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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

#501

Post by forgotmyoldname »

brokenmachine wrote: post #392
chris1993 wrote: post #299

Earlier 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.

Some cars (including mine) have a seat that’s just one unified unit. No way to remove it.

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

#502

Post by tw04 »

Symbiote wrote: post #421
tw04 wrote: post #372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the handle DOES open the door. It’s just at your feet, quite clearly marked, instead of physically on the door. It’s specifically there so that if you are in an accident you can still release the door. It’s designed With the idea the car will see a road course and is far superior to a handle on the door. It’s sad he died but I found that handle in the first 5 minutes of owning my first corvette. It has a giant re…

When you're half dazed from a collision and the car is on fire, will your scared but unhurt 11 year old son know where this hidden lever is? I did, on a 1980s car, since it was the normal door handle.

Hidden? It’s directly below where the “oh shit” handle is on the door, you need to move your hand less than 6” to pull it. Calling it hidden is completely misrepresenting reality. If my 7 year old knows where it is and insists on using it to open the door, I hope your 11 year old can figure it out.

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

#503

Post by JetAlone »

manquer wrote: post #446
lkozma wrote: post #8

was 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 su…

Nestaway's website is a real window into the dystopia. It's kind of refreshing to have a panopticonic nightmare conveyed by an aesthetic other than alegria for once.

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

#504

Post by jackson1442 »

nashashmi wrote: post #289
justusthane wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That’s not what I read. Starting the car with the key fob or previously known as “remote start” which you had to pay like 800$ for, is what the subscription is about. You can still open the car with key fob in hand. And sit in and start the car with key fob in pocket.

You can not use the key fob to remote start 2018 or later Toyota vehicles without a Remote Connect membership: https://www.toyota.com/content/dam/toyota/brochures/pdf/conn...

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

#505

Post by pomian »

yumraj wrote: post #495
notJim wrote: post #447

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Serious question: So why are all the people who are trapped/kidnapped in the cars in the movies not able to come out and have to yell to have someone come and rescue them? That implies that there is no way to open the latch from inside and people, including me, may take that as the truth and not even try to find the latch. I for sure didn't know that there was a way.

because their hands are tied.

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

#506

Post by WalterBright »

phkahler wrote: post #109
lkozma wrote: post #8

was 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…

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.

I realized my key fob battery was dying. I had no idea how to open the doors without it. I figured I'd better google it.

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

#507

Post by quietbritishjim »

nicce wrote: post #306
notJim wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"It's not useful in my specific scenario, which I acknowledge is extreme, therefore the cars are useless outside cities." Not everything has to work for everyone in every situation to be useful. These cars are perfectly useful for many people, including outside cities.

This applies almost my whole country, including many others, maybe less extreme. It is a bit different outside of US, what I’m trying to say.

It's usually the exact opposite way round – distances between things in the US are usually larger, not smaller, than in other countries. You only need to look at a world atlas to see that's the case, with a few obvious exceptions. What in Europe would be seen as an extreme road trip across a whole country (because it would take a whole day) would seem quaintly short by US standards (because it could be done in just one day). Hearing it said the other way round sounds very odd to me (and I'm not from the States, as my user name suggests).

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

#508

Post by cced »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #243
hoffspot wrote: post #135

I've been a Toyota Tacoma guy for the last 22 years (and counting). Three Tacomas and I have a son that we're deciding on a vehicle for in the coming year. This is how you take someone with massive brand affinity, someone who would even likely pass that brand affinity to the next generation, and push them to look at other options. Charging monthly for a service that isn't cloud enabled? If this is true, Toyota, you a…

FYI, remote start is a pretty easy aftermarket add on, especially for Toyotas.

I think OP, much like myself, is one for principles.

To me this says “we’re looking for additional revenue streams and have found a way to lock previously available functionality behind some XaaS where X is artificially paywalled”.

If this is the path they are going down then there’s no reason to suspect they will stop with that.

Sure, there are aftermarket options, but the issue (that I have, at least) is that the taste is now sour.

I was looking at a hybrid Rav4, but this makes me look elsewhere.

Imagine your garage door opener operating on this model: you have 5 free uses remaining this month, want some light? Simple IAP. What recurring value is Toyota providing by charging you per month for a fob to car signal transmission?

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

#509

Post by nicce »

Animats wrote: post #214

Stellantis (the current owner of Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge/etc) has announced that they hope to get $22 billion a year from their customers through post-sale service charges.[1] “Software will improve our business model, disconnecting hardware from software ... shifting the center of gravity of our business,” Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said Tuesday during the company’s “Software Day.” Tavares said profit margins for tho…

This is really bothering. How many of these subscriptions actually will finally increase value for the customer? Without intentionally starting to lock features and enable them later on with payments. Some legistlation is quickly needed.

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

#510

Post by betwixthewires »

charcircuit wrote: post #485
akudha wrote: post #223

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

>none of these need to be subscription based But I use Jetbrain's software everyday so it makes sense that I should pay them for everyday that I get value out of it. They also are continuely releasing updates for free.

You use your car every day too...
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