Want to Remote-Start Your Toyota With a Fob? That'll be $8 Per Month

[mrodgers]

It’s 30 degrees colder this morning than yesterday. And I just started my car from the dining room.

Life is good.

I heard 4 cars starting up around me this morning and left idling to warm up. Temperature this morning? 55°

 

[mom2rtk]

I heard 4 cars starting up around me this morning and left idling to warm up. Temperature this morning? 55°

Can’t help you with those.

But it was sitting right at freezing when I remote started mine.

 

[debster812]

I will never again not have a car w a remote starter. Have had after market ones installed since about 1995 (worked in the industry), and my most recent car came with a factory one, which I can start with my phone, for no additional fees at this time. I’m in MA, and between the sleet, freezing rain, bitter cold, and snow, it is worth it to us.

 

[sam_gordon]

I remember "back in the day", I was getting ready to leave work on a cold night so I thought I'd go start my car and go back in the building to warm up (remotes weren't a thing back then). So I did, cranked the heat up, then went back into the building and started talking to people. 30 minutes later I remembered my car was still running. Yea, it was nice and warm when I went out to it.

 

[mom2rtk]

You guys fare okay?

We just got back late last night and so far the only thing is some of our icicle lights on the house came loose but for how sustained the winds were and the gusts (according to my phone reached 71mph at our house) it could have been much worse. Don't know though if there is debris on the roof though.

The airport was probably the busiest I've seen in at 12:30am, tons of people with a lot of pick ups. I assume delays (especially with the airport having been closed for a short time) causing more later arrivals than normal. Usually when we land that late it's very quiet.

It was crazy here. High winds most of the day. Had to retrieve my mail bin from down the block this morning. Downspouts all over the yard. A heavy giant pot (full of dirt) blew off the porch. Still not sure how that happened. My parents had a giant tree fall over and just miss their house.

Glad that's over. And glad you fared ok.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

It was crazy here. High winds most of the day. Had to retrieve my mail bin from down the block this morning. Downspouts all over the yard. A heavy giant pot (full of dirt) blew off the porch. Still not sure how that happened. My parents had a giant tree fall over and just miss their house.

Glad that's over. And glad you fared ok.

I'm glad I don't have to keep worrying about it myself (at least at the moment) kinda put a tamper on the last day of our mini vacation sitting there worrying about our house back home. Honestly was more worried if a tree fell on our house that our cat would escape.

I guess there is a good sized tree uprooted in our neighborhood that is on HOA property, it was too dark/we were too tired to look too hard but the lawn care company has been alerted already. I spoke to my mom and she was so surprised she didn't lose power as she often does. I heard something like 189K were without power between both states.

A blessing your parents house didn't get hit and that there wasn't something major at your house

 

[fla4fun]

Don’t know if it’s true, but one of the articles I read today about the new fee said that Toyota is eliminating the remote start button from the fob on new cars and it will be app based only. I still think it shouldn’t be applied retroactively, but it sounds like going forward the fob won’t have access anyway.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Curious, isn't it illegal to have a car running with no-one in it in most places? I've known people who got tickets for this in NYC & PA so I don't do it even though we have 2 cars with the function, not sure about Mass but suspect it isn't ok.

 

[ronandannette]

I will never again not have a car w a remote starter. Have had after market ones installed since about 1995 (worked in the industry), and my most recent car came with a factory one, which I can start with my phone, for no additional fees at this time. I’m in MA, and between the sleet, freezing rain, bitter cold, and snow, it is worth it to us.

I got a new car in a rush in July and failed to notice command-start wasn't part of the package. MY BAD!!! It's the first time I haven't had one for years and today is our worst weather day so far this year. It was -23F and blowing snow when I came out of work. Looking to get an after-market unit right away.

Curious, isn't it illegal to have a car running with no-one in it in most places? I've known people who got tickets for this in NYC & PA so I don't do it even though we have 2 cars with the function, not sure about Mass but suspect it isn't ok.

