Free Car Tech Features You May Be Paying Extra ForMotorTrend - MotorTrend (MotorTrend - MotorTrend)When buying a new car, shoppers typically choose between standard equipment that comes with a vehicle and options that cost extra. The decision to upgrade a vehicle’s engine, interior upholstery, or exterior paint is usually straightforward. But with the proliferation of technology in new vehicles, the line between standard and optional has become less clear-cut. Increasingly, one automaker may offer a tech feature at no cost, while another decides to charge for it as an add-on option or via a subscription.Making matters even more complicated, automakers sometimes bundle certain desirable features into options packages. To help you keep track of it all, we looked at several of the most common and popular new technology features that exist in the gray area between free and fee so you can be better equipped to research and ask about them and how much extra they may cost you—before you sign on the dotted line.A Subscription for Remote Start (and Subscriptions in General)As car tech options have proliferated, automakers have taken a page from tech companies and started charging monthly subscriptions designed to provide them with ongoing revenue streams long after a vehicle is purchased. GM recently announced that it generated $750 million in the first quarter of 2026 through subscription-based connected services such as OnStar and Super Cruise.AdvertisementAdvertisementThis has led some automakers to charge subscriptions not only for new tech features, but some that previously came with a car either as standard or with one-time purchase option. BMW experienced so much blowback when it implemented subscriptions for heated seats in 2022 that it quickly abandoned the idea. And this was after BMW initially charged an $80 annual “subscription” for Apple CarPlay—a feature offered for free by every other automaker—and eventually backtracked and now offers it for free.MotorTrend - MotorTrend (MotorTrend - MotorTrend)BMW’s ConnectedDrive collection of digital services offers various features on a subscription basis, including remote engine start, a feature that for years was either standard equipment or an option on some trim levels and operated via a button on a car’s key fob. Because activation of remote start has started shifting to automakers’ smartphone apps rather than a key fob, more car companies have started charging for the feature.In 2021, Toyota began charging for remote start from the key fob or an app for 2018 and later vehicles. The remote start function is now part of Toyota’s Remote Connect service, and when the subscription expires, remote start is disabled whether using a key fob or an app. Depending on the vehicle model, Remote Connect with remote start is free within the first one to three years of ownership, after which it costs $15 a month. Unfortunately, most other automakers now charge for remote start after a similar free trial period. Ford, Lincoln, and Tesla are the only automakers that still offer the feature subscription-free.Like Toyota, many other automakers bundle remote features such as door locking/unlocking and map-based vehicle location via an app into a suite of connected services, and to keep them activated requires a subscription that kicks in down the road. Genesis, Nissan, and Toyota/Lexus offer free trials for remote features for up to three years, while Stellantis now offers basic remote services for 10 years on its new vehicles. Others, such as BMW, Ford, and General Motors, provide only a three-month trial of remote features on new vehicles, though some services are offered free of charge for longer. Stepping up to a luxury vehicles from Bentley or Maserati or a Polestar EV gets owners these features free for the life of the vehicle.AdvertisementAdvertisementIt’s important to understand what an automaker subscription service offers you and how much it may cost you in the future through the life of your vehicle.Driver Assists Can Cost YouDriver assist systems are some of the most prominent examples of features some carmakers are charging for that others offer as standard. Luxury automakers are some of the worst offenders at nickel and diming their customers for driver assists that often come standard on cars that cost much less.The Kia K4 GT Line that starts at $25,490 comes standard with lane keeping and blind-spot assist, rear cross-traffic collision avoidance, adaptive cruise control with stop and go, lane centering, and safe exit warning, among other driver assists. The K4 GT Line also includes forward collision warning with automatic emergency braking (AEB) that’s a federally mandated feature and adds what Kia calls Cyclist/Junction Turning Assist that detects oncoming cars or cyclists in adjacent lanes and automatically applies the brake if a collision is likely.William Walker - MotorTrend (William Walker - MotorTrend)Contrast this with the BMW 228 Gran Coupe that starts at around $40,000 and comes standard with forward collision warning with AEB and lane keeping and blind-spot assist, but adaptive cruise control and lane centering is a $500 option. You must spring for the $1,700 Driver Assistance Professional package to get adaptive cruise control with stop and go, although the option also adds automatic lane changing in cruise control, emergency stop assistant if the driver becomes incapacitated, evasion assistant that automatically steers around obstacles and pedestrians in a car’s path, and traffic jam assistant for hands-off driving on highways at up to 40 mph.Other Features You Can Get for FreeTraffic and WeatherOther digital services some automakers charge for that others include for free are real-time traffic and weather. The Mercedes Me Connect that includes live weather and traffic info and connected navigation with updated maps requires a $150 annual subscription after a one- to three-year trial period.AdvertisementAdvertisementSubaru’s Live Traffic subscription service is free for one year after a new purchase but then costs $11 a month or $16 a month for the Subaru EVs. But vehicles from BMW, Honda, Kia, Mazda, and Toyota/Lexus offer subscription-free real-time traffic and weather data via HD Radio.DashcamsHyundai and Toyota offer factory-integrated dashcams that are either standard equipment or an option at the time of purchase on certain trims. The flagship Hyundai Palisade Calligraphy comes standard with dual cameras for front and rear views, while the 2026 Toyota RAV4 comes with a built-in dashcam that uses the vehicle’s exterior cameras located all around the vehicle.Then there’s the BMW Drive Recorder dashcam feature, which costs $149 for a lifetime activation or $39 for yearly subscription via ConnectedDrive service, while Mercedes-Benz charges $200 to activate an onboard dashcam as part of a software-based Digital Extra.MotorTrend (MotorTrend)Research Is KeyWe’ve discovered these discrepancies in standard versus optional features or subscription-based services over years of reviewing hundreds of vehicles and carefully poring over their feature lists and the Monroney, aka the window sticker, that comes with each car.AdvertisementAdvertisementIt usually only takes a bit of extra time to check what a car has or doesn’t have as standard and compare it to other vehicles you may be interested in buying. Keeping an eye out for these examples and other tech features that are important to you could save you more than a little money down the road.