Toyota is following the Tesla plan: you will have to pay subscription fees to use your car’s features, or they will be remotely deactivated.
Categories: economics
Price Controls
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13 Comments
E M Johnson · December 21, 2021 at 8:53 am
have a 10 and 14 Toy that hopefully can last for many more years. if not there is always the bicycle
Steve S · December 21, 2021 at 9:58 am
Most key fobs don’t have a lot of range anyway. Get a stand alone product with up to 1/2 mile range. No fees.
ChuckInBama · December 21, 2021 at 10:39 am
And days like today, I feel glad I’m an old fart that still relies on a key in the ignition….
Kid · December 21, 2021 at 3:39 pm
I hate key fob starting vs key. Just had a rental car with one. The fob weighed enough to make you believe there is every spy/tracking device in the thing you could think of. Aside from being a big junk a junk in your pocket that I sure don’t want.
Don Curton · December 21, 2021 at 5:24 pm
This has been a common business model for years. Back in 2013 bought a Dodge (oops, excuse me, a Ram!) truck with upgraded touchscreen audio and navigation package. Truck came with 6 months of Sirius, 1 yr of Ram in-house apps, 6 months of navigation assistance, 1 month of truck phone service, etc. and so forth. Never really used any of it and when it expired, it expired. They tried at the dealership to get me to provide a credit card for automatic renewals which I declined. So yeah, there’s a lot of functionality on my 8 year old vehicle that I refuse to pay for since my smart phone basically covers all that and more. I still get letters about twice a year asking me to renew. Same with my wife’s car from 2015. Any convenience feature that can be accessed via wifi or cell service can be attached to a payment plan.
joe · December 21, 2021 at 6:23 pm
the remote start in my Tacoma is dumb anyway… it runs for 10 mins only and if you unlock the vehicle, it turns off so you have to restart it when you get in … the other services can suck a bag of dicks
redcabinsteve · December 21, 2021 at 7:56 pm
My 07 tundra is down to one key. Dealer wants about $200 for a new key and software. This is bs.
joe · December 21, 2021 at 8:29 pm
check a lock smith or online…bet you can get one cheaper…my first tacoma was a brand new truck and only got one key for the tailgate…dealership wanted way more than i wanted to pay, lock smith cut me one for $30 i believe…
TechieDude · December 22, 2021 at 9:09 am
What Joe said. Go to a locksmith.
Hell, when that happened on a car I bought, the dealer sent these dudes out that cut the key and programmed it right in my driveway.
On my 1999 sienna, it came with only the courtesy key, which isn’t a master key (Which may be your problem. That key is grey as opposed to black). Turns out, if you say the keys were “Lost” rather than the car was bought without them, they’ll give you the computer for free, you just have to buy the keys themselves, which I think were $85 at the time.
The ‘asshoe’ dealer wanted to ding me for $1400 for the computer, plus the keys. I went to another dealer.
KurtP · December 21, 2021 at 8:42 pm
Which makes me more than happy that I decided my 2013 Silverado was going to be the last new (used with about 5K miles on it) truck I bought.
Am now looking seriously at pre-1998 F-250s and Broncos.
TechieDude · December 22, 2021 at 9:03 am
I hate being made into an annuity with the intensity of a thousand suns. It’s bad enough with the software I use for work.
Herself said I could swap my RAV4 for a truck, but I’m not digging the prices whatsoever. Even the used ones are stupidly expensive.
We have a ‘cars for kids’ beater auction here. I think that’s where I’m headed. They have trucks all day long. Most with engine issues or a shit ton of mileage. Hell, I saw a diesel superduty there that looked OK, but had motor issues. If I pick it up under $3k, even with a new motor I’d be ahead.
What I’d really like is a truck or van no older than maybe 1990. But the trucks of that vintage are getting out of hand, pricewise.
Jonathan · December 22, 2021 at 5:51 pm
While pricey, they are more common in some areas than others. If you’re willing to travel, look up private sales in Utah, Nevada, or Arizona where there is less rust.
We recently moved out here and I see lots of older trucks (25+ years old) listed at reasonable prices.
Jonathan · December 22, 2021 at 5:52 pm
They’re driving people away by pushing to get paid for services free and more easily upgraded elsewhere.
But Toyota has a history of milking their customers…
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