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Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start

arstechnica.com

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Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start

#11

Post by shiftpgdn »

Karsteski wrote: post #2

Sigh... While I look forward to having an electric car someday, the trend in new cars does not look promising. Far too many instances of car companies having too much control, because of the advent of internet-connected vehicles. Is there a solution to this? I don't know. Especially because I can see legislation cementing these sorts of practices in very much convoluted ways. One can only hope competing car brands em…

I have both a new electric Audi and new Tesla. In either car I can just remove the sim and it'll completely disable all of the internet based features. A lot of the FUD around new cars is spread by grumpy old automotive journalists.

Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start

#12

Post by Syonyk »

paulkrush wrote: post #4

If this keeps up, some used cars will have a higher value than new ones. People will have to break EULAs to drive cars in mines or buildings with no radio access. "Error: please tow your car to an RF access area to enable movement..."

> If this keeps up, some used cars will have a higher value than new ones.

That's already the case with construction equipment and farm equipment[0].

Right now, used cars often have a higher or near-new value because you can get one today - a new car, at MSRP, may be 6+ months wait, which doesn't help if your car just got totaled.

But, yes, everything is doubling down on toxic dystopian surveillance systems, subscription systems, and it's damned near the only option left anymore. I'm not sure what I'm going to do when the current fleet of vehicles needs rotating, because in 10 years when I plan to buy something newer, I'm not sure if anything won't be simply toxic. My car doesn't need a cell connection, sorry...

[0]: https://www.thedrive.com/news/31761/enormous-costs-of-new-tr...

Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start

#13

Post by Karsteski »

shiftpgdn wrote: post #11
Karsteski wrote: post #2

Sigh... While I look forward to having an electric car someday, the trend in new cars does not look promising. Far too many instances of car companies having too much control, because of the advent of internet-connected vehicles. Is there a solution to this? I don't know. Especially because I can see legislation cementing these sorts of practices in very much convoluted ways. One can only hope competing car brands em…

I have both a new electric Audi and new Tesla. In either car I can just remove the sim and it'll completely disable all of the internet based features. A lot of the FUD around new cars is spread by grumpy old automotive journalists.

If you were to remove the sim card, would that void your warranty with either of those manufacturers? If so, that is not a long term solution, unfortunately.

Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start

#14

Post by foobarian »

shiftpgdn wrote: post #11
Karsteski wrote: post #2

Sigh... While I look forward to having an electric car someday, the trend in new cars does not look promising. Far too many instances of car companies having too much control, because of the advent of internet-connected vehicles. Is there a solution to this? I don't know. Especially because I can see legislation cementing these sorts of practices in very much convoluted ways. One can only hope competing car brands em…

I have both a new electric Audi and new Tesla. In either car I can just remove the sim and it'll completely disable all of the internet based features. A lot of the FUD around new cars is spread by grumpy old automotive journalists.

> In either car I can just remove the sim

For now!

Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start

#15

Post by donmcronald »

cm2187 wrote: post #5

Coming to Smart TV remote controls soon!

It's only half a joke though. I have a Roku TV where they didn't bother putting some of the advanced picture controls in the OSD. You have to use an app instead. Guess what? The app doesn't work on my Android phone and I wouldn't be able to adjust picture settings on my TV if I didn't have an iPad to use instead.

What happens if they turn that app into a subscription service because they don't like the cost of maintaining it?

I'm pretty cynical and I didn't even consider the possibility of needing an app to control my TV when I bought it. Now I know to watch out for it, but device manufacturers aren't exactly going out of their way to advertise cost cutting measures that make you dependent on something you have no control of (ie: apps).

Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start

#16

Post by yumraj »

Actually this is fantastic for someone like me - assuming there are no security holes of course.

I don't want my next car to have remote start or remote anything. If not paying the subscription allows me to make sure that that feature is not enabled, it's great news, for me.

Of course, different people have different preferences and needs.

Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start

#17

Post by jgust »

yumraj wrote: post #16

Actually this is fantastic for someone like me - assuming there are no security holes of course. I don't want my next car to have remote start or remote anything. If not paying the subscription allows me to make sure that that feature is not enabled, it's great news, for me . Of course, different people have different preferences and needs.

The reality is that it's probably still there, you just don't have access to it.

Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start

#18

Post by lvs »

Karsteski wrote: post #2

Sigh... While I look forward to having an electric car someday, the trend in new cars does not look promising. Far too many instances of car companies having too much control, because of the advent of internet-connected vehicles. Is there a solution to this? I don't know. Especially because I can see legislation cementing these sorts of practices in very much convoluted ways. One can only hope competing car brands em…

The idea that a car would automatically download an update that changes how something on the car works is insanity. I'm not buying a car with that "feature."

Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start

#19

Post by shiftpgdn »

Karsteski wrote: post #13
shiftpgdn wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have both a new electric Audi and new Tesla. In either car I can just remove the sim and it'll completely disable all of the internet based features. A lot of the FUD around new cars is spread by grumpy old automotive journalists.

If you were to remove the sim card, would that void your warranty with either of those manufacturers? If so, that is not a long term solution, unfortunately.

No. They just stop calling home to the mothership. My Audi actually had a faulty sim module for a few months until I had time to get it fixed and other than not being able to check the charge status while away from the car it didn't really bother me.

Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start

#20

Post by ptudan »

yumraj wrote: post #16

Actually this is fantastic for someone like me - assuming there are no security holes of course. I don't want my next car to have remote start or remote anything. If not paying the subscription allows me to make sure that that feature is not enabled, it's great news, for me . Of course, different people have different preferences and needs.

It's definitely still there. If you're worried about hackers etc, they can surely bypass this control if they've bypassed everything else.
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