Renewing Connected Services

My Trial of Remote Connect and Drive Connect expires on March 10, 2023. Last week a purchase button appeared on the Toyota App to renew Drive connect but it didn’t show up on the Remote Connect page. I don’t intend on renewing Drive Connect, but I do want to renew Remote Connect. I spoke with Toyota and was told the only way to renew connected services is with the App. How do I renew Drive Connect without the purchase option within the App? Am I missing something? Any Suggestions?

 

is drive connect not bundled with any other subscription?

I could be wrong, but I thought one of the connected services was an automatic renewal ( drive connect) tied to renewal of one of the other subscription services? Renew Nav - get drive connect with it…or renew remote connect & drive connect comes with, something like that.

 

I'm not sure if each service is stand alone or bundled? Surely someone has renewed their service on the App and can shed some light on this.

 

I believe each service is separate, I’m also not going to be renewing drive connect and only need remote connect. They both was set to expire Feb 5th, but for some reason I was give another month of remote connect free.

I can renew the drive connect now but no option to renew remote connect yet either. So I’m waiting till it expire and see if I can do it then. My remote connect is set to expire March 5th.

 

Did it expire after a year? I bought mine in June 22 so I assume they will ask for money at that point? I don't use it enough to pay for it, hard to believe you have to pay for that...

 

Depending on the year and model vehicle.
https://www.toyota.com/connected-services/


Under the 2022 it states this:
Service Connect renewal will be included when Safety or Remote Connect service renewal is purchased.

 

@ 8$ a month ($96) year, i think going with drone mobile remote start maybe a better option at this point imo. just the longer duration on remote start is a key for the wife during our ND winters.

cant stand that the oem timer is only 10 mins.

will have to see after the 1yr trial is worth it.

 

I'm in the same boat with Remote Connect and not wanting to pay for Drive Connect. I tried to get it renewed before expiring but it wasn't there as an option. I thought it might show up after the expiration but still no, it only shows Drive Connect and Wifi Connect... An app reinstall hasn't made a difference. I guess I'll try disconnecting the truck entirely and see what happens. Has anyone made any progress on this yet?

 

I’m waiting to renew my remote connect too. It was suppose to expire first week of February, I bought my truck in Feb 2022. But they keep extending my remote connect.

It was set to expire in 2 days again but today I got an email saying they gave me another month. I’ve gotten 2 months complimentary.

 

I had no desire to use Android Auto but Toyota drove me to it, lol. The new version is awesome, I'm glad Toyota pushed me away! Unlike the Toyota software, everything works exactly like it is supposed to with the new version of AA.

 

I just got my second complimentary renewal yesterday also (truck was bought /picked up in Jan 2022).

I wonder what the thought is behind stringing us along like this?

I am not complaining now…but 1-2 days before expiration it’s gets renewed is sounds like an “interesting” marketing ploy if that’s what it is.

 

They can't make money selling your data if you're not subscribed....

 

Mine expires on March 10th. Called Toyota again last week and the person I spoke with tried to renew my Remote Connect but she said she was getting an error on her screen. Told me to call back after it expires. Not exactly helpful!

 

Interesting, nothing renewed automatically for me!

 

I'm going to take a wild guess, but I think the reasoning behind the complimentary renewals is an issue on Toyota's end.

I too received the "Subscription Expiring Soon" in my app. I'm willing to pay for Remote Connect (nothing else though) because I like the functionality. However, there is no way to renew it via the app. It doesn't even show as an option.

Having worked with teams who've done app & cloud service development, I wouldn't be shocked if they forgot to include Remote Connect as a valid, renewable service option. It wouldn't be all that unlikely if they keep renewing it until their development team can push a cloud/app update. Once that happens, I betcha the complimentary renewals will stop. hehe.

 

i hope so, i rather do the renewals during the summer for remote connect since we only use it during our winters up here. if i have to sign up for drive connect to get to remote connect, im just dropping the app and going 3rd party remote start via drone or mycarcontrols.

 

I thought about going 3rd Party, but I'll end up keeping the app as long as the price stays what I think it will be. $80 for a year. I mentioned to my local insurance agent that the app integration has location services on truck and he ended up giving me a discount on our annual policy that more than offsets the cost of the app.

 

yeah at $80 yr, the roi on the toyota app vs 3rd party would take about 5-6 yrs to break even. to add a 3rd party remote start and annual sub (drone is like $60 year for no gps) and mycarcontrols is like $50 yr with gps (uses the same drone mobile module)

 

What's a rough estimate for equipment & install for a 3rd party system? Just curious.

 

anywhere from $250-$350 for the module and about $150 for install

edit: that usually included 1 yr of sub

 

Maybe they will give a discount on a yearly rather than monthly subscription as they (AT&T) does with the wi-fi.

I too use the remote connect services nearly daily with this winter weather we have been having (nice to have a defrosted and warm car/steering wheel)

 

Well. They just updated the app about an hour ago. No option to renew remote connect only still. Have to get it in a package I guess with either drive connect or integrated streaming.

 

Oof. It's obvious they don't even know what they're doing with this.

2 days ago, Drive Connect was a standalone subscription at $16/month. Now it's packaged with Remote Connect for $15/month.

Also...my tonneau cover recall is gone from my app and I also noticed they bumped out my expiration of Remote Connect by 10 days. It was supposed to end on 3/10 but now it's 3/16. Odd.

 

yeah toyota realized no one renewed the connected services, only the remote connect.

so combine it and still get the same amount from customers and still cost you less than the remote connect fee to toyota.

yeah if they go that route after the 1yr i am installing drone mobile. i can pay for the hardware/install and sub and roi in less than 3yrs at $15 month sub price toyota is charging.

 

Agreed. I'm in at $80/yr but not $15/month. ESPECIALLY if there's no discount to just renewal annually with a single payment.

 

Maybe in the next couple of weeks we get new prices (and maybe a discount???)

Drive connect and music connect was of no use to me given how well my CarPlay works and those services were on my phone. I guess a whole lot of folks were in that same boat and weren’t renewing those but waiting on remote connect so they bundled everything together.

I’ve got to rethink this as $15 a month is a little over what I wanted to spend.

 

if they do a yearly plan like the $80 plan then the combined yearly will be $150, which i can get a drone mobile or other system installed for 3yrs of the toyota plan and set the timer for 20 or 25 mins on remote start.

 

They charge separate for different features. But when it expires you still have access to apple car play and you can physically use your key fob to remote start the vehicle. But things like built in navigation/hot spot/app use will end.

 

remote start via fob works if you are within range (and that range isnt very far). but the wife parks in the back 40 of the parking lot and the building metal interferes with the signal.

the freight room and storage area for th store is all metal so yeah, even cell signal is not very good either at times.

 

I was ready to subscribe to the Remote Connect for $8 a month, but bundled with something I don’t use for almost twice as much, I will pass. The remote start through the app I can certainly learn to live without.