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If you want to use remote start on your Tundra you're going to have to start paying a subscription fee...
According to reports Toyota will start charging $8 per month or $80 per year for the full functionality of the Remote Connect feature. This is apparently for Toyotas from 2018 or newer.
Toyota Made Its Key Fob Remote Start Into a Subscription Service
Subscription-based features are taking over the automotive industry—and now they're coming for your key fob.
www.thedrive.com
Yes, it appears the pay-to-play ethos that's spreading around the industry has reached the world's largest automaker. A Toyota spokesperson 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 in order for the key fob to start the car remotely. To be clear, what we're talking about is the proximity-based RF remote start system, where you press a button on the fob to start the car while outside of it within a certain distance—say, from your front door to warm up your vehicle in the driveway on a cold morning before you get in. Your fob uses radio waves to communicate with the car, and no connection back to Toyota's servers is needed. But the function will not work without a larger Remote Connect subscription.
It's become more common in recent years for automakers to charge for apps that allow drivers to monitor, lock, or start their cars with their smartphones. As far as we can tell, though, Toyota's the first company to charge for full use of your physical key fob—either $8 a month or $80 a year at the Remote Connect plan's current price.
