingly divergent views" with the board of directors.[2]
It's really bad. Customers, employees, investors, directors, and dealers have all had it. The only remaining Chrysler-branded vehicle is a mini-van.
Stellantis is down to sixth place in US vehicle sales, below Honda and Kia.
It's the worst disaster in US automotive history since American Motors and Studebaker went down.
The definition of enshitification: "prices are up, parts prices have doubled, quality is down, power train design is not very good, and the dealers are fed up."
Yeah, next car I buy, which hopefully won't be for many years (I keep them until they are dead or crashed (into usually)), will definitely be one that I fully research beforehand and anything like this is absolutely off the list. What short-sighted shite.
Yes, cars at least that old are the only option I'm really OK with. Everything newer seems to have a data connection with someone, which is a complete showstopper for me.
Although, in a pinch, I could probably disable the cell radio in a car, but it's just better to not have to bother with that.
Sure. Not everyone is comfortable making that choice for everyone who might get in their car with them or pedestrian in their vicinity. For them, buying a newer car whose telemetry can be torn out is the realistic alternative to sucking it up.
I do like the safety found in newer cars. I also like fuel efficiency (gas or electric) in newer cars. Cars are important to me for transportation, but I do not really care for them otherwise. The newer cars just feel less and less mine. If I were not in a rural area I would consider not owning a one.
Car crashes are among the five leading causes of death in America [1].
My point is that buying a newer, safer car and disabling the telemetry (in my Subaru, for instance, it requires pulling a fuse) is almost always a better choice than buying an older car. For you. For anyone you may have with you. For everyone outside.
I also woukd not buy too old for the safety features. But my 2007 has side air bags. Sadly it has over 330k miles and will need replaced soon. Likely with another lowish mileage 10+ year old car that I can pay cash for.
According to the very article you linked, that’s none of them. I’ll consider buying a newer car eventually, but only if I can physically disconnect the modem.
> According to the very article you linked, that’s none of them
They're all crap. But some are worse than others.
> I’ll consider buying a newer car eventually, but only if I can physically disconnect the modem
Right. This is this point of doing the research. I don't know a way to tear out the telelmetry on a Tesla. On a Subaru, on the other hand, it requires ripping a fuse.
Most traditional car companies don't push updates. I once asked Toyota if I could get an update in the dealer for a problem and they said no, they only update what is absolutely necessary (e.g., recall items).
My 2011 Acura doesn't do OTA updates either, and that's the way I like it.
I work on cars, to diagnose a “stellantis” (Fiat, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, etc) I need to login and pay subscription in 3 different sites, to use an aftermarket tool still need to pay and login. This obviously carries a cost that I need to charge the customer. So if you own a FCA vehicle expect to get charged north of $150 just to plug the tool on your car.
Good luck with that :) US models are way too bad gas guzzlers for here anyway with European fuel prices. The only people that buy them do it purely for the looks. Other US brands like Ford make different models just for here (and Asia).
At least these ads won't come through because there's no SiriusXM service here.
The road tax basis differs per country. Some are using CO2 per km, others weight, it depends.
I didn't think it was too high when I still owned a car (in Ireland). And this was a petrol car which was very unfavourable in the CO2-based tax regime.
So glad I gave up driving automobiles. The industry obviously hates their own customers.
All this would motivate is putting piece of cardboard over the dashboard display, or ripping out the dash entirely and replacing it with your own custom 3rd party alternative. Or ripping out the satellite / wifi equivalent.
Starting to get like Windows with wheels. Get a new install. Disable camera. Disable microphone. Disable remote desktop. Disable call-home reporting. Disable corporate features apps.
And Windows still keeps trying to get me have XBox game pass on my work laptop... Why did you uninstall this? Are you sure you don't want to interact with teabaggers on Halo and Fortnight during work?
And how much can they possibly make? A couple $ million for an ad contract that makes nobody ever want to buy your automobiles ever again?
Like many have noted, if there's ever a return to driving it's going to be about the least "connected" automobile that can be found on the market. Want wifi while driving I'll use a phone.
I'm more bothered by ads in mass transit because that's a government-owned bus/train it's on. At least I can vote with my dollar if I don't want my car to show me ads.
Seems like such a dumb idea. Now I totally see it on rental car fleets but on car you own? not so much.
Edit: To be clear I think it would be a deal breaker for rental cars too, but I could see a marketing type make the case for the 'marginal revenue add' or some such.
No, not rental car fleets either. (Remind me not to rent a Dodge on my next trip. Oh, your company only has Dodges? Guess I'll rent from your competitor, then...)
Never bought a car, but can you request the dealer to remove SIM module from the vehicle? So you can selectively update the infotainment system only when you vetted/needed to?
Dodge vehicles suck so bad these days as it is. They have been making poor products for decades now and customers are finally starting to wake up to it. Guess they are doubling down now. No one needs this shit put in their face in their car. Sending an email which surely most people end up giving up in modern car purchases with the information this ad is trying to sell is more than enough. Just another poor decision from a company that fails to impress customers.
It really hasn't been one of the Big 3 since 2014 when Fiat purchased Chrysler and Chrysler became a European company. Big 3 refers to American automakers. Tesla has been the 3rd largest American automaker for over a decade.
If we limit it to American automakers though it should probably no longer be the Big 3. It should be the Big 2. In 2024 GM had 17% of US car sales, Ford had 13%, and Tesla had 4%.
I wonder what it would look like if we included non-US companies but only counted their US sales of cars that were built in the US (and excluded cars from GM, Ford, and Tesla that are not built in the US)? A bit of searching failed to turn up anything useful.
If we forget about where the company is from and just look at the top brands, it is not clear for what N it makes sense anymore to talk about a "Big N". The top 10 are, in order, GM, Toyota, Ford, Hyundai, Honda, Stellantis, Nissan, VW, Subaru, and Tesla. Their shares of 2024 sales were 17, 15, 13, 11, 9, 8, 7, 4, 4, and 4%.
Here's the Stellantis customer agreement.[1]
Free Access Subscription Plan: The Free Access Plan is our free advertising supported Subscription. You may be offered the opportunity to self-activate this Plan or we may activate your vehicle radio after your Trial Subscription or paid Subscription Plan. The Service will continue until: (i) you or we cancel this Plan; (ii) your radio is transferred; or (iii) you purchase a Subscription. The content available may differ depending on the capabilities of your radio and this Plan is not available on all radios. You agree that we may activate this Plan on your inactive radio and the availability of this Service is determined solely by us. If this Plan has been activated on your radio, you may cancel it as set forth in Section 4. You may request that your radio not be activated with this Plan after your trial or paid Subscription by mailing a letter to Sirius XM Care, PO Box 33174, Detroit, MI 48232, Attention: No Free Access Subscription. In your letter include: (1) your first and last name; (2) email address; (3) postal address; (4) Vehicle Radio ID/ESN; and (5) indicate that you do not want the Free Access Plan.
Stellantis stock has dropped from 29 to 12 over the last year.
[1] https://www.siriusxm.com/customer-agreement
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