Toyota Now Charges a Subscription Fee to Use Remote Start Functionality — ExtremeTech

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When a company decides it wants to launch a subscription service and convert free users to paying customers, there are two basic ways to go about it. One method is to create new product features or service tiers that are only available to subscribers while keeping free benefits the same as they were before. Another is to remove services that were formerly free and lock them behind a paywall. The first encourages people to sign up by enticing them with new options. The second method “encourages” people to sign up by taking away valued functionality in the hopes people are willing to pay for it instead.

Toyota has surveyed the market and gone with the second approach. Since 2018, the company has sold Remote Start as a factory option on all vehicles equipped with either Audio Plus or Premium Audio. What most customers were apparently unaware of is that continuing to use the Remote Start functionality of the vehicle is dependent on paying Toyota a monthly subscription fee. The company claims to offer a three-year “free trial,” but after that period is over, it expects you to start forking over $8 month for the privilege of starting your car remotely.