Out of the blue call

Setting here recovering from my 3rd hernia surgery and i get a call from Eastern Shore Toyota, my dealership in south Alabama, and i get a call that my low tire pressure light is on. What the "heck", i know they are gathering information on us and some people want or need this type of constant communication, but not me. I bought a second set, actually i have three complete sets of tires and rims, and the sensors are in the factory wheels right now. How do i keep what the hells going on with my truck my business only. They aren't paying for it, if i want them to know my tires are low i will call them. Like i said, some may want this kind of constant communication, but not me.

 

See the Opt Out info in the Owners Manual.

 

^

 

mother toyota just looking after her children

 

"Sir, we are just calling because your tire pressure is low, and also our intern would greatly appreciate it if you please open the windows. Its hot today."

 

Same with me, every x9,000 miles I get a call for service. I don’t know how they know the mileage.

 

I asked that question years ago, turns out a lot of dealers use software to predict it based on time between your previous visits.

I got three calls and two emails a week from my service advisor when I started doing my own changes. Their software said that I usually do an oil change around this time of year.



But rest assured, the 2018s don't have the spyware telemetry like the new ones do.



... or so they say.

 

On another note our prius tire pressure warning sensors just went tapioca, with the dash warning light on. These sensors have batteries that last about 10 years except the ones made fore this year car can't be replaced without cutting up the sensor. Pisses me off this is built in obsolescence....its over $200 for a set of new sensors. Question oi have...are the new sensors used today by toyota, i understand your able to change the batteries?... at least thats what i hear.

 

Not sure re Prius but 10 years isn't the usual I've experienced with Toyota. Still have 3 of mine original. My wife's old Rav4 never needed any

 

How much cheaper are the batteries than the whole sensor?

Personally I wouldn’t bother replacing either the battery or the sensor. It’s sometimes convenient and also interesting to have my tire air pressure available inside the cab, but it’s no more than a “nice to have” for me.

OP, I’ve never been called by the dealer about anything. I do get emails reminding me of my maintenance schedule, but they are obviously basing it off my last visit to the dealer; not spying on me.

Did you sign up for that safety connect thingy (forget the name)? That system might phone home and tell them your tire air pressure. Just a guess.

 

One year of safety connect included with purchase, i will not renew.

 

I turned off and opted out of everything. They don't even know I own a Toyota.

 

Toyota headquarters, if everyone opted out at once.

 

I really dislike the mobile internet connection in most modern cars nowadays. As OP said, it's horrible for privacy
But what's even worse is remote killswitches, which is found in any GM vehicle with OnStar. GM can remote shutoff or slowdown your car even while you are driving, and they do this for stolen vehicles quite often

 

Ok, so explain to me why OnStar being able to shut your vehicle down after it's been stolen a bad thing? Or do you think they sit around the OnStar response center saying "Ok, who are we gonna mess with now? I know! Let's shut Turtleguy's truck down!"

 

If a car has a remote killswitch, that's a security concern for a lot of people. A bad actor at OnStar or a hacker could take advantage of that. Stuff like this happens all the time with always-online devices: people installed ADT home security cameras and then an ADT employee spent years peeping on over 200 women.

 

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