carnet cost and options

[Skryll]

When I bought the 2015 eGolf two years ago, the sales person said that basic remote access is included but that the extra features like perimeter setting and phone assistence from the button in the car would be requiring the carnet package.

I think I prepaid it for two years but this month it went to a monthly subscription and I was asked to update my payment info and so I looked at what it costs me in more detail.

I realized - $18/month is a lot of money for an app that works so badly. So I asked what level of service the app gives me if I don't pay the $18/month and they said none. I asked isnt there a less feature rich tier that is cheaper and they said no. The app would only work with a subscription and the only prices available are the ones on https://carnet.vw.com/web/vwcwp/pricing which is $18/month or a little less when prepaying for a year.

I am not even using it that much and I am wondering if I should not just cancel it altogether, because 90% of the time it does not turn on the climate control on the first try, the chance is higher but not 100% on the second try but after dorking around so much with it I am already at my car almost anyways.

Teslas app works so much better, if carnet would work as well, I would pay at least $15/month for it, maybe even $18/month, but as it is, this just seems like a $200/year expense I can do without. Also i am annoyed that I have to pay for all those features I don't need. i want to see my consumption stats, turn on/off air conditioning, and be able to unlock/lock the car. According to https://carnet.vw.com/documents/11710/0/Car-Net+Sell+Sheet/c22fe584-5fce-49eb-a4f0-d54d5eb7c576 you can lock the car, but iast time I looked at it, you could only unlock but not lock.

So maybe I should just cancel it and see how soon I miss it, maybe in hotter summer months. I also do hope that Tesla Model 3 comes out this year, with my reservation being in the first 100,000, and the website saying 'late 2017' actually means 2017 and just replace the car with one that has better iphone support, more range etc.

What do you guys do about the excessive car net cost ?

I love driving the eGolf and have gone more than 20,000 miles in the two years, but this is now really bugging me.

 

[forbin404]

When I bought the 2015 eGolf two years ago, the sales person said that basic remote access is included but that the extra features like perimeter setting and phone assistence from the button in the car would be requiring the carnet package.

I think I prepaid it for two years but this month it went to a monthly subscription and I was asked to update my payment info and so I looked at what it costs me in more detail.

I realized - $18/month is a lot of money for an app that works so badly. So I asked what level of service the app gives me if I don't pay the $18/month and they said none. I asked isnt there a less feature rich tier that is cheaper and they said no. The app would only work with a subscription and the only prices available are the ones on https://carnet.vw.com/web/vwcwp/pricing which is $18/month or a little less when prepaying for a year.

I am not even using it that much and I am wondering if I should not just cancel it altogether, because 90% of the time it does not turn on the climate control on the first try, the chance is higher but not 100% on the second try but after dorking around so much with it I am already at my car almost anyways.

Teslas app works so much better, if carnet would work as well, I would pay at least $15/month for it, maybe even $18/month, but as it is, this just seems like a $200/year expense I can do without. Also i am annoyed that I have to pay for all those features I don't need. i want to see my consumption stats, turn on/off air conditioning, and be able to unlock/lock the car. According to https://carnet.vw.com/documents/11710/0/Car-Net+Sell+Sheet/c22fe584-5fce-49eb-a4f0-d54d5eb7c576 you can lock the car, but iast time I looked at it, you could only unlock but not lock.

So maybe I should just cancel it and see how soon I miss it, maybe in hotter summer months. I also do hope that Tesla Model 3 comes out this year, with my reservation being in the first 100,000, and the website saying 'late 2017' actually means 2017 and just replace the car with one that has better iphone support, more range etc.

What do you guys do about the excessive car net cost ?

I love driving the eGolf and have gone more than 20,000 miles in the two years, but this is now really bugging me.

If you don't pay you can still view if you car is locked / unlocked. Set a few Timer and Temp settings, and set climate control to turn on.

 

[schleppy]

If you don't pay you can still view if you car is locked / unlocked. Set a few Timer and Temp settings, and set climate control to turn on.

Really? Have you confirmed this?

I think $100/yr for all the remote features without roadside assistance would be fair. $200/yr for an app that is mediocre at best (and incredibly slow) plus roadside isn't a great deal.

