remote start in new cars

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frank

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I heard from a dealer the other day that remote start has a subscription after the first year. Has anyone had this experience. the dealer told me that people are going in the direction of using their phones for remote start, locking, unlocking etc. , but after the first year following purchase of the car you have to pay a subscription. any new car owners heard of this?
 
I've heard of it, some have a subscription and some don't. Some also have subscriptions for heated seats.

Sooner or later you'll need to pay a monthly fee just to be able to operate your vehicle. I'm kidding, but not really.
 
I do not know of this specific instance of subscriptions but I have heard of BMW's subscription for heated seats. My most recent car purchase had a number of subscription options for electronics. Unfortunately, the world is moving towards subscriptions for everything. Even the local car wash advertises "$9.99 a month."
 
Subscriptions - or paying later for stuff already loaded on the car - makes some sense for the manufacturer.

Instead of making cars with 18 options, all different configs on the production line, they make one car, and then enable/disable parts depending on what the customer buys.

As a consumer, of course, I don't like it. The idea that my car can do a thing, but it's paywalled, is not good. The American consumer - over 40's at least - will not take to it in droves.

But younger folks might take to it? That's how many games work today. You buy one game, and it comes with a lot of extra content that is locked behind an upgrade. It's already "there" but you didn't buy it yet.
 
Yes, at least the top of the line Genesis G90 had that feature. In late 2021 I was about to sign cash deal contract on a new G90, about half hour before the signing did a quick search and found comments on the subscription remote start feature. Dealer confirmed, they had no way to undo it. By the way, the feature required a smart phone and cell phone connection to work. I spned time in areas with no cell service. Did not work via fob.

Cancelled the deal.

Instead bought a used Certified 2020 Cadllac CT6 with about 21K miles without the remote start subscription feature. It had several other subscription "features", all of which came enabled with car but expired recently.
Will not pay to renew unless they give a real deep discount. None worth the listed price.
Otherwise love the car, full size yet fun to drive, and super comfy. With truckloads safety built in.
 
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I sure do love the phone apps that come with most new cars. Being able to lock or remote start the vehicle from anywhere is great. I use the remote lock feature all the time even just to double check I locked it. Being able to see the vehicle location, tire pressure, oil life remaining, how much gas is left in the tank, oil life left, etc. All fantastic.
 
DW's 2020 Lexus and my new 2023 Mazda both have apps to allow monitoring and remote start. The subscription is free for 3 years so DW's is due in a few months. We will see what they do.

FWIW we never remote start the cars, so have only used it a few times to see if it works.

I doubt we will pay for it. We both have Apple CarPlay, so even if they turn off her Nav system, it won't matter.
 
When we bought our 2022 Hyundai Kona, Hyundai was clear that the phone-app remote start was part of a subscription service that was free for the 1st 3 years. It was a deal killer for us. We are used to key-fob remotes. Unlisted in any of the advertisements or listed features, the car also came with the traditional key fob remote and door locks etc. A year+ later, we have yet to use the phone app.
 
frank said:
I heard from a dealer the other day that remote start has a subscription after the first year. Has anyone had this experience. the dealer told me that people are going in the direction of using their phones for remote start, locking, unlocking etc. , but after the first year following purchase of the car you have to pay a subscription. any new car owners heard of this?
Click to expand...

Sounds like a car I don't want to buy. What brand is this so I can cross them off my list?

My Ford Maverick has remote start through the FordPass app, but that is free. It also has a RF based key fob for remote start (part of the Lariat Lux package I think).
 
My 2020 Mercedes has remote start, door lock etc from a phone app. No subscription that I'm aware of. Don't use remote start very often, but the door lock is handy because I always forget if I locked the car....I always do, it seems but nice to check from inside the restaurant.

The only time I use remote start is to turn on the A/C as we're coming in from the boat.
 
I have remote start which also senses the temp and turns on the heated seats, heated steering wheel and defroster in my Rubicon and never paid for it.
 
That is new to me but I am not well informed on the high end car market. I bought a new budget car in 2022 and it just had regular remote start. I would not want to use my phone for that and would definitely not pay extra for it.
 
COcheesehead said:
I have remote start which also senses the temp and turns on the heated seats, heated steering wheel and defroster in my Rubicon and never paid for it.
Click to expand...

Same setup in my Ram pickup.

Since I'm in Minnesota, I would pay for a remote start option. I find it indispensable in winter.
 
My RAV4 being a somewhat older model and the cheapest version sold at that time doesn’t have remote starting. But Toyota keeps trying to get me to subscribe to their service anyway.

I got to FIRE by watching my spending, especially on the little things that don’t add much quality to my life. So Toyota can keep its subscription and I will keep my money.
 
Qs Laptop said:
Same setup in my Ram pickup.

Since I'm in Minnesota, I would pay for a remote start option. I find it indispensable in winter.
Click to expand...

I live in central Wisconsin so get close to the same extreme cold as you and I never feel the need to have remote start. You can drive your car for 1-2 minutes and get it as warm as 20 minutes of idling on remote start without all the wear and tear that excessive idling causes. That kind of thing is the reason why I never want to buy a used car. You never know how the previous owner is abusing the vehicle.
 
All of the Stellantis/FCA vehicles I've bought in the past 5+ years have had both remote start capabilities using my iphone and my key fob. I played with the iphone app a few times but didn't find it very "useful" so I just use my key fob. Never paid any fees. Of course the key fob needs to be in range (100 to 200 feet) but there is never any question about subscription fees for using the fob.
 
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aaronc879 said:
I live in central Wisconsin so get close to the same extreme cold as you and I never feel the need to have remote start. You can drive your car for 1-2 minutes and get it as warm as 20 minutes of idling on remote start without all the wear and tear that excessive idling causes. That kind of thing is the reason why I never want to buy a used car. You never know how the previous owner is abusing the vehicle.
Click to expand...

I rarely let my truck idle to warm up more than 3-5 minutes during winter. I've got heated seats and (blessed be Ram) a heated steering wheel. My engine warms up quick. I happen to like warm air blowing out the vents when it is below zero outside.
 
Car-Guy said:
That's because you worked on Fords.
Click to expand...

aaronc879 said:
Well at least he had steady employment.
Click to expand...

Yes, and it's not even close:

Automakers With Most Recalls in 2022

1. Ford Motor Co.
No. of recalls: 67
Vehicles affected: 8,636,265
Most recalled component category: Powertrain

2. Volkswagen Group of America
No. of recalls: 46
Vehicles affected: 1,078,443
Most recalled component category: Backover prevention

[..]

7. General Motors
No. of recalls: 32
Vehicles affected: 3,371,302
Most recalled component category: Exterior lighting

https://www.carpro.com/blog/automakers-with-the-most-recalls-in-2022
 
I wonder if a black market will develop around hacking cars to activate the features without a subscription.
 
My 03 BMW has heated seats, a key fob, and will lower windows and open sunroof remotely.

Never needed anything more but it is also garaged.

I feel like some of these new "features" are a solution in search of a problem.

Last thing I want to do is take a fixed cost and convert it to variable.
 
My vehicles (GM’s - 2021 and 2023) both have fobs that will remote start the vehicle. They both also have an app that will start the car but you need to have OnStar for that. I will not pay for OnStar. I used to when I was working and had money to blow, but now, I don’t see the benefit. When working, I could use the app to start my car in the parking garage. That was nice in the winter. Now, the vehicles are in my garage or right outside of it so the fob works just fine. I’d be upset if the fob didn’t work without a subscription.
 
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