Connected Services renewal tips

Coming up on one year of ownership which means it’s time to decide what to do with the connected services subscriptions expiring. Remote connect, safety connect, and destination assist all expire after one year. Realistically, I’m really only interested in remote connect. Wondering if anyone has any tips, tricks or suggestions renewing? Has anyone had success negotiating cheaper rates haggling on the phone with Toyota similar to how SiriusXM operates? Thanks!

 

After mine expires, I’m just keeping my N2 designs remote starter subscription it has GPS and remote connect $99 for 3 years vs the $80 yearly toyota charges

 

We're always glad to hear it! Toyota's is $96 a year actually...but that's not the catch.

Remote connect on the new Toyotas is great, with one caveat (which is why folks WITH Remote Connect still put our kits on their vehicles) – the Toyota setup (if OEM Remote Connect which it is if using their app) gives you the ability to also use your fob, BUT, if you don’t renew the $96/year app portion, they render your fob useless by sending a command over the air to disconnect it. Anyone who tells you otherwise is likely a salesman that isn’t knowledgeable. We get paying for the phone app portion since it’s a data device, but taking away someone’s ability to use their fob or implement a subscription on it is like saying if you don’t pay your cable TV service bill, they’ll not only disconnect the service, but will render your volume up/down buttons on YOUR TV remote useless…who does that? That’s free airwaves via IR (just like your fob is RF and that’s between you and your device), no one should get in between that. What a weasel thing to do. Frankly, it should be illegal.

The other reason why folks put our stuff on whether they have the OEM version or not is because to use the OEM version, means you waive your right to privacy. It uses the DCM (Digital Control Module) which controls the SOS and mic in your car for handsfree, but also allows them to listen in on your conversations (like Alexa Home) with the premise of “safety”. This also allows them to track analytics for their own research and marketing use such as how much you drive, your exact miles being recorded, service like oil changes, when they’re done…or not done in time, and everything else you can think of. So what folks do is call and request the SOS service disabled in order to stop this and mic eavesdropping (speculated/potential) for peace of mind.

Those are the biggest differences. The other thing is, our fob portion of remote start doesn’t have a subscription and if you want to add the smart phone module now or later, you can. They are independent which means that if you don’t want to continue the smart module add on option subscription after the first year, then it’s ok, but we shopped it to make sure it is the LOWEST in the country at $39.99 for the WHOLE year or $99 for 3 years.

- N2 Designs, Inc.

 

No plans to renew safety connect on My SR5. I never even gave any of those things a try and just ignored it all from day one..

 

I use my connect services everyday, Does your unit still allow voice dictation? Also i would be interested in your product for some of my other cars.. Do you have units for Hondas?

 

I'm pretty sure I've asked before, but it was a while ago. I know it's not recommended, but how hard is it to bump the run time up to 30 mins? Is 30 the max?

 

Yes & Yes

If HKEY or Regular Key, 15 minutes is all there is.
If Push to Start, unit would have to be sent back for a re-flash. Re-flash is free. You only cover shipping to an from us (which we can bill upfront and send you the label).

If you have the smart module, you can queue up another 15 minutes without the engine turning off on the first 15 minutes by pressing the "Start Engine" icon again. When the first 15 minutes are up, a new countdown for another 15 minutes starts without the engine ever shutting down.

 

Sweet. I have the smart module, I didn’t know that was a thing. Is that process infinite? Can I keep bumping the time up indefinitely?

 

Yes, theoretically...but keep in mind while the engine is running and you press engine start again - 15 minutes more will be queued up, but there is NO notification that your second queue is lined up other than watching the count down timer...we've never really tried tapping it endlessly, but then again, why? Clearly one is NOT ready to go yet...

 

Takes a while to cool down that black truck in 120* weather! 30 mins is about max she runs though.

 

There are both sides of the issue on this forum to be fair...so I'm wondering if something has changed (as in they realized that what they were doing was wrong perhaps)

 

I was surprised as well, my factory remote start works via the fob the same as @fmb. I read on here somewhere that the app stops working but the fob still works. I'm not holding my breath that it will stick around though. So many things are going to a subscription model that I'm surprised it hasn't shown up in other areas like fuel fill ups.

I don't know how much Toyota is looking to negotiate the price of the service, good luck if/when you try. I think the services are a marketing response to get into the app business. If they were serious about it, they would push dealers to add a 5 year subscription as a dealer option at sale.