Toyota Connected Services

that's a nice feature

 

Discovered yesterday that I can lock my doors (and other things) from my watch. Notification came up that I forgot to lock the doors, push a button on the watch and the doors are locked, did not even have to go to my phone or out the door to my car.

 

Yep! I'm glad Toyota finally added it. I wonder if Toyota will integrate this with Apple's CarKey.

 

Lordy Lordy, I sure miss the old days! Stick the metal key in the ignition, turn the radio on and put her in gear and go! The only worry we had was if the parts would be available 25 years down the road.

 

Well I am an idiot. With that out of the way...

One of the things I love about the Prius is the electric AC. I routinely lock my fur buddy in the car while I shop -- coming back to her resting comfortably.

Several years ago, I left my keys in the car when I did my little lock-while-running hack (roll windows up from outside). My spare was of course in my home. I promised myself to never again lock any door like this without first verifying the keys being in my pocket.

Well......... today I freaking did it again. ‍

I wasn't about to have anybody stretch my NEW windows with an air bladder (That's what Toyota Roadside wanted to do). I asked them about the subscription services and if I could subscribe to them now to unlock my car. They said that has to be done beforehand. Wrong!!

So everybody with a new 2023: you have two services that are free for 10 years, one that's free for a year (includes remote lock start), and another wi-fi service that's free for a little bit.

I didn't want to deal with any of it because I figured it was a "put in your credit card then forget about it scam". Nothing off the sort! Just go in the app and okay all the trials... like right now lol!

When I went in to start the trials a moment ago, I had full control of my car remotely in about 5 mins. That could have saved me a hefty locksmith bill.

 

I just spent too much time on the phone with Toyota. They couldn’t verify the components of the subscription services for my Prius because info doesn’t show yet. I do know what’s included but was hoping to hear subscriptions weren’t bundled. Toyota Tracker has at least switched from allocation to freight.

She was able to tell me that most 2023s are coming with bundled subscription options only. She verified this was the case for the Corolla Cross Hybrid I checked out last week so I’m guessing Prius will be the same.

As was mentioned in a previous post I won’t be able to keep remote connect after the trial period unless I pay for a bundle for $15 per month. I only want it for the winter or hot days. To be honest it’s probably the feature I was most looking forward to.

I wonder how many people are paying Toyota $15-50 per month for these subscriptions. I suppose it’s nothing for those with free flowing money. I guess I’m a bit grumpy today.

 

Same here - or at least thats one of the top features ("remote start car heater") to make the car more appealing for my wife. I dont mind paying for it - but then I expect an app with a simple and streamlined UI as well. Unfortunately I heard only bad things so far.

 

The app works fine.

 

Seconded. I love the features! And the free trials are generous IMO.

 

Do we get service connect trial for 10 yrs? So I can at least see tire pressure for each tire. I guess I’ve lived long enough without remote start but I was so looking forward to it. Maybe I can add it on for 3 months in the winter.

 

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Whelp! Looks like this stupid site is rejecting my photos again! And I edited them down to TINY size (around 60kb). Oh well. If you act like you are going to reply to my message, you might be able to see the pictures without clicking on them in preview mode.

 

Good to know - how many steps does it take to do a remote start with heating? Anyone having experience?

Edit: Oh @Preebee was faster - thanks

 

The main issue I've found with the app is just that it's kinda slow to connect and update its status. When you launch it, it will take a few seconds for it to connect to your car and pull its information. If you want to lock the car from the app, it will take it a few seconds to do that, etc..
Also, the notification icon doesn't actually indicate whether you have unread notifications -- it has a red bell icon at all times, even after you've already read your notifications. This is just a pet peeve of mine; I hate having unread-notification icons when there aren't actually any unread notifications.
Otherwise, the app's actually functionality is actually pretty nice, and while UI isn't going to be winning any UX awards, considering it was made by a car manufacturer, I've seen much worse.

 

Whelp! Looks like this stupid site is rejecting my photos again! And I edited them down to TINY size (around 60kb). Oh well. If you act like you are going to reply to my message, you might be able to see the pictures without clicking on them in preview mode.[/QUOTE]


Thanks. I just clicked on all of them. “Harsh cornering” ha!

 

Start followed by stop in realtime using app

https://youtube.com/shorts/o-063aR_fOI?feature=share

 

Great thanks - looks good enough. As long as it doesnt have the connection issues as mention by @planetarian