> could do that with a key fob well before connected cars were a thing

I’ve started my Subaru in the lot at 6,500’ from the top of the mountain at 10,500’. A fob isn’t going to scream over that distance.

(None of this requires tracking, however, much less storing a year’s location off the car.)

That sounds like an awfully ridiculous thing to do

Just because you can does not mean you should (or actually need to)

> because you can does not mean you should (or actually need to)

Most people don’t need to drive. Out of their driving, most of it is superfluous.

Pretty much everyone in my town with remote start uses it. Particularly if it’s a day where temperatures are close to 0°F and you’re weighing another run.

> Most people don’t need to drive.

This is one of those comments that just tells everyone reading that you don't think much outside whatever area you dwell. There are lots of people not anywhere near you that do need to drive. Not accepting not everyone is like you is just small minded, and makes the conversation not worth having

> lots of people not anywhere near you that do need to drive

I live in Wyoming. Most people around me do need to drive. I’m saying take most vehicle-miles travelled in private cars and you’ll find that most people—being in or near cities—don’t need to take most of their trips. (Most trips I take don’t need to be taken, certainly not by private cars,)

I’m also not the one arguing that they shouldn’t do things that are nice but not necessary: you are. I’m analogizing a lazy summer trip to the grocery store to pick up a forgotten ingredient (when a bike would do fine, or hell, borrowing from a neighbour) with remote start. It’s convenient, marginally costless and rewarding in its own little way.

"most" != "everyone"

And car manufacturers are incentivized to remove such valuable and logical features. Enshittification abounds.

My Subaru supports remote start if you pay for the upgraded Starlink plan but if you want to do it from the keyfob, you have to buy some module and carry around an extra keyfob solely dedicated to remote start. It's a little ridiculous. They could have easily just made remote start something where you click and hold a button or whatever like any other car with that feature on the fob.

I'm not sure which model you have, but I don't think that's true. I think instead it's that unless you pay for the remote start upgrade (which as you say includes the extra fob) you can't start your car using the normal keyfob. But if you have the upgrade, you can also use the keyfob if you are close enough. At least, that's how it works for our 2018 Outback.

I think I've only used the dedicated remote start fob a couple times to test it, but I use the keyfob for remote starting frequently. If you want to try, here are some 3rd party instructions for which buttons to press to make it work: https://www.wheelsjoint.com/how-to-remote-start-subaru-outba...