 

[forbin404]

If you don't pay you can still view if you car is locked / unlocked. Set a few Timer and Temp settings, and set climate control to turn on.

Really? Have you confirmed this?

I think $100/yr for all the remote features without roadside assistance would be fair. $200/yr for an app that is mediocre at best (and incredibly slow) plus roadside isn't a great deal.

Yes I can confirm this.

Lock / Unlock appears to be gone now on the Android.
Timer and Temp settings are still there.

 

[miimura]

If you don't pay you can still view if you car is locked / unlocked. Set a few Timer and Temp settings, and set climate control to turn on.

Really? Have you confirmed this?

I think $100/yr for all the remote features without roadside assistance would be fair. $200/yr for an app that is mediocre at best (and incredibly slow) plus roadside isn't a great deal.

Yes I can confirm this.

Lock / Unlock appears to be gone now on the Android.
Timer and Temp settings are still there.

Same for iPhone.

 

[bizzle]

More concerning to me than the price are these arbitrary changes the service is making to features being available/unavailable and the implied or specified time frames.

Based on the company's behavior in the past, I would not be surprised to find out that features like locking the car weren't locked out and placed behind an additional paywall even after subscribing for another year or something like linking certain features to whether we have a verizon phone subscription. There doesn't seem to be any oversight about how this is being handled at all, not necessarily from the government's end, but rather from VW or the dealership where we got our vehicles.

Yet, the feature is manufactured right into the vehicle. It's mind-boggling how anyone thought this was a "feature" rather than a hassle. In five years the company could be tits up for all we know yet we'll still have these stupid useless buttons gracing our interior.

 

[forbin404]

Note:
The Web still supports Lock / Unlock / Honk / Flash

So I guess if you need to Lock desperately you go to the web version.

 

[JoulesThief]

Note:
The Web still supports Lock / Unlock / Honk / Flash

So I guess if you need to Lock desperately you go to the web version.

Will the web version tell you how much time is left to complete a recharge still?

 

[Skryll]

When I bought the 2015 eGolf two years ago, the sales person said that basic remote access is included but that the extra features like perimeter setting and phone assistence from the button in the car would be requiring the carnet package.

I think I prepaid it for two years but this month it went to a monthly subscription and I was asked to update my payment info and so I looked at what it costs me in more detail.

I realized - $18/month is a lot of money for an app that works so badly. So I asked what level of service the app gives me if I don't pay the $18/month and they said none. I asked isnt there a less feature rich tier that is cheaper and they said no. The app would only work with a subscription and the only prices available are the ones on https://carnet.vw.com/web/vwcwp/pricing which is $18/month or a little less when prepaying for a year.

I am not even using it that much and I am wondering if I should not just cancel it altogether, because 90% of the time it does not turn on the climate control on the first try, the chance is higher but not 100% on the second try but after dorking around so much with it I am already at my car almost anyways.

Teslas app works so much better, if carnet would work as well, I would pay at least $15/month for it, maybe even $18/month, but as it is, this just seems like a $200/year expense I can do without. Also i am annoyed that I have to pay for all those features I don't need. i want to see my consumption stats, turn on/off air conditioning, and be able to unlock/lock the car. According to https://carnet.vw.com/documents/11710/0/Car-Net+Sell+Sheet/c22fe584-5fce-49eb-a4f0-d54d5eb7c576 you can lock the car, but iast time I looked at it, you could only unlock but not lock.

So maybe I should just cancel it and see how soon I miss it, maybe in hotter summer months. I also do hope that Tesla Model 3 comes out this year, with my reservation being in the first 100,000, and the website saying 'late 2017' actually means 2017 and just replace the car with one that has better iphone support, more range etc.

What do you guys do about the excessive car net cost ?

I love driving the eGolf and have gone more than 20,000 miles in the two years, but this is now really bugging me.

If you don't pay you can still view if you car is locked / unlocked. Set a few Timer and Temp settings, and set climate control to turn on.

So that sales person lied to me. Thankfully I picked month to month plan and will try out what I get without paying for it. And I agree, I would pay say $5/month, maybe even $10 if it worked better, but no way I am paying $18/month for a badly performing app, especially when sales people straight up lie to you to make a sale of features I don't need.