Toyota Made Its Key Fob Remote Start Into a Subscription Service

[RANGER_MARC]

Car theft! Toyota is CHARGING drivers $8-a-month to use its key fobs to start their vehicles


https://www.thedrive.com/news/43329/toyota-made-its-key-fob-remote-start-into-a-subscription-service

I hope that this does not give Ford any ideas (but I fear it will)!

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[Tom_C]

F that. But, I'm pretty handy at not paying fees, and you can add that to another service I won't buy.

 

[dtech]

someone will likely figure out how to hack it, plus some aftermarket remote starts have gotten reasonably priced. I just bought a Nordic track elliptical and they want $42/month for their ifit programs, I'm counting on someone to hack that. A lot of companies are diving into subscriptio services, Hyundai wanted some absurd monthly amount for their crappy blue link, surprising though how many owners justify paying it for whatever reason.

 

[Motorpsychology]

I hope that this does not give Ford any ideas (but I fear it will)!

There must be a way to disable the behind-the-scenes telematics if that should happen:

Dear Ford,
This is serving as notice that the Ford Connect telematics in my Ranger will be terminated as of the date my Ford Pass app features are no longer free of charge. Should you wish to continue monitoring my vehicles, please reinstate the features that were previously free.

If enough people were aware that their vehicles were sending data to the manufacturer (not just Ford), more would seek ways to disable it.
There are other competitive start apps out there. You would maybe/not need a new module for a different service; the one fo my Dronemobile app in our Mariner was ~$50
It would be interesting to know what Toyota owners plan to do or not do; I'm sure folks in the Glass House are interested, too.

 

[Trigganometry]

Think I’ll buy some stock in Start-X tomorrow. I think they’re about to get slammed with new business!

 

[MountainGoat]

There must be a way to disable the behind-the-scenes telematics if that should happen:

Dear Ford,
This is serving as notice that the Ford Connect telematics in my Ranger will be terminated as of the date my Ford Pass app features are no longer free of charge. Should you wish to continue monitoring my vehicles, please reinstate the features that were previously free.

If enough people were aware that their vehicles were sending data to the manufacturer (not just Ford), more would seek ways to disable it.
There are other competitive start apps out there. You would maybe/not need a new module for a different service; the one fo my Dronemobile app in our Mariner was ~$50
It would be interesting to know what Toyota owners plan to do or not do; I'm sure folks in the Glass House are interested, too.

There were threads on here about it. Iirc the modem is in the passenger footwell and GPS blockers work if you buy the good one with like 8 antennas sticking out of it.

 

[puckdodger]

Dick move, Toyota.

 

[Bob902]

You watch. All the Toyota fan boys will carry on about how great the subscription is.

 

[Blmpkn]

Im sure that whoever is tasked with this sort of thing at Toyota found in their market research or whatever that this change is going to make them more money in people willing to pay the convenience tax than it's going to lose them from people saying "THIS IS THE LAST STRAW TOYOTA RAAAAAWWRRGGGGG" and buying something else next time ?‍

Average length of vehicle ownership is 7 years. They'll make 680ish dollars off each truck who opts to pay for the remote start in that time.. Toyota makes about 2700$ profit per tacoma.... so.. as long as the number of people who pay for the service is a little more than 4x the amount of unreasonable people who don't buy another Toyota because of this "stunt" they'll be fine lol.

 

[AzScorpion]

Im sure that whoever is tasked with this sort of thing at Toyota found in their market research or whatever that this change is going to make them more money in people willing to pay the convenience tax than it's going to lose them from people saying "THIS IS THE LAST STRAW TOYOTA RAAAAAWWRRGGGGG" and buying something else next time ?‍

Average length of vehicle ownership is 7 years. They'll make 680ish dollars off each truck who opts to pay for the remote start in that time.. Toyota makes about 2700$ profit per tacoma.... so.. as long as the number of people who pay for the service is a little more than 4x the amount of unreasonable people who don't buy another Toyota because of this "stunt" they'll be fine lol.

It's actually longer it's 8.4 years and getting longer. They're going to make a lot more money so I guarantee you more will jump on board doing this.


From the article:

According to a study by iSeeCars, the average vehicle owner keeps their car for around 8.4 years. Toyota is ranked as the longest-kept manufacturer, with the average vehicle ownership lasting nine years. Cars are also lasting longer than ever with the average age of vehicles on the road being 12.1 years old, meaning that people are keeping new and used rides longer than ever. It's plausible that a vehicle will change hands during that 10-year trial period, leading to the remote start function deactivating after someone purchases the vehicle used. But it's just as plausible that the original owner will have to pay up.

 

[THLONE]

The US will look like Cuba. Keep those oldies but goodies running forever.

 

[Fawnbuster]

Car theft! Toyota is CHARGING drivers $8-a-month to use its key fobs to start their vehicles


https://www.thedrive.com/news/43329/toyota-made-its-key-fob-remote-start-into-a-subscription-service

I'd pay $8 bucks month for a trunk monkey and that's it

 

[mrtimo]

I'd pay $8 bucks month for a trunk monkey and that's it

Alright…I’ll bite. Trunk monkey?

 

[Fawnbuster]

Alright…I’ll bite. Trunk monkey?

Classic ads from suburban auto group. Look on YouTube

 

[Bob902]

Alright…I’ll bite. Trunk monkey?

Look it up. You won't be disappointed!

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