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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

#601

Post by devoutsalsa »

ptudan wrote: post #21
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..."

This happened to me with zipcar once. Truly sucked

When Maven car share was a thing, I rented a car from them once. It used app with Bluetooth to open/close the doors. The design was horrible. Anytime I’d step away from the car, the phone would become unpaired. Getting it to repair was nontrivial, and the easiest way I found was to reboot my phone. Eventually the car unlocking process became extra ornery & I had to spend something like 10 minutes in the freezing cold weather just trying ti get the car open. I was not pleased & never rented from them again.

When I used to be a ZipCar member, they had a keycard I kept in my wallet. That worked well enough.

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

#602

Post by tqi »

nessguy wrote: post #581
tqi wrote: post #347

Earlier quoted context omitted.

$8 is a lot but to be fair, Disney+ is almost certainly losing money per subscriber. $8 in this case also has to cover the cost of the 4G connection, which likely is in the $1 to $2 range.

Where does 4G connection come into play here? "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." It sounds like this $8/month charge is for the allowing you to use remote start locally presumably over RF.

The $8 fee is the remote connect bundle, which is a collection of app connected features (ie lock/start/monitor status of windows and doors) that connect via cell network.

The fob start is a feature they decided to bundle with the others.

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

#603

Post by crackercrews »

rabuse wrote: post #315
jjtheblunt wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been driving a 2014 BMW i3 ev for 7+ years; it works great, but has about 100mile range, since it's using smaller batteries. I wish it WERE internet connected: for BMW to update the maps of the nav system can (supposedly) only be done at the BMW dealer, costs something like $180 for the map updates (North America), and requires a two day stay at the dealer, with associated labor-time fees. BMW is just a laughabl…

I own a BMW also. Will never own one again after the maintenance nightmare they are.

Does this apply to their EVs as well?

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

#604

Post by devoutsalsa »

errcorrectcode wrote: post #200

Ownership is evaporating due to technology and a lack of viable alternatives. The idea is to make personal ownership more expensive and trouble that it's worth (monetize misery) so that manufacturers can run their own FSD car sharing fleet so they can charge you whatever they want. Rent-seeking, oligopoly FTW.

I pay a $6 yearly subscription for a frikkin’ calculator app. It has a handy feature which I use and the price was low enough I didn’t actually care that much. But I never imagined renting a calculator.

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

#605

Post by brokenmachine »

betwixthewires wrote: post #498
brokenmachine wrote: post #445

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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".

Honestly, take the money you'd spend to upgrade and instead overhaul the car. Need new front seat upholstery? Some new plastic end pieces? Maybe an engine rebuild? It probably won't cost more than a new(ish) car, maybe even cheaper.

Good idea, it's looking very much like I might end up going that way.

There's nothing compelling me to get a newer car, except for engine wear.

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

#606

Post by throwawaygh »

jbay808 wrote: post #591
throwawaygh wrote: post #586

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Heh. No. You really don't need macroeconomics to explain Toyota's decision making here... not everything is a nail, and that's one hell of a hammer you're holding.

I wouldn't, if it were just Toyota. But it's not. A lot of businesses are transitioning away from one-time sales to recurring revenue / subscription models.

What works for big tech will work for big X. The MBAs are learning. Non-tech industries have been talking about how to move to subscription models for 10+ years. Again, interest rate theory seems like the wrong tool here.

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

#607

Post by [deleted] »

mauvehaus wrote: post #431
brokenmachine wrote: post #392

Earlier 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…

[deleted]

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

#608

Post by jes »

mauvehaus wrote: post #431
brokenmachine wrote: post #392

Earlier 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…

Right. As a firefighter, I carried a spring-loaded center-punch in the pocket of my bunker coat. No muss, no fuss. Just put the tip on a side window and press until it fires.

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

#609

Post by yumraj »

dylan604 wrote: post #596
yumraj wrote: post #594

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand and not disagreeing with any of that. Since I don’t make the point of putting myself in a trunk normally nor do I RTFM :(, my point, put in another way, was that if I had seen it in a movie I would have known that something like that exists. That is all.

Honestly, the only reason I knew about mine was the salesperson at the dealership pointed them out to me. Maybe I had an exceptional sales rep? I've seen cars flip and roll over and continue driving in a movie, yet I wouldn't expect my car to do that. I've seen modern cars get hot wired in a movie, yet I wouldn't be able to do to a modern car. I'm just saying you're putting way too much faith in movies my friend ;-)

> I'm just saying you're putting way too much faith in movies my friend ;-)

Wait you’re telling me I can’t dodge bullets like they did in the Matrix… ;D

Thanks for the chuckle .. have a good one ..

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