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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

#221

Post by Phenomenit »

winternett wrote: post #165
Phenomenit wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think some of the reasoning behind the fee is that there's a simcard in the car that needs to be payed for and if you opt out then they don't have to pay for it. I have the same service and I can't live without the remotly started heating so for me it's worth every krona.

A remote RF device could do that without the Sim card, the same key that unlocks the car... My problem is that I paid for a device (the starter device already installed on my car) that I can't use without a membership. People have had remote start on cars for decades without needing a bloatware subscription to XM radio.... sigh

Ok so your device is not supplied by volvo?

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

#222

Post by jedberg »

klipklop wrote: post #9

The solution is to vote with your wallet. These days consumers are pretty weak willed though and are willing to put up with almost any level of abuse for their shiny new toy. Look at what consumers are willing to (overpay) for during the pandemic as an example of that. $500 NVIDIA graphics cards going for $2000... Eventually people fed up with it will "jailbreak" their cars like the farmers did with John Deere tracto…

> Eventually people fed up with it will "jailbreak" their cars like the farmers did with John Deere tractors

This wouldn't be new. People have been "jailbreaking" their cars since the 80s. We had a BMW in 1990 that we replaced the transmission chip on with a 3rd party chip so that we could unlock extra functionality that they only had in Europe.

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

#223

Post by akudha »

zeroflow wrote: post #6

That is just bullshit. A $8/mo charge for a app based remote start? I could live with that. Servers need power, the app needs updates etc. A $8/mo charge for something which does not incur costs for Toyota? Hell no. It seems like bit by bit - every single industry is going down a fucked up route. TVs with built in ads? Cars with pay-by-month features? DRM locked coffee machines? I really hope, there is some sort of e…

They are simply copying software industry. Tableau, Jetbrains... none of these need to be subscription based, but they are. They weren't, until a few years ago.

I wonder whats next? My toilet won't flush unless I pay $5 for it, in addition to the water bill? It would be hilarious if every single item at home was subscription based, lol

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

#225

Post by Phenomenit »

jkaplowitz wrote: post #193
Phenomenit wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think some of the reasoning behind the fee is that there's a simcard in the car that needs to be payed for and if you opt out then they don't have to pay for it. I have the same service and I can't live without the remotly started heating so for me it's worth every krona.

That might very well justify some fee, but $8/month is excessive if one only cares about remote start.

Yeah I pay less than 40€ per year(390 sek) and with it I also get emergency services with towing etc. There's a button in the ceiling.

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

#226

Post by beeboop »

jmiserez wrote: post #185
phkahler wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me of this tragic but true story about a man and his dog that died in a Corvette because the door failed to open electronically. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/06/11/te... If your car door uses electricity to open, you best know what to do when that system fails. Death should not occur due to failure to RTFM for a door.

Regardless of model it's a good idea to put a emergency hammer / glass breaker in your car. (addendum: also to rescue someone else, not blaming the driver)

If your headrests can be removed, the metal poles in them work well for this too. You jab one of the poles into the window seal, then pry like a crowbar. If done in the corner of the window it will break easily.

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

#227

Post by justusthane »

nashashmi wrote: post #117

Guys this is remote start. Not a key fob entry/start service. Sometimes this can be done via cell phone app. And there is always a monthly subscription for this option. But no it is not a monthly subscription for starting your car with your key fob in the pocket.

Starting the car using the key fob in your pocket is literally what the whole article is about.

> Key fob remote start has nothing to do with an app, nor does the car or the fob communicate with any servers managed by Toyota.

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

#228

Post by mrlonglong »

dkonofalski wrote: post #139
joenathanone wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Other than purposely slowing down your devices with updates to try and coerce you into buying the new model year? https://www.npr.org/2020/11/18/936268845/apple-agrees-to-pay...

That is absolutely false. They didn't try to coerce people to buy the new model. It's quite the contrary - they were extending the battery life of devices where the overdrawn power would cause them to shut down completely. They also communicated this in the patch notes but most people don't read those. Your comment is completely ignorant.

Apple still got fined millions in France for doing that.

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

#230

Post by gaganyaan »

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #176
gaganyaan wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given the history of the word, it's exactly the meaning of capitalism: > Meaning "political/economic system which encourages capitalists" is recorded from 1872, originally used disparagingly by socialists. https://www.etymonline.com/word/capitalism

There's a difference between "capitalist" and "rentier", though. These people are rentiers, not capitalists.

I'm not sure what your point is. Rentier capitalism is a subset of capitalism:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rentier_capitalism

But I'm merely pointing out that the original usage of "capitalism" was not a compliment, and certainly included these sorts of practices.

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