Nope - not at all here in the frozen North. In fact I just googled it and even my city's No-Idling By-law only means you can't idle for more than 5 minutes in a designated no-idling zone.

 

[daisy2013]

My new car has climate conditioning it turns on the heat/ac but not the engine. It’s a plug in hybrid so runs off the battery. You cannot activate it from the fob, only the app. Works well so far but it’s only a month old so…

 

[amylevan]

Curious, isn't it illegal to have a car running with no-one in it in most places? I've known people who got tickets for this in NYC & PA so I don't do it even though we have 2 cars with the function, not sure about Mass but suspect it isn't ok.

In Pa, at least at the state level, local may vary, you cannot leave it running unlocked or unattended. So remote start with doors locked, or run out and start it and lock the doors when you leave, are both legal.

I’m still laughing at the leave a towel on the windshield suggestion. I had to chisel through solid ice to just open my door (so I could start it to help melt the ice!) the weekend I was at my parents for thanksgiving. I’m not thinking a towel would have helped that day!

 

[tvguy]

In Pa, at least at the state level, local may vary, you cannot leave it running unlocked or unattended. So remote start with doors locked, or run out and start it and lock the doors when you leave, are both legal.

I’m still laughing at the leave a towel on the windshield suggestion. I had to chisel through solid ice to just open my door (so I could start it to help melt the ice!) the weekend I was at my parents for thanksgiving. I’m not thinking a towel would have helped that day!

I must be missing something. Not sure why the towel wouldn't work. Lift it off and the ice and snow come off with it. They made special covers just for that purpose. https://www.amazon.com/Windshield-M...t=&hvlocphy=9032424&hvtargid=pla-842648170045

 

[NotUrsula]

I must be missing something. Not sure why the towel wouldn't work. Lift it off and the ice and snow come off with it. They made special covers just for that purpose. https://www.amazon.com/Windshield-M...t=&hvlocphy=9032424&hvtargid=pla-842648170045

Because water from the ice will be absorbed by the towel and fuse to a windshield THROUGH the towel when it is wet/cold enough to freeze it into a solid block, and when that happens, your only choice is to thaw it with the defrost, otherwise you'll leave bits of towel behind as you try to lever the block of cotton-permeated ice off the glass; a towel-filled ice block not being workable for manual scraping. When the towel is too thickly permeated with ice to remain flexible, it just won't lift off. Towels work when there is up to maybe about 1/4" of ice and the temp is no lower than about 20F; thicker ice or lower temp than that, and the towel method is more time-consuming than nothing at all.

Purpose-made windshield blankets are waterproof, and usually are also made of a heat-absorbing fabric, which means that as soon as the sun comes up, the fabric will generate heat and the ice will begin to soften enough to easily separate from the glass. Regular cotton towels don't have that effect.

Note that you also cannot use the windshield-washer sprayer when the temp is down in the single digits; even the highest-quality liquid solution will instantly freeze solid and render your windshield opaque. You just have to live with the dirt until you can get out of the car and manually rub it off with a dry rag.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I must be missing something. Not sure why the towel wouldn't work. Lift it off and the ice and snow come off with it. They made special covers just for that purpose. https://www.amazon.com/Windshield-M...t=&hvlocphy=9032424&hvtargid=pla-842648170045

A towel and the cover you posted are made of two entirely different things. Your thought of protecting your front windshield from ice and snow isn't something made me go it was the towel part.

When I look up the towel trick most suggest this for basically tiny amount of potential ice accumulation, a light frost and light snow. It's not a good thing to use when it's more than that because the towel can freeze to the windshield which is exactly why I wouldn't have suggested using a towel. For crisp fall or early spring mornings here where you might get frost I could see using the towel but not for winter when the weather is too unpredictable. But then again it's too common and at the same time too unpredictable for me to even chance the towel trick. If I felt like needing something I would get a cover designed for this purpose. Alternatively I've used de-icing spray which so long as it's not too thick of ice worked really well for me.

