Spotify's Car Thing Accessory is Officially Dead

Spotify today shut down all Car Thing accessories, several months after announcing plans to discontinue the product. As of this week, Car Thing is no longer functional and will not work with the Spotify streaming service.

spotify car thing 1
Car Thing owners who power on the device now only see the following message:

Car Thing is discontinued and no longer operational.

Thank you for being on this journey with us, safe travels. For more information, visit carthing.com Contact customer service by no later than January 14, 2025 to discuss your refund options.

Spotify's Car Thing was first introduced in April 2021, and it was Spotify's first hardware product. The accessory was designed to provide simple access to Spotify music while in a vehicle, and it was especially useful in vehicles without modern infotainment systems.

Spotify stopped making Car Thing just five months after it launched due to low product demand and supply chain issues. Existing Car Thing accessories continued to function as expected, until this week.

Back in May, Spotify announced that it was discontinuing Car Thing, and earlier this month, it told customers that the device would stop working at some point in December. Spotify says that Car Thing was discontinued in an effort to streamline product offerings.

Car Thing cost $90 when it launched, and existing units are entirely non-operational now that Spotify has decided to brick them. Spotify has directed customers to recycle their Car Things.

Tag: Spotify

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Top Rated Comments

djc6 Avatar
10 months ago

Should have never been released, XM wants their Roady back.

Refund options? Hmmmm, good on them if it is anything substantial.
I liked my Spotify Car Thing - I drive a 15 year old Mazda it doesn't have any screen. Much nicer UI to pick songs than trying to unlock phone and use Spotify while driving.

They gave me a full refund back when they announced discontinuation - but I had to ask for refund.

Now I have a "portable CarPlay Unit" - a whole genre of devices I didn't know existed. I'm using this one:

https://www.carpodgo.com/

Its OK, but I miss the physical buttons on the Car Thing - much easier to use.

Some day my car will stop working and I'll move into the future. 178K miles and no signs of problems!
Score: 33 Votes (Like | Disagree)
vegetassj4 Avatar
10 months ago
Here's my thing for playing music in a non modern automobile:



Attachment Image
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SFjohn Avatar
10 months ago

It was bad that we do not own our digital libraries but that they can even brick our hardware instead of just letting work for the few people that use it. Makes me think twice on buying new prototype and being free guinea pigs
I own my own digital libraries, you can too.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TurboJobo Avatar
10 months ago
It was bad that we do not own our digital libraries but that they can even brick our hardware instead of just letting work for the few people that use it. Makes me think twice on buying new prototype and being free guinea pigs
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ikir Avatar
10 months ago
Why not keeping it working? No sense. With little effort Spotify could make them work with basic functions.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
carniesandrubes Avatar
10 months ago
It can be hacked to run other stuff. I use mine as a desktop controller for media.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)