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Comment by cptcobalt | Hacker News Reader

I know it's a distraction and orthogonal to your point, but your statement of a "key fob for your Tesla for $300" is fallacious and incorrect. Tesla uses Phone Key with with the Tesla app as your primary method of unlocking the car, with a $20 NFC card as fallback, and the limit of paired phones is above any practical real-world use. If you want a keyfob as a status symbol, it's $175. (Mine is a desk ornament, it doesn't get used.)

Swap in a more traditional automaker, and your point remains correct.

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Since you noted it, it’s actually very much part of my point. Tesla engages in price segmentation for replacement key fobs because they have key control. Perhaps even more aggressively than most other automakers short of VW Group. When done well it’s invisible to the user. I suspect by your (polite) comment that you may not be aware that’s going on here.

Premium users pay $300 to replace the fob on their Model S / Model X. Mid users pay $175 to replace the fob on the Model 3 / Model Y. And an entry level option exists for the cards. Plus programming fee. Handling fee. Local taxes. Processing fee. Etc :-)

Without control of their PKI anyone could self program a replacement for a few dollars as is the case with the garage door market.

As an aside, I find the fob useful for booting the car up prior to getting in, rather than waiting 40 seconds before the fly-by-wire shifter starts responding to commands to put it in gear.

> And an entry level option exists for the cards. Plus programming fee. Handling fee. Local taxes. Processing fee. Etc :-)

Cards are $20. No programming fee, no handling fee, no processing fee. Yes, there are taxes and yes shipping things generally costs money. Users program keys themselves.

> As an aside, I find the fob useful for booting the car up prior to getting in, rather than waiting 40 seconds before the fly-by-wire shifter starts responding to commands to put it in gear.

Keys are for valet and I keep mine in my glove box. The car boots up almost instantly.

> If you want a keyfob as a status symbol, it's $175. (Mine is a desk ornament, it doesn't get used.)

The keyfob is super-useful. It fits perfectly into that small jeans pocket (that was originally meant for watches), so you can trigger the trunk/frunk opening without taking the fob (or phone) out.

You can also trigger those same functions via a smart watch or mobile phone using Siri shortcuts (if you're an iOS user).

Yes, I mean surely Chamberlain could maintain a correct and official API endpoint for HomeAssistant users for the kopecks it would cost. It’s all a big money grab.

I was burned by this change. I don’t know if anyone at Chamberlain is reading this, but you guys have neighbors, users just wanna keep their home safe. You’re one TikTok away from a crisis when you do stuff that is anti-consumer.

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