Toyota Requires Subscription for Remote Start on 2018 and Newer Vehicles

There’s never more evidence of greed than when a company makes their customers pay for something they’d long provided them for free.

As if they’d taken a page out of the in-app purchase book, Toyota has been charging its car buyers to remotely start their 2018 or newer vehicles via their key fob once the “free trial” has expired.

And many Toyota owners are blissfully unaware of this already enacted change.

That’s right, the remote start button on your Toyota key fob may fail you one morning, and you’ll have to pay to regain the feature that you thought was innate.

This change went relatively unnoticed by all until a Reddit user found this evidence within Toyota’s Remote Connect marketing materials and posted them to the forum. The official document is dated December 12, 2019.

Even though the post was marked as “potentially misleading,” Toyota validated that the information is true.

A spokesperson for the world’s largest auto manufacturer confirmed to The Drive that “if a 2018 or later Toyota is equipped with Toyota’s Remote Connect functions, the vehicle must be enrolled in a valid subscription (whether it be a free trial period or otherwise) in order for the key fob to start the car.”

Fortunately, vehicles manufactured before November 12, 2018, will not be subject to any remote start subscriptions.

In order to have full access to the key fob already in hand, Toyota owners must pay a monthly subscription fee of $8 or an annual fee of $80 once the trial period has expired.

But it’s not exactly that straightforward. 

The fees are hidden among Toyota’s Connected Services, and buyers are given an option to try it out. Connected services can include features such as hotspot connectivity, emergency assistance, and app-based services like remotely unlocking and starting the vehicle. 

The “free trial” period depends upon which vehicle is purchased and what audio package is included, further diluting the clarity of eligibility.

According to The Drive, vehicles equipped with Audio Plus get a trial of up to three years, whereas Premium Audio may have a trial for up to 10 years. Beyond that, drivers will need to pay for a subscription to continue using remote services.

Even the official video from Toyota fails to explain the trial period and subsequent subscription that buyers are subjected to. 

The video gives a brief overview from a salesperson who states that the key should work on certain Toyotas “as long as [they have] Audio Plus.” He never mentions the trial period or subsequent required subscription.

Subscription fees are usually linked to services that require a cellular connection or an app. Remote starts utilize neither and instead connect directly with the vehicle.

It’s unclear (apart from the almighty bottom dollar) why Toyota decided to start charging for this feature.

2 comments
  1. It appears to say the opposite in the imbedded link to the Dec 12, 2019 pdf document.

    “Remote Connect equipped vehicles built before 11/12/18 were required to have an active Remote Connect trial or paid subscription for the key fob to perform remote start functionality. The logic has been enhanced to no longer require an active Remote Connect subscription for the key fob to perform remote start functionality.”

    This would mean that Toyota has stopped charging for something for which they previously charged. I’m not sure why their spokesman would have made the comment to The Drive that is opposite of what the document says. However, the screenshot in that article cuts off the portion of the document that is quoted in my comment above. I’m not sure what is what, but there is enough doubt that this article may should be better validated and clarification added one way or the other.

    I could be totally wrong, of course, and simply misreading but any clarification would be appreciated!

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