I'll never buy Toyota after seeing this anti-customer behavior. They were high on my buy list too. Like seriously, forever in my avoid at all costs list now.
Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start
441–450 of 744 posts
Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start
#442Earlier quoted context omitted.
But they are practically useless outside of cities. No range so they are not an option.
For you maybe. I live in a city, so something useless outside of a city is just fine by me. If they're "practically useless" and "not an option" then who's buying them all?
I had an impression that parent commenter implied it being as global solution. Instead, the others would need to still go for expensive long-range vehicles with subscriptions.
Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start
#443Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wait what, do Corvettes not just unlock and open when you pull the handle? Every vehicle I've ever owned, from the 80s to now, manual or electric lock, the front doors both open when the handle is pulled, locked or not. If this isn't the case, I'm almost inclined to consider that criminally negligent.
> the front doors both open when the handle is pulled, locked or not The fact that the front doors both unlock when a single handle is pulled is because there's an electronic sensor and solenoid that unlocks everything when one handle is opened. I had a Pontiac Vibe (really a Toyota Matrix) that had a cable in the door unlock assembly fail. You could open the door from the outside - the external door handle was physi…
I think what GP might mean is that whether you are on the driver's or passenger's side, when you pull the handle that door opens even if it is locked.
I've noticed that on both our 1995 and 2014 Fords, when you pull the door handle it mechanically unlocks that door and opens it. (On the 2014 the other doors may additionally be triggered to unlock. However, in a no-power situation pulling the handle will still mechanically unlock just that one door.)
Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start
#444Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is absurd victim blaming. The problem is there is a door handle that is designed with a failure mode such that pulling the handle DOES NOT OPEN THE DOOR.
I agree; it's like all the rollaway accidents that happen now because of electronic shifters: https://www.safetyresearch.net/the-persistence-of-rollaway/ Design matters, and bad designs can literally be deadly. Why auto mfgs feel the need to "innovate" with shifter designs is beyond me. The worst part is how every mfg seems to be implementing a different design of bad electronic shifters, from wheels and touchscreens…
I drove a rental with a rotary-dial shifter. That is the single most braindead UX thing I've seen in a car that doesn't involve a touch-screen. We've had PRND(L) levers as the standard for shifting in automatics for over 50 years now, and the dial offers no advantages that I can see.
Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start
#445Earlier quoted context omitted.
I use a similar strategy of targeting 2 to 4 year old used cars in good condition, and then swapping out when they get around 10 years or 100k. It's worked quite well for me. I have no idea what I'm going to do next time I'm in the market for a car, because every trend I see in the industry is stuff I do not want. And it's not just cars. It's freakin' everything. I don't need a touch screen on my fridge. Like that jo…
I just went through this, buying a car to replace the one I'd had for 13 years. Oh man, I had no idea how terrible the car industry had gotten; it was every bit as bad as you're fearing. I had a slight preference for an automatic transmission but ended up looking mostly at manuals since those often lack a few of the "modern" anti-features. I wish I had better advice to give, the experience honestly bummed me out quit…
I too dread this.
My current car's getting to about the number of kms that I usually sell at.
With covid making secondhand cars expensive for some weird reason, and all these terrible modern car trends, I just haven't been able to bring myself to "upgrade".
Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start
#446was posted here sometime ago: The door refused to open. It said, "Five cents, please." He searched his pockets. No more coins; nothing. "I'll pay you tomorrow," he told the door. Again he tried the knob. Again it remained locked tight. "What I pay you," he informed it, "is in the nature of a gratuity; I don't have to pay you." "I think otherwise," the door said. "Look in the purchase contract you signed when you boug…
I have seen the this happen in real life with housing startups many of them use mobile apps for unlocking doors in India - nestaway [1] or Zolo[2] and others, including unscrewing the lock
Doors won't unlock if rent is not paid on time, sometimes it is not even delayed rent payments, the company will charge you frivolously for something and you will be locked out unless you resolve the payment dispute i.e. talk to support to waive/rescind the charge or pay for it, and that goes as well as talking to any support to revert a charge.
Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start
#447Earlier quoted context omitted.
My wife's cousin almost died from heat-stroke in her drive-way when her car trapped her inside the vehicle in full Australian summer sun because the battery failed while she was inside checking something. Doors and windows wouldn't open. Nobody heard her calls because the new car had good sound-proofing. She eventually managed to crawl through the panel behind the back seat to get into the boot (luckily she's quite p…
It's too late now for her of course, but you can take the headrest off the seat and use the metal prongs to smash the windows to get out.
Also in the "too late" vein, at least in the US, I believe cars are still required to have a latch to open the trunk from the inside. Not sure if other countries have these.
Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start
#448Earlier quoted context omitted.
There were people in a thread on Reddit saying they have cars with $40/month of subscription services. That seems absolutely insane to me. My family buys used cars, usually in the 3-5 year old range, we do our own repair work, and drive everything for 10-15 years. It's usually close to 15 than 10. We drive them until they drop. I figured it out one day and the lifetime TCO has been about $100/month per vehicle. We re…
I'm totally on the same page. After my millionaire frugal friend told me he managed $88/mo TCO, I've been chasing that target nonstop
10 year old Toyota Prius is going to be roughly $45/mo TCO for registration, insurance, and minimal maintenance. Depreciation is probably another $40/mth. I'm pretty sure that and a Chevy Volt or Nissan Leaf (for low range reqs) is the best you can do.
Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start
#449Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's too late now for her of course, but you can take the headrest off the seat and use the metal prongs to smash the windows to get out.
Having watched a burly firefighter take three good swings with an axe to bust out a window (to get to the hood release of an unattended car fire), I am extremely skeptical of this claim. Somebody on YouTube tested those emergency hammers and concluded they're basically useless. If you really want to break a tempered glass car window (I.e., any of them but the windshield), their recommendation was an automatic center…
Watch this... this made me realize how tough car windows really are:
Re: Toyota owners have to pay $8/month to keep using their key fob for remote start
#450That 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…
There were people in a thread on Reddit saying they have cars with $40/month of subscription services. That seems absolutely insane to me. My family buys used cars, usually in the 3-5 year old range, we do our own repair work, and drive everything for 10-15 years. It's usually close to 15 than 10. We drive them until they drop. I figured it out one day and the lifetime TCO has been about $100/month per vehicle. We re…
Not defending Toyota, their model is abusive, however your comparison is not accurate/fair. The TCO is just parts/raw material costs, your time and skill are very expensive!.
For me, even if I had to pop the hood of the car I need a mechanic, that is probably a couple of hundred to start with, and add anything he says I need to buy whether I actually I need to or not, it can quickly add up.
It is like me saying why pay for managed email or website hosting, when I can run those myself for much cheaper, even if my time was not a factor, I cannot compare those costs I would have to costs for someone without the skills needed .