Anyone else’s Remote Connect Not Working?

I had issue earlier this week and wrote it off as being parked too far fwd in my garage blocking signal to the shark fin antenna. Today, I’m unable to connect at all. No Remote Start, no getting car details,etc…

I hate paying for something that’s not working. Also, if my 4Runner were to get stolen, I assume there would be no way to kill the engine?

Anyone else having the same issues? Alert says signal interrupted, try again or call Toyota blah, blah, blah.

***Update: I just found out that ATT/ TMobile/ Verizon and a few other carriers are all having issues right now which could be the root cause. My phone seems to be working fine but if the networks are having issues then this could explain.

 

Don't count on Remote Connect as a security measure. If your car is stolen, thieves will disable Remote Connect by pulling a fuse and/or use GPS jammer.

 

It was the outage that affected all the major carriers that caused the issue (I assume). They are back up as of 6:43 Central Time and so is my Remote Connect.

 

I don’t count on it; I just get the USAA discount for having it. USAA may be counting on it for recovery purposes. I pay extra for an additional 20% over TMV to make me whole in the event there is a loss. (That’s what I count on as my security measure).

 

It's working on my wife's 22 Limited. Just checked it. Tested remote-start and lock and unlock. All good. MooreKen(OP) is right, USAA gives a nice discount for having it. We are also with USAA. Many insurance companies do.

BTW, you can't remotely kill the ignition while the vehicles is running - even if it's stolen. Toyota just interfaces with police and gives the lat/lon coordinates of where the vehicle is located (assuming the thieves haven't disabled the system somehow). Here's the official position on Toyota's support page:

What do I do if my vehicle is stolen? (toyota.com)

 

This is why I'm a huge fan of Apple Air Tags. You can track your vehicle (even if/when it's stolen) in real time. I know I can't disable the vehicle, but I won't have to go to the police to find out where it is. If anyone does this, I recommend putting two Air Tags in your truck; in case the first one is easily found and REMOVE the speaker that is built-in. There are video's on YouTube about how to remove them. It's kind of easy. That way if a tech-savvy thief steals your truck, he won't hear the chirp or beep when he checks for Air Tags.

 

The thing about Remote Connect is that you can see where your truck is all the time. You just can't disable the ignition if it's running.

@Borracho Loco - I have a question about AirTags. We have them on lots of stuff too (love'm!) but if you enable tracking on an AirTag via FindMy, doesn't it alert anyone who has an iOS device within Bluetooth range (which would include a thief)? If so, the internal audio (micro speaker) built into the device could be mechanically made to be silent, but it still alerts other devices in proximity, right? And, doesn't AirTag only track if there is a Bluetooth enabled iOS device nearby? That was my understanding FWIW. I could never get true clarity on that scenario.

We thought about putting it on one of our new hunting dogs during training and ultimately didn't due to the whole requirement for a nearby Bluetooth iOS device thing... Figured if she bolted during training she'd head too far away to be near anyone's Bluetooth iOS device (iPad, iPhone, Mac, etc.).

 

Yeah, if the thief has an iPhone (which they probably stole!), they can detect the Air Tag via Find My. There are millions of iPhones or Apple Devices with Bluetooth enabled. That means that when the Air Tag detects another Apple device, it gives out a signal. That's how the Air Tag works, ALL of the Apple devices (iPhones, iPods, iWatches, etc..) are a mesh network. Even your iPhone, right now an Air Tag could be communicating with it and updating its location.

Eventually, the Air Tag will find another Apple device to communicate with. Sure, you may not get minute-by-minute updates, but you'll get a very accurate location when it DOES update.


If you remove the speaker from the Air Tag it will be next to impossible to find. Sure, it will say "Air Tag is <1meter away", but if you're in the car you don't have to scour the entire interior to find it. Thieves don't want to take an hour or more to find it. That's why I say hide two in your vehicle. One under the dash or in the glove box, then one in a hard to find place, like... under the carpeting in the cargo area.

Now, the trick is: Remember where you hid them. If the speaker is disabled you can't turn on the Find My to "hear" where they are. But you have to change the batteries every year. I think that's how long they last. Don't worry, batteries for these are cheap. I think they're the CR2026 size/style.

 

Got it. That's what I thought, just wasn't totally sure. Good advice as always @Borracho Loco - Gracias!

 

When you say you can’t disable, does that mean while in drive? Because when parked, I turn it off remotely.

I was always under the impression I could remote kill the engine but you are correct. I started the 4Runner left my keys inside the 4Runner and then viewed the App from a distance and it didn’t give me the option to kill the engine (which it does when started remotely from the App). Since the majority of Toyota thefts right now are the FOB Signal Amplification then this would do me no good. I could however lock them continuously in the car….lol.

***Correction***. You Can’t remote lock/unlock either, It says the vehicle is being driven…. My bad.

 

Signal relay attacks are not as common as they used to be as a) major brands figured out to include accelerometer in the key (but not Toyota), unless the key was moved recently they shut it down b) people purchased signal-blocking pouches to prevent that attack.