Any one else seen Drive Line report on Toyota??

Apparently, Toyota confirmed the report that from 2018 model year on, you will have to pay a monthly subscription fee to use certain features on your remote key fob. This will occur on the entire Toyota line of vehicles. What a stupid move. You buy a vehicle for 30K plus and then after 3 years have to pay a fee to use what you already own. Can't see this going too far before some type of lawsuit happens. Especially when somebody that bought a 2018 vehicle wasn't informed that this would happen after 3 years.

If you want to know more, check out Steve Lehto's youtube channel. He did a report on it today.

 

Interesting. Do you have a link to that report?

 

It’s pretty damn dumb that I have to pay $80/year to use the remote start that my key fob already has the capability of doing

 

Definitely not the Tacomas. Tacoma’s tech be crude as fck. If it has something to do with their sos button, then people been pulling that fuse out with the truck working just fine.

 

This is the article I read recently

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

 

Entune 3.0 requires a subscription to use connected services which I think is fair. Seems hit or miss if remote still works after. Bullshit if the fob stops working.

 

Be a man and drive a manual. Don’t have to worry about remote start if you never had remote start to begin with.

 

I used the Toyota app, didnt like that they were tracking my every move. So i disabled that tracking. I can no longer use my remote start.

 

Thank god "this man" has a 2017

No stupid remote issues, no TSS issues, no power seats, just one fucking mean Taco!

 

The app require data in order for it to work. Someone need to pay for the data. But, charging for the remote? That’s BS. I understand that nothing is free. All of the people I know who bought a 2020-2021 Tacoma that have remote start said the dealer never said anything about the feature. I think Toyota should at least not charge existing customer for the key fob and make a public statement saying any car starting a certain date will be charge for the key fob.

 

What do you think happens just having a battery in your phone? Doesn't even have to be on.

 

Call me old-skool.

Don't need no fob.
Don't need no remote start.

Been inserting a key to start and turning over the engines in my vehicles since 1974...
It works.

 

Every single manufacturer is going in this direction. Toyota is just following the trend. Everything in the economy is moving to subscription models and away from actual ownership.

 

The fob works on its own, independantly of the app as far as I'm aware. The app has three features that you can choose to subscribe - one is remote start but the difference is that you can do it from anywhere not just key fob range, the second is a tracking/driving report feature and the third is the safety/SOS feature. Thats at least how it is in Canada anyway. I'll let the app features expire once my free trial ends, they aren't that useful.

 

The remote start on my FOB still works after my trial year of Toyota Connected Services ended last month (bought my 2021 in early Nov 2020). I’ve read many times on here that it stops working after the first year unless you pay, but I highly doubt Toyota is just randomly doing that to some people and not others. I’ll it’s just operator error. I actually thought it stopped working at first because I was hitting the unlock button 3 times instead of lock. Once I Youtubed it and realized I was hitting the wrong button, it fired right up.

 

I feel like the second one will just be used against the end-users (drivers). Which is kind of bogus, because most of the "bad driving" that would come up is due to rush hour commuting traffic with whackjobs driving like they want today to be their last

 

I know what you mean, I drove up a mountain road with loads of switchbacks and it docked me huge for harsh cornering. Its maybe an idea for parents keeping an eye on how their kids drive?

 

Just checked and my fob remote start is no longer functioning.

Edit: Check that, works as advertised. It was the guy behind the remote...senior moment.

 

Kinda like HOA's... you don't really own your own home in those places.
I'd never live in an HOA where they tell you how long your garage door can be open,
or what color you can paint it, or what tree you can plant, or you can't park in your
driveway or on the street and forget about washing the car. I'd be in jail within a week
for assault if I lived in one of those places. Miss a HOA payment and they can take your house
away from you. Pfffffft.

And Corporate buy-outs of houses for sale. Can't count the number of times some
'corporation' contacted me wanting to buy my house for cash, right now, close tomorrow
no muss no fuss.

When that happens they then rent the house out to some rat-azz kids and kick them in and kick
them out and pocket the change. Over time with increase in value they make a killing while wrecking
your neighborhood. Seen 3 houses on my street go that way. House goes up for sale, some company
buys it up quick, rents it to idiots.

 

It does need to be on. Though it is theoretically possible to make the phone appear off while still being on. The way to ID this would be to turn the phone off with the battery at 40 or so percent. Then see what the battery is at when you turn it back on. Of course, if you want to be really paranoid you would have to run a discharge test to variify capacity.

Remember, in airplane mode the law requires transmitters to shut off. So real time tracking would not work, though gps data logging and data transmission following the restoration of connectivity would be possible.

You are very correct in that most people are tracked by their phones. Though it is corporations, not the government, that have an interest in the information.