So far I haven’t opted into Toyota Connected Services because I feel like it’s an invasion of privacy to be able to track my location at all times. Am I overthinking it? What has been your experience with it- pros, cons, worthwhile?
Opt in or out of Toyota Connected Services?
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I'm older and have gotten into the habit over the years with cars with no options of checking things myself. So connected services was useless for me. The fob makes it so easy to enter the car why do I need remote unlock?
I am still in the habit of checking the door is locked when I leave the vehicle. Monthly checking the oil level and tire air pressure. I hate wasting gas and never pre start a vehicle. When I lived up north it would only run when I was scraping snow & ice off the windshield. To run the van to cool it off in Florida is just crazy as the AC cools off fast.
I also hated getting the alert that I left the windows down. Yes I know I did that.
The warning to check that you didn't leave your baby in the seat is a sure sign that we are devolving. How can any parent be so self absorbed & distracted they can't remember their child is in the car? I won't even forget a dog in my van. This must happen often for Auto manufacturers to include it in the vehicle.
I guess those that grew up with all this tech reminding them what to do all the time are trained to only respond when alerted.
Now that I got that out of my system, get off my lawn! LOL!
PS I did send an email to Toyota corporate stating I am concerned that the vehicle I purchased isn't mine because they can hold me ransom for certain options. How about make a line without the modules for connected services that would be less expensive? The idea I paid for the devices and tech in my vehicle I won't use and benefits Toyota only bothers me. Of course I got the PC sales answer of basically too bad this is what people want.
I am still in the habit of checking the door is locked when I leave the vehicle. Monthly checking the oil level and tire air pressure. I hate wasting gas and never pre start a vehicle. When I lived up north it would only run when I was scraping snow & ice off the windshield. To run the van to cool it off in Florida is just crazy as the AC cools off fast.
I also hated getting the alert that I left the windows down. Yes I know I did that.
The warning to check that you didn't leave your baby in the seat is a sure sign that we are devolving. How can any parent be so self absorbed & distracted they can't remember their child is in the car? I won't even forget a dog in my van. This must happen often for Auto manufacturers to include it in the vehicle.
I guess those that grew up with all this tech reminding them what to do all the time are trained to only respond when alerted.
Now that I got that out of my system, get off my lawn! LOL!
PS I did send an email to Toyota corporate stating I am concerned that the vehicle I purchased isn't mine because they can hold me ransom for certain options. How about make a line without the modules for connected services that would be less expensive? The idea I paid for the devices and tech in my vehicle I won't use and benefits Toyota only bothers me. Of course I got the PC sales answer of basically too bad this is what people want.
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I have it on both my Siennas, AND I own Teslas, so being connected is something I’m used to. Have never experienced any negatives, and plenty of positives.
Too many times, my wife and I would forget to lock the doors and the Toyota app would alert me of this. And then I can lock it remotely without being anywhere near the car. My 1 year "trial" is almost up, so the remote connect service is the only one I will be subscribing to.
You may not even need that. I had a 2020 Silverado. Caught myself leaving the doors unlocked a few times. I looked and one of the adjustable settings was "auto-lock", where it would automatically lock like 15 seconds after you left the vehicle. Worked great. I still usually locked it myself to keep in the habit of doing it but that way if I forgot it would lock it for me.
Oh, and it had the smart fob, push-to-start system. I tested, and it was smart enough that if you left the fob in the truck it would not auto-lock the doors. I'd test it once on purpose with a spare key fob accessible (but not near the van), but if the Sienna has auto-lock as an option, it too should be smart enough to realize the fob is in the van and not auto-lock in that case.
The Sienna does auto re-lock after 15 seconds if you unlock it and do not open the door. My use is case is after I drive the car and get the kids and stuff out, I forget to lock. So that feature doesn't help but remote connect does.
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As already stated, some manufacturers offer the auto-lock after driving and leaving the vehicle feature but Toyota has opted to force paying extra for connected services to get that option. Others are likely to follow as subscription services are spreading like wildfire, offering a way for them to hold us all hostage to recurring charges for even basic convenience functions.
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Shortest it can be set to do this is 30 seconds. It comes with 60 seconds as factory default. Longest possible is 90 seconds, but this relock function can’t be disabled entirely and doesn’t offer 15 seconds as time elapsed option.
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This is false. Even if you pay for connected services you cannot have the doors lock just by walking away.
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Sure, understand, but you still have to pay and now that you bring it up - it's only a reminder.
To be fair, other car companies are doing the same or similar with plans to go whole hog. It's disturbing the extent to which companies are finding ever more creative ways to monetize all of us, essentially preying on customers to create steady income streams to further fuel corporate greed.
To be fair, other car companies are doing the same or similar with plans to go whole hog. It's disturbing the extent to which companies are finding ever more creative ways to monetize all of us, essentially preying on customers to create steady income streams to further fuel corporate greed.
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To use their app? Yes. To remote start or just lock and unlock from the fob? No.
You can opt out. BMW and Mercedes have been doing it for 20 years.
But it feels like maybe you don’t want facts to get in the way of your rant, so enjoy.
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Isn't remote start a subscription after an introductory period? Fob lock/unlock is old tech and on every car...and still free so far. ;-)
It gets ridiculously complicated from maker to maker. BMW and others are seriously considering making heated seats & steering wheel a subscription. To me that's ridiculous but likely a warning of things to come.
Heated Seat Subscriptions and Other Tomfoolery
Subscriptions are a fact of life. But do we have to pay for them? Especially when purchasing an automobile and fees follow.
autotrends.org
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I thought you needed to subscribe to use the auto start even if it is with the key fob.
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Seems it depends on the particular fob, so yes and no and still up in the air?
www.motor1.com
Toyota May Not Require Subscription For Remote Start After All: Report
A report claims Toyota is reconsidering its requirement on some newer vehicles for a paid subscription to use remote start on a key fob.
www.motor1.com
The last I have seen about this states that you must have at least one connected services subscription (or free trial) for the remote start from the fob to work. Many Siennas come with a 10 year free trial to Service Connect and that is sufficient for the remote start to work.
When we got our Sienna there were few documents to sign so looked them over.
At least 2-3 pages was about connected services and we refused to sign since base models do not get those features. Had to point that out to finance or something like that person that was trying to sell us the warranty and paint packages.
Now even though not signed I presume Toyota is still tracking our data vis a vis Sienna parameters like mileage, battery charging, speed, etc..
Arrrgghhh!!
At least 2-3 pages was about connected services and we refused to sign since base models do not get those features. Had to point that out to finance or something like that person that was trying to sell us the warranty and paint packages.
Now even though not signed I presume Toyota is still tracking our data vis a vis Sienna parameters like mileage, battery charging, speed, etc..
Arrrgghhh!!
Well that’s shitty. For the Silverado that wasn’t linked to remote services. They had a connected option you could pay for and use your phone to remote lock and unlock, or phone remote start, but the auto lock after exiting was a selectable vehicle setting that just used the key fob. As was regular fob remote start.
Yep, this is what I did when my 1 year trial ended. Ditched the other 2 and just kept Remote Connect.
Just a quick heads up: this is either $8/mo or $80/yr, so if you pay annually, you save a little.
I can't seem to find the option to purchase an annual sub. Did you do it in the app?
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