Is remote start worth $80/year?

Use this all the time... no fees.. its free service as you noted...

 

You have a 2024 truck. It is free for 3 years for you. Read the fine print in the screen shot you posted.

 

I traveled to Fairbanks in winter for work. Picking up the rental car and riding on flat tires, until they warm up, is an experience I will not forget.
I do not like cold seats freezing my butt off. I will pay for gas to be comfortable.

When I was at Alpine, trucks ran 24/7.

 

Which actually is an interesting observation that maybe the warm-up time should be based on the interior temperature and not on an arbitrary time.

And I would appreciate a little ding on the app when the truck is cozy.

 

On engine warm-up time, not that cold here yet, but the 10 minute run cycle barely even moves the temp gauge in my 2020 TRD sport.

 

It would be great if there was a way to hack the DCM to get fob functionality back. It theoretically should be possible, but I suppose soldering would be involved if it's firmware/chip controlled.

 

Unless you have an M/T though, correct? Then you don't get anything.

 

Sorry, not keeping up here. But this is not the case. Using the fob will eventually require a subscription. How long you get until that is a requirement varies, and Toyota may vary on the enforcement of it, but the fob can (and possibly will depending on Toyota) stop working at some point. The fob tells the truck to start, but it is up to the software in the truck as to if that actually happens. If you want a fob that will always start the truck, regardless of Toyotas blessing, and you have a 2018 or newer, get an aftermarket remote start.

I can’t speak for factory options, but it is possible with aftermarket remote starts. I had them on my previous cars which were manuals, just need to be sure to park it in neutral.

 

I would pay for only the month's I was out in the snow; it was very convenient to warm the truck up as we returned from the slopes. I think it was $8/mo or something like that.

That was when the Toyota App gave you the option to not share your data with insurance companies or their "affiliates". I declined the new agreement and will live with the consequences.

 

Thank you for explaining this as you did.

I figured it had something to do with the CPU/EPU of the truck and FOB key communicating Remote Start action.

Don't forget to set your parking brake for you M/T drivers if using Remote Start. lol

 

It’s not that much more than a tank fill up, and I like the features

 

Absolutely! I don’t get all the concern over 80.00 well worth it to me. I see more than 80.00 spent on mods that are useless and not needed.

 

Everyone thinks they drive normal. The insurance company has a different idea of normal driving. Just like you never talk to the cops you never give the insurance company all the data for your driving habits. Data only gives a partial picture and doesn't take into account what's actually taking place. Remember innocent people have gone to jail for cooperating with the cops thinking they were doing good. I don't trust insurance companies either. They're not your friend.

 

I was told by the dealer that the remote start feature works for a period of 2 years or during Toyota Care.

 

You can opt-out of sharing your driving data with Toyota Insurance at any time by:

1. Signing into the Toyota app
2. Tapping your profile image in the upper right corner
3. Selecting Account
4. Selecting Data Privacy Portal
5. Selecting your vehicle
6. Selecting Insure Connect
7. Selecting Manage Consent
8. Selecting Decline

 

I live in the interior of Alaska, and park outdoors. When the temperature drops to -5 F and colder I plug 3 vehicles into electric timers/outlets. The timers are set to warm the engines and antifreeze for a period of 3 hours before the engines are started. Then if the temperature drops from around -30 degrees and colder, the timers are set to warm the engines from 4-6 hours before starting the engines. The engine remote starters are set to idle the engine for a period of 25 minutes.

However, the Toyota dealerships don't install engine heaters on new Toyota vehicles, including my wife's 2023 Tacoma TRD Off Road. It has an oil pan heater (electric pad), and a battery trickle charger. But my wife's RAV4 V6 has an oil pan heater, a block heater, and also a battery blanket. My 2013 Tundra has the same heaters (block and oil pan), and a battery trickle charger.

The Toyota $80.00 deal is a waste of money-if you are keeping the truck over three years and longer. A basic CompuStar or other remote starter can start the engine from 1/4 mile away. You pay upfront, and don't get involved with yearly payments. The only problem is that now you have the Toyota key FOB, plus the remote starter FOB to deal with as long as your car or truck has an engine start push button. But if you truck or car has an engine ignition key, then you don't need to carry the Toyota key FOB, just the remote (for the starter) and the ignition key, since you can use the remote to lock/unlock the doors, and the key to manually start the engine.

 

What I stated is 100% accurate. Stop paying for the app and your fob will start your truck. I didn’t say anything about opting out of anything. Toyota can track me if they wish, I’m not that worried.

 

As far as I know.

 

It’s been 3 years and my fob still starts my Tacoma. How long do I have?

 

I’m in Canada and don’t have option 6.