To the consternation of unaware owners, Toyota's remote start key fob functionality requires a paid $8 per month subscription service.

But as some complimentary subscriptions for Remote Connect come to an end, Toyota owners are getting an unexpected surprise —they can no longer use their key fob to remote-start their vehicles.

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.