Remote connect is one of the coolest features available for today with owners being able to start their cars with their key fob instead of the old fashioned way. With that, however, Toyota will be charging drivers for them to use this feature to their convenience.
Toyota 2018 Models and Newer Need Subscription
Toyota, one of the largest car makers in the world, will be charging drivers for the convenience of being able to use their key fobs in order to remotely start their cars. As per The Drive, Toyota 2018 models and newer will have to have a subscription for them to use the key to support the remote start functionality.
As noted by The Drive, buyers will be given the option to either choose from a number of Connected Services when they buy a new Toyota and one of them allows users to remotely start their cars through their key fob.
Remote Connect Free Trial
According to the story by The Verge, buyers are given a free trial of Remote Connect. With that, the length of the trial, however, depends on the audio package which is included in the vehicle.
To add to the confusion, only a number of models are capable of supporting the Audio Plus or Premium Audio packages that are offered with the free trial. Here's a clearer picture of what can be availed as per Toyota's PDF.
Key Fob for Remote Start Functionality
This means that the key fob's remote start functionality is actually tied to the audio package that the car comes with. To expand, the situation was initially spotted on a Reddit post where the original poster included a link to the Remote Connect marketing materials of Toyota.
Ever since then, the post has been flagged as "potentially misleading." Toyota, however, confirmed to The Drivers that users will still have to pay for remote start when their free trial is up.
$80 Per Year Subscription for Remote Connect
Although a car that has Audio Plus will give owners the ability to use the remote start freely through a key fob for three years, cars that are purchased with Premium Audio will give free remote start to users for 10 years.
After that, drivers will then be paying $8 a month or $80 a year to get the full Remote Connect service which will include the remote start feature for the owner's key fob.
On the Remote Connect page of Toyota, it remains quite unclear as to the key fob's remote start functionality which is included within the plan. To expand, it says that the Remote Connect service allows users to use their smart home devices, smart watch, or smartphone in order to start their cars but there is still no mention of using a key fob for remote starts.
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This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Urian B.
