I would drive straight back to the dealership and return it
211 points | 148 comments
The only solution I see is open-source but for cars, that’s a long ways out.
Mind you, Chinese cars are often assembled in Europe and have to comply with all the safety laws etc, but at any price tier it feels you're getting a car that is 10k+ more expensive than it is.
And that's despite EU putting (non sense) sanctions on Chinese cars and components.
If Chinese were free to compete square and fair they would've long swallowed the European industry.
Like look at Volkswagen and what you get at 40k. A non base Golf, maybe?
It also grinds my nerves that European cars are less expensive anywhere but in Europe.
You go to US and they are like 15/20% less expensive.
The governmental/industrial coordination in China is quite literally un comparable to Western style industries so the western governments feel they have to protect their local industries.
This definitely hurts consumers in the short term, so the whole argument is about long term impacts.
I think the base golf is around 30k.
(Renault, fiat and Citroen are better priced than German cars if you don't mind staying in the low-end. You still have park assist, Google/Apple carplay and they are still good on the road, but they feel less luxurious.)
If I recalled correctly, we got a higher-specced Id.3 for around that price (yes new). It's a great car.
But I am grumpy now, because they added Play Integrity (strong) to their app (which is handy for monitoring charging, etc.) and now I cannot run it on GrapheneOS. They also cut API access for Home Assistant users. I think we are probably an invisible blip on the radar, but our next car probably won't be VW.
They won’t even be doing this to push people to use public transport. It’s just regular enshittification by big brother.
(I never wait three month though. If I call my GP, I have an appointment today or tomorrow. Same with our dentist, etc.)
It’s such a look of desperation to add advertisements when they didn’t start out as a carnival-barker brand that it’s hard to continue trusting their vehicle manufacturing. Look at how poorly they rank in reliability perception relative to Jaguar and Subaru — and only two steps away from ‘We’re selling your radio data to stay afloat’ GM, too?! https://www.bmwblog.com/2025/06/29/2025-jd-power-initial-qua...
Ugh. I may not personally like their cars but I still hate to see it when notable brands swan-dive into the rocks rather than just wind down gracefully. Hopefully Toyota handles this better, given they’re facing - financial crisis of their own:
> Sato has claimed Toyota is in a “battle for survival” against Chinese automakers. Going forward, the company will have to loosen its infamously strict quality standards to cut costs and increase output.
In-car adblockers would be nice.
I don't want to watch videos while I'm driving.
In the previous software, you could at least move it somewhere unobtrusive; but the latest version only displays icons alphabetically. No re-ordering anymore.
† Volvos have "Google Built-In," the bastard stepbrother of Android Auto, which also has an app in the car so you can have the worst of both worlds.
That’s why they say not to “buy things and spend money on experiences instead ” and enshittify everything instead of creating new things. It’s not because an “experience” is actually better it’s because it’s easier to make one than make a useful or novel object.
Why make a new thing when you can just extract more money from people with less effort and there isn’t really anything to “make”.
The incentives are all wrong.
No they most definitely are not.
They're marketed as high end, but their engineering is a tour de force of cost cutting behind the scenes.
I just got rid of my 2024 BMW i4 xdrive40, for an electric awd subaru-toyota-lexus joint effort platform (there are a few variations, all related in engineering) and it's like jumping several years into the future, including efficiency, which is roughly 25% higher in the japanese (more modern) cars, the handling dynamics on the japanese platforms are far more refined, and then vastly less shitty interior materials, except the BMW seating which was good.
I've driven BMW "high end cars" for about 11 years, and emphatically recommend looking at Audi, Mercedes, and Subaru/Toyota joint efforts, as well as Tesla and Rivian, depending on what you seek.
$0.02 from someone who spent a fortune and lived and learned.
pfdietz•3h ago