CARNET Discontinued

[jimlloyd40]

For what it's worth, it's also not like VW didn't know about or prepare for the sunset of 3G data services. The 3G sunset impacts 2014-2019 model year cars. You can no longer get a subscription for these vehicles and if you have a subscription that goes beyond the sunset date you get a prorated refund.

Model year 2020 and later cars with the option have what VW is calling Car Net next generation, which is not impacted by the 3G service sunset so we can assume they have 4G/LTE capable radios. It includes app-enabled features. I assume there is new stuff in addition to whatever old Car Net offered. Lots of people don't like their car being connected to anything, but a lot of people like the features as well and are willing to pay for them.

I have never used old CarNet and don't have a 2020+ vehicle to try the new hotness but if the app sucks they need to fix that since they are taking folks money for the advanced feature plans. If I had a 2020+ vehicle I would give the free services a shot... https://carnet.vw.com/#/plan-pricing/modelyr-2020. And I can see the appeal of adding a 4G/LTE hotspot to your car, depending on the data allowance.

You realize that if you get a CEL they will know and initiate making an appointment with you? When I had a Veloster Turbo that car came with a free year of whatever Hyundai calls it and they do the same thing. They thought I was crazy canceling a year's worth of free service. Tuning was more important to me.

 

[2018gti]

I just prefer not to have something running in my car in the background, communicating, that is also essentially useless because I don’t pay for it.

 

[Cuzoe]

You realize that if you get a CEL they will know and initiate making an appointment with you? When I had a Veloster Turbo that car came with a free year of whatever Hyundai calls it and they do the same thing. They thought I was crazy canceling a year's worth of free service. Tuning was more important to me.

Sure, but they can't make me come to an appointment. The dealer initiates making appointments with me now, and they don't know if I have a CEL. I ignore them just the same. If I care about my warranty then I'm going to the dealer with any CEL I get, let them fix it. If tuning is more important to me than having a CEL fixed I'm probably not going to the dealer anyway. If I claim to care about tuning and my warranty I should be more worried about my flash counter than any CEL they see between visits.

My sister has a Jetta, drives 25,000+ miles a year, negotiated a good deal on VW Care for 100,000 miles. Always busy, teaches special education, works for a therapy clinic, drives all the time because she has to, no ability/time/place to do maintenance on her car, and even less interest in it. Every time her service reminder comes on she reaches out to the dealer to schedule an appointment. If she gets a CEL, reaches out to the dealer to schedule an appointment. Weird behavior or dash lights (like when the battery is dying), reaches out to the dealer to the schedule an appointment. Free CarNet means they reach out to her in all those cases. And she gets whatever Remote Access features that are part of the free package, maybe never uses them. But for her there's no downside. I have to think she's not an atypical VW customer... VW did release the Taos after all, for whom did they make that car?


@2018gti The basic plan is free, and includes features that plenty of people like, or at least don't mind. The ability to remotely lock/unlock my car would be nice. CarNet "running in the background, communicating" seems an odd concern when most of us carry around smartphones, on our person.

 

[2018gti]

The basic plan is free, and includes features that plenty of people like, or at least don't mind. The ability to remotely lock/unlock my car would be nice. CarNet "running in the background, communicating" seems an odd concern when most of us carry around smartphones, on our person.

Yeah no I get that it can be useful, it’s an interesting technology. And anyway it’s going to be a part of every car going forward if it isn’t already. What I don’t like is with the old version, if we don’t pay, it does essentially nothing. And there’s no official way to deactivate it. Your phone of course is tracking you too, but at least it does something useful lol. And also isn’t buried behind your gauges and can’t be turned off.

 

[Cuzoe]

Full disclosure, I sell CarNet and OnStar services for a living, and business is quite good. The enthusiast car owner market is completely untapped though and if there's one thing I don't believe in it's an untapped market.

 

[shovelhd]

Full disclosure, I sell CarNet and OnStar services for a living, and business is quite good. The enthusiast car owner market is completely untapped though and if there's one thing I don't believe in it's an untapped market.

How many sales has your sister's story made for you?

 

[Maiden69]

You realize that if you get a CEL they will know and initiate making an appointment with you? When I had a Veloster Turbo that car came with a free year of whatever Hyundai calls it and they do the same thing. They thought I was crazy canceling a year's worth of free service. Tuning was more important to me.

Not necessarily. it depends on the manufacturer I guess. I had On-Star in 3 cars, plenty of CEL, never had a call or service scheduled. On-Star do send you an email and asks for YOU to request service if needed. I had 2 CEL so far with Car-Net and not a single pop-up on my app or email about it. Also, I traded my Camaro with 12k miles on it, the Chevy dealership I bought it from (I used to work there as a sales consultant) was still tracking around 6K miles on the last email asking me to go for my free oil change.

The main reason I keep Car-Net is for insurance discount (as minimal as it is) and the ability to lock/unlock the car when I forget the keys. The App sucks as stated, On-Star app and service is so much better. Also, their version in the Audi platform is equally bad.

 

[Strange Mud]

I am way too cheap to get car net but the time they sent me a text during the trial period telling me my windows were down and it was raining in the area I was impressed. I would really like having windows roll up when it's raining and would pay $50 a year for that

Spoiler

It would have been important if my car wasn't in my garage

 

[Cuzoe]

How many sales has your sister's story made for you?

That was a joke , are there actually CarNet/OnStar salesman? The story about my sister is true however. She only has a VW because I pestered her into getting one, thinking I would get to mod that too. But she's convinced that all my mods are really just me fixing my unreliable car, haha. I told her to get VW Care so she wouldn't have to worry... and so outside of me putting on the stock wheels from my Golf her Jetta is still bone stock at 85k , not even a window tint.

 

[Mandatoryclutchpedal]

21' owner and Carnet is free until 2026.
I use it regularly for things like double checking if the doors are locked or at the very least it will let me know if windows are open.

Don't really see myself renewing carnet in 2026 for $200 a year once the free period is over