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Cars are cruising down the monthly subscription highway
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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — If you already subscribe to digital services like Netflix to binge on TV shows and Spotify to groove to an endless mix of music, the auto industry might have a deal for you: Subscribe to your next car as well.Make that cars, plural. Some of these packages — which charge a monthly fee for the bundled use of a car, insurance and maintenance — let you trade in your vehicle on a regular basis, sometimes almost as readily as you can skip to a new tune on Spotify.These still-developing car subscription programs are gaining traction among motorists who don't want to be locked into the hassles of car ownership or even multiyear leasing commitments. All they want is a vehicle available whenever they want or need it."It feels like Christmas morning every time they bring me a new car," said Steve Barnes, a video producer who subscribes to a high-end vehicle subscription program offered through Clutch Technologies, a startup operating in the Atlanta area. (Clutch helped The Associated Press find Barnes for this story).Although they're still in their infancy, car subscriptions are hooking more motorists as both long-established automakers and startups roll out plans.Ford, a 115-year-old automaker with a network of more than 3,000 dealers, expanded into car subscriptions about 16 months ago through Canvas, a subsidiary in San Francisco.Canvas offers a variety of used, once-leased Ford and Lincoln models as subscriptions that cost anywhere from $379 per month (for a Ford Fiesta subcompact) to $1,125 per month (for a Lincoln Navigator luxury SUV).Those plans, however, have strict mileage limits: 500 miles a month.