Remote Start - Permanent or "Subscription-Based"???

[2022EOW]

I see a lot of you guys that keep saying this, and it is simply not true. Here is a photo of a 2020 Highlander Limited's key fob:

Do you see a remote start button on it?

There isn't one. If you subscribe to the connected services, apparently you can press lock-lock-lock and the car will start. That will not happen without the subscription. This is not the same thing as them putting a dedicated remote start button (like Ford does) on the fob, then disabling it if you don't pay(that would be unacceptable). This is simply an added bonus that is otherwise not available on other cars that work this same way.

My mother has a 2017 Elantra Limited. It has subscription based remote start via BlueLink Telematics. Its remote has no remote start button, and no combo of button presses will work whether you pay or not. What Toyota is doing is not new, not controversial, and not uncommon.

Personally, I just want a button on the fob. I don't care about starting it from my phone.

Bottom line, you have to pay for remote start! Its not an added bonus, you have to pay for it!

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[MLowe05]

Bottom line, you have to pay for remote start! Its not an added bonus, you have to pay for it!

Yes. Just like you would have had to do in 2017 on a Hyundai. Or in 2019 on a Genesis.

The bottom line is actually that this is not a new practice, nor is it exclusive to Toyota. That's all I've been trying to get across. I don't agree with it, either. I think it's ridiculous. But what I'm saying is that all of these other companies have been doing this for a while, but now some auto journalists are trying to make heads explode because Toyota has decided to do the same thing.

This thread needs to be closed.

 

[Traegorn]

The "it's not a separate button" that you say is exactly my point. That's why this is not as controversial as everyone is making it out to be. There are no dedicated remote start buttons on Toyota fobs with the exception of the Prius Prime, which has a button labeled "A/C HOLD"

Also, regarding the Prius Prime and it's A/C HOLD button, which is its version of remote start, that one seems as though it will continue to work forever. Just not through the app.

My point is all of this is fake outrage at Toyota over something that other people have been doing for a while. I'm not saying I agree with it, just that I'm not sure why it is suddenly news.

Because it was a feature enabled from the keyfob, not an app -- a keyfob that is not connected to the internet. It's a local feature.

The alarm on my old car was only enabled when I hit lock twice. It wasn't an "alarm" button, it was a "lock" button. But if GM had decided to turn my alarm off remotely and charge me to re-enable it, it seems like you'd say I wouldn't have grounds to complain because the button didn't have "alarm" on the label.

If it was just being disabled through the app, folks would understand. But that it's being disabled as a LOCAL feature, it's a wholly different bag of walnuts altogether.

 

[mavmav]

You already paid for remote control with your privacy by allowing ford access car telemetry data via Telematics Control Unit (TCU) unit. you sold your privacy vs. convenience! THERE IS NOTHING FOR FREE. TCU monitors, speed, GPS, Acceleration, vibration, oil status, fuel, your driving behavior etc. TCU unit is located at pic below: (right under central console ) do you know what's inside your vehicle?

 

[clavicus]

You already paid for remote control with your privacy by allowing ford access car telemetry data via Telematics Control Unit (TCU) unit. you sold your privacy vs. convenience! THERE IS NOTHING FOR FREE. TCU monitors, speed, GPS, Acceleration, vibration, oil status, fuel, your driving behavior etc. TCU unit is located at pic below: (right under central console ) do you know what's inside your vehicle?

Random side question: do you know what fuse the TCU is on? Inside cab fuse box, or engine bay?

 

[mavmav]

fuse the TCU is on?

in BCM - body control module, fuse F11 - (5AMP)

 

[Randy H.]

I will enjoy using the app remote start to warm/cool my Mav (not having to take my fat ass outside) while at work on those cold/hot New England afternoons.

Anyone else having issues with the Apple Watch app no longer starting the Mav? Keep getting an error on the watch, but the iPhone app works fine...

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