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

Post by dylan604 » Tue, Dec 14, 2021, 2:31 AM UTC

notJim wrote: post #530

yumraj wrote: post #495

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

For some reason, the law requires the latch to be removed if the car is in a movie ;)

Post by betwixthewires » Tue, Dec 14, 2021, 2:34 AM UTC

ClumsyPilot wrote: post #536

betwixthewires wrote: post #468

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not just auto manufacturers. It seems literally everything is being designed with a philosophy of "fuck the user" in mind. I cannot think of a single thing more complicated than a concrete block that functions better now than previous versions did 10 years ago, and I'm sure there are some things that work at least as good, but I can't think of any off the top of my head.

My building had a dialing system replaced with one that uses a phone line to call a mobile of each resident. It can also only assing one number. Now I get the call at work if my wife orders pizza, or if i am out of the country. It also doesnt work at all if i am in tube, or when my building forgets to pay phone bill, or movike network craps out

Post by lotsofpulp » Tue, Dec 14, 2021, 2:36 AM UTC

cced wrote: post #508

lotsofpulp wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 t…

Post by nicce » Tue, Dec 14, 2021, 2:37 AM UTC

quietbritishjim wrote: post #507

nicce wrote: post #306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Post by shostack » Tue, Dec 14, 2021, 2:43 AM UTC

soared wrote: post #387

jbay808 wrote: post #363

I wonder if this, too, is a symptom of near-zero interest rates. With an interest rate of zero, future cash flows are valued equal to present cash flows. That increases the net present value of recurring payments (approaching infinity, actually). So it becomes increasingly attractive for companies to discount the initial sale price in exchange for a recurring payment. In a higher interest rate environment, that would…

Interesting thought. Here’s the math. Toyotas current incentive is zero down, 1.9% apr for 72 months. The typical rav4 costs $33k. Over the life on the loan (6 years) you’d pay about $1,500 in interest. If you paid $8/mo it would take 15.6 years to have paid a total of $1,500 in monthly fees. Likely if you pay $8, you also pay for another subscription. So say $16/mo on average makes $1,500 in only 7.3 years. Monthly…