Any one else seen Drive Line report on Toyota??

Let’s shed a tear for anyone who isn’t man enough to handle a 2017.

 

Ugh taking away features to make them subscription is the worst of new business models.

The people claiming to be old school in these threads always cracks me up. I’m glad your 5 year old modern truck having a couple less features than a slightly newer version of the same truck makes you feel better. I live in a place I walk most everywhere so I got you all beat there.

 

I don't know why everyone is so surprised that Toyota is doing this. When I had my Colorado, the remote start feature was free
for 2-3 years, but after that I would have had to pay a monthly fee. Seems to be SOP for most auto manufacturers these days.

 

Just FYI, this is from an NSA memo from August of 2020 to military and government personnel on how to mitigate location tracking:

"Even if cellular service is turned off on a mobile device, Wi-Fi and BT can be used to determine a user’s location. Inconspicuous equipment (e.g., wireless sniffers) can determine signal strength and calculate location, even when the user is not actively using the wireless services. Even if all wireless radios are disabled, numerous sensors on the device provide sufficient data to calculate location. Disabling BT completely may not be possible on some devices, even when a setting to disable BT exists. When communication is restored, saved information may be transmitted."

So I stand corrected in that it does appear the phone needs to be turned on, but turning off the cell service alone won't do it. Anyway, I just thought it was an interesting discussion. I don't go anywhere interesting so if someone wants to track my location, have at it

 

Does not surprise me on BT, that is a pretty weak signal, so outside of urban areas it is not very useful from a tracking standpoint.

I dislike software switches. I have no reason to worry (well other than malicious, untargeted hacking) but it is too easy to tinker with programing so things are not actually off when you think they are. A hard switch that physically cuts power would be my preference if I needed security.

It is a very interesting topic.

 

Do all new Tacomas come with remote start already installed from the dealer? If they don't, I feel like the subscription will just lead folks to dropping the remote start option when they order their truck and Toyota won't make as much money off of the service as they think.

 

ive heard about your california, hope you have a permit to walk those places.

 

I disabled connected services and don't use remote start so I guess I'm good and will not be effected by such ridiculousness.

Anyone else?

 

I'm about 90% sure the keyfob remote start works regardless of the app, as I had an old school phone when I bought the truck, and it worked just fine. Then I got a smartphone, installed the app and set it up with the free trials, more just for fun tbh.

 

Heard my daughter yapping with my wife - said she knew when not to call my wife because she could tell where she was at ( like at work ) etc.
Gotta turn that sh*t off I don't want ANYBODY to know my where-abouts at certain times LOL...

 

I am about to buy a new Tundra with command start . I live deep deep in the bush in Canada .
I could care less if Toyota tries to track my location . I am off grid as soon as I leave work . Zero cell service and zero GPS service
What I do care about is if my truck gonna start after sitting for 12 hours with no block heater at 50 below zero . I want that truck warmed up and ready to go . Not scraping windows ..screw that
If Toyota cant come up with a reliable command start , I will throw an aftermarket module in the wreck that is compatible with my cell phone

 

never had remote start in any of my 30+ vehicles and over 40+ years of driving and have lived in both cold & hot climates, no need for it, if its cold go out and start it then sit in it and wait...wont pay 80 for remote start, SMH...

 

I really don't seem to understand how this differs from XM radio, Microsoft, Amazon, or much of any other corporation out there. Subscriptions are where companies are moving because it works. Offer the game for free and advertise, offer micro-transactions, spam users with adds. Offer a free or low cost use of your product/software and allow a subscription to turn off the ads. Companies have learned that this is the model that allows for all the costs to be met and profit to grow. It is the "pay to win" business model and it is effective.

Does it suck? Yes, to an extent but frankly what in the world does not have a "catch". Bottom line the connectivity is not free to anyone, even those that own networks, because there are costs to operate (or lease) towers, server, and other access points.

As other's have said remote start is not a requirement, it is a convenience. You might decide to require that convenience in your vehicle, but it will work without remote start. I have PTS in my Taco but survived a lot of vehicles and years without it. I do like it, but I still carry keys for the house, office, etc so if I had to use a key like the old 1st gen taco.... no big deal

My 2017 with Entune was "updated" to drop Pandora. I still use Pandora almost every time I drive, sometimes the wife wants to hear her Prime radio while on road trips. The only change is now I can not like or dislike songs from the head unit. It was always and still is dependent upon my phone to make the BT connection to the head unit and the phone network for internet.

So if an added function stops working.. I am not very likely to notice more than a minor irritation from a work around or a decision that the feature is something worth paying for just like everyone else.