The need isn't for the user, it's for government surveillance and corporate data collection. I hate to say it but this trend seems inevitable. Wherever corporate and government interests align, it's practically impossible for the people to fight.

considering cybercab and waymo . That trend is going nowhere

Connected cars are very useful for end-users. I use my car's app to remote-start, lock/unlock, check diagnostics, etc all the time. If for some reason my car was stolen, I could track it remotely. If I got in a crash and was unresponsive, the car calls for help. I want all those features.

The problem isn't being connected, any more than your smartphone being connected is a problem. The problem is control. Who has control of what, when? It should be us in control of what data is used, when, for what purposes. If companies won't voluntarily put control in our hands, we need the government to mandate it.