If you are one of the millions of people that live in the Midwest, Eastern turnpike, desert south, mountainous regions, or any part of Alaska and enjoyed starting your call remotely to warm up or cool down, it’s going cost going forward.
Real dollars. Money. A fee to start your car if you are going with the remote start feature on your fob. Toyota has confirmed that anyone with a Toyota from 2018 or later has to enroll in a subscription service that will allow them to start their car with a remote on their fob or through an app.
How much would that service be able to you if you stopped and thought about it? Don’t worry; Toyota already answered the question for you; it will be $8 per month or $80 for an entire year.
Before you get all worked up at Toyota, they aren’t the only company doing this, but the whole concept of this subscription service is out in the open now because people have started reading the fine print of their sales contract, and it’s spelled out in there.
Here’s how it was worded for Toyota connected service.
“The Remote Connect trial period is at no extra cost and begins on the original date of purchase or lease of a new vehicle. Paid subscription required after trial to access the service.”
It appears that car dealers have taken a page from the playbook of television streaming services, and they’ve found a new revenue stream.
Tesla has their Full Self Driving program set up as a subscription service, and Volkswagen and Stellantis are open about finding ways to utilize a subscription service.
As carmakers transition to EV, they will be missing out on the lucrative replacement parts portion of their business, so they are actively searching for ways to add revenue.
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