 

[mrodgers]

Can’t help you with those.

But it was sitting right at freezing when I remote started mine.

I do pop open the door and try to gauge how the humidity is. High humidity and I know I'll have frost on the car. If it's dry, I don't bother down to around 20. I am an oddball though, I am susceptible to overheating, have passed out due to overheating many times and my body is always burning up, whether it's cold out or not. Thus, at 20 degrees with no wind and low humidity, I'm perfectly fine in a pair of shorts that I wear in the hot manufacturing plant for 8-10 hours. 3 miles and I have warm air blowing. Another 3 miles the car is warm inside and I leave the heat blowing on the floor and the window halfway down.

 

[mrodgers]

I must be missing something. Not sure why the towel wouldn't work. Lift it off and the ice and snow come off with it. They made special covers just for that purpose. https://www.amazon.com/Windshield-M...t=&hvlocphy=9032424&hvtargid=pla-842648170045

Still not getting it.

The towel is underneath a layer of ice! You're not just pulling a towel up. You have to chip the ice away to get to the towel. We're not talking about your OMG, I think I saw a single snowflake kind of winter weather.

As I met the neighbor of the house we just moved into he warned me about the snow. Dead end road and they don't come down and plow very often. He said everyone was snowed in for 3 days last year. I laughed and pointed at my little Toyota that I was well experienced in off-roading in PA snow storms, "I'll just bang it about 60, shouldn't be a problem." He laughed and pointed at his F250 diesel he used to pull his camper, "No you won't. That's what had me waiting 3 days for someone to come dig that out last year."

 

[tvguy]

Still not getting it.

The towel is underneath a layer of ice! You're not just pulling a towel up. You have to chip the ice away to get to the towel. We're not talking about your OMG, I think I saw a single snowflake kind of winter weather.

As I met the neighbor of the house we just moved into he warned me about the snow. Dead end road and they don't come down and plow very often. He said everyone was snowed in for 3 days last year. I laughed and pointed at my little Toyota that I was well experienced in off-roading in PA snow storms, "I'll just bang it about 60, shouldn't be a problem." He laughed and pointed at his F250 diesel he used to pull his camper, "No you won't. That's what had me waiting 3 days for someone to come dig that out last year."

Do you use tire chains? They are frequently required here in the snow on highways yet I have had people who lived in real snow country comment they had never used them before coming to California.

 

[mrodgers]

Do you use tire chains? They are frequently required here in the snow on highways yet I have had people who lived in real snow country comment they had never used them before coming to California.

No, no one uses tire chains in snow country. Some people carry tire chains where I live because some people have a mile long driveway into the woods where their old farm house sits on many acres. You can't wake up in the morning and plow out a mile long driveway to get to work.

I run snow tires in winter and regular all seasons in the summer. 4x4 trucks and SUV's take up probably 80% of the vehicles on the roads around here. When you live snow country, you learn how to drive in the snow, however that is a decreasing idea year after year to know or remember how to drive in the snow.

Tire chains allow you to get your vehicle moving. Snow tires allow you to drive in snow almost as if there's no snow at all, if you know how to drive. They only plow and clear the roads for school so when there's a delay or school is canceled, they aren't out there clearing the roads at 6 am and you're driving on snowy roads. It's not difficult to drive in snow at all, it's that people don't know how to drive at all.

 

[Nagle]

This is why I love having a remote starter. Half hour at Syracuse airport to get into the car while dressed for Orlando. At least the car was warm and I thawed out before putting on my winter stuff and grabbing the scraper. Towels ain’t gonna cut it.

 

[sam_gordon]

This is why I love having a remote starter. Half hour at Syracuse airport to get into the car while dressed for Orlando. At least the car was warm and I thawed out before putting on my winter stuff and grabbing the scraper. Towels ain’t gonna cut it.
View attachment 631292

If you would have put towels over it, you would have been ready to drive in two minutes.