Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mazda app. Love it. Gas, mileage, info, manual, unlock/lock, and starting and stopping engine. I start my car 5 mins before I leave for work and it is awesome to step into a nice toasty car ready to go.

We can do this with our car’s key fob. No engine since it’s an EV, but same idea.

I believe the difference between using the app and the key fob is that the app enables you to start and stop the car and you can do this from any distance. The key fob requires you be within a certain distance. So with the app, I can be on the airport shuttle on the way to the airport parking to get my car and start the car while on the shuttle. Key fob doesn't have that capability.

Anonymous wrote:Mazda app. Love it. Gas, mileage, info, manual, unlock/lock, and starting and stopping engine. I start my car 5 mins before I leave for work and it is awesome to step into a nice toasty car ready to go.

We can do this with our car’s key fob. No engine since it’s an EV, but same idea.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having an app is great - I can preheat/precool the car, which I love. Also can leave the a/c on dog mode and the screen displays a sign telling people the temperature so no one breaks in to rescue the dog. Car technology has come a long way since manual windows and door locks. I remember being wowed the first time I saw those automatic shoulder belts that moved when the door opened - remember those?

hated them...whats your point?

Yep. Had a Ford escort in the early 90s that did that. Almost choked my huge uncle on time. He was fighting and swearing at the belt. Hysterical.

Mazda app. Love it. Gas, mileage, info, manual, unlock/lock, and starting and stopping engine. I start my car 5 mins before I leave for work and it is awesome to step into a nice toasty car ready to go.

Mercedes GLC. Can lock and unlock and start engine….remotely.

Anonymous wrote:Having an app is great - I can preheat/precool the car, which I love. Also can leave the a/c on dog mode and the screen displays a sign telling people the temperature so no one breaks in to rescue the dog. Car technology has come a long way since manual windows and door locks. I remember being wowed the first time I saw those automatic shoulder belts that moved when the door opened - remember those?

hated them...whats your point?

Having an app is great - I can preheat/precool the car, which I love. Also can leave the a/c on dog mode and the screen displays a sign telling people the temperature so no one breaks in to rescue the dog. Car technology has come a long way since manual windows and door locks. I remember being wowed the first time I saw those automatic shoulder belts that moved when the door opened - remember those?

It came standard with our Audi. I can lock/unlock the car. I can see if windows/doors/etc are open. I can find the car on a map, if necessary. It does. come in handy.

OP here. I'm leasing my car and do not pay a subscription for this. I wouldn't pay if they asked me but I do like it now that I'm used to it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was super irritated when Toyota tried to charge me for that after the free trial period ran out. It came with the car! I won't pay out of principle.

For the past couple of years, the major carmakers have started turning cars into subscription machines. Compete on price to get the person to buy the car, then hit them with recurring monthly fees to keep the money flowing.
Locking captive customers into long-term subscriptions is a notable characteristic of 21st century capitalism.

https://www.businessinsider.com/car-feature-subscriptions-add-ons-bmw-ford-toyota-gm-2022-2
Car companies want to make billions by charging monthly fees for features like heated seats, but buyers won't pay up

It's the software as a service model.

Once upon a time you bought Microsoft Office. And you could decide whether to buy the upgrades or not... Now, it's all in the cloud and you have to subscribe.

Same with music. Once upon a time you bought a record. Then a cassette. Then a DVD. Now streaming. This is why Generation X is so whatever -- they had to pay four times for their music and continue to pay on a monthly basis.

Anonymous wrote:I was super irritated when Toyota tried to charge me for that after the free trial period ran out. It came with the car! I won't pay out of principle.

For the past couple of years, the major carmakers have started turning cars into subscription machines. Compete on price to get the person to buy the car, then hit them with recurring monthly fees to keep the money flowing.
Locking captive customers into long-term subscriptions is a notable characteristic of 21st century capitalism.

https://www.businessinsider.com/car-feature-subscriptions-add-ons-bmw-ford-toyota-gm-2022-2
Car companies want to make billions by charging monthly fees for features like heated seats, but buyers won't pay up

I was super irritated when Toyota tried to charge me for that after the free trial period ran out. It came with the car! I won't pay out of principle.

Anonymous wrote:Mine can lock and unlock my car and tells me how much gas I have left. Nice.

Yup, exactly. I love it.

Mine can lock and unlock my car and tells me how much gas I have left. Nice.

I got a new Toyota recently and now I have an app on my phone that tells me all kinds of info about my car. It tells me if it's unlocked (apparently I forget to lock it a lot more than I realized), and if something is in my back seat. This morning I left the door slightly open and it told me exactly that. So I went back into the grade at work and closed it. In the old days, I would have just drained my battery. So, get this feature if you can. Totally worth it. I didn't think it was necessary at first, but now I love it.