Jeep has sunk to an all-new low, displaying full-screen ads on the in-dash touchscreen EVERY SINGLE TIME the vehicle stops.
Jeep seems to be under the impression that what users really want is to spend tens of thousands of dollars on a new vehicle, only to be subjected to full-screen ads on their radio touchscreens every time they stop. It’s almost as if Jeep believes as if buyers don’t actually own their vehicles, and Jeep should be able to nickle and dime them for all they’re worth.
The issue was first spotted on 4XE forums, a user posted a question about how to stop the ads.
Short of smashing a brick through the screen, does anyone know how to stop the radio from displaying a damn Mopar Extended Warranty ad on the Uconnect screen every time I come to a stop? 4 ads in less than 12 miles today. I can’t believe they’ve graduated from telemarketing phone harassment to actually displaying this crap on the screen in the vehicle while your driving.
Unfortunately, they were not exaggerating or making up the problem. Zach Shefska tweeted an image of one of the ads.
Amazingly, a Jeep employee responded to the original 4XE forum post, suggesting that the user “click the large [X] in the corner to close” the ad.
Thank you for tagging us and we are certainly sorry to hear of the frustration this has caused you. At this time, we advise that customers click the large [X] in the corner to close out and clear stored notifications from the vehicle. It should also be noted that ads are part of your contractual agreement with Sirius XM, but we are working on the frequency. Thank you for your patience.
Here’s another thought for Jeep: Don’t shove ads down users throats in a vehicle they own.
The Bigger Issue
The bigger issue is corporations’ belief that everything and anything should be turned into a subscription server, regardless of whether the customer owns the product or not.
To be clear, it is 100% understandable that a company offering a free service should be able to—and in fact need to—bundle ads with that service. For example, Google provides industry-leading email services to countless individuals for free. It would be unreasonable to expect them not to sell ads and monetize data.
Once a customer purchases a product, however, they are now the owner of that product. The manufacturer’s rights end, or at least they should. That is especially the case when said product costs tens of thousands of dollars.
Unfortunately, Jeep is no the only example of this enshittification of the automotive industry. BMW famously wanted to charge $18 a month for customers to use heated seats in their vehicles. Again, to be perfectly clear, the hardware was already in place and the customer had purchase the vehicle, but BMW thought they should be able to charge a monthly fee to access some of its features, before public outcry caused the company to reverse course.
Similarly, Ford has filed for a patent to listen to everything that is send in a vehicle’s cabin and then then serve customized ads based on the conversations. Fortunately, the company has yet to roll out such a feature, and one can hope the patent filing is a defensive move to prevent any other company from deploying such a feature, but it is concerning nonetheless.
The issues have prompted some lawmakers to introduce legislation that would ban subscription services designed to unlock non-updated features. For example, a subscription is an understandable requirement for satellite radio, or for GPS updates, but should not be required to unlock heated seats or other features that do not require ongoing maintenance and updates.
In the meantime, until legislation does more to protect consumers, Jeep and parent company Stellantis take the title for worst example of enshittification in the auto industry.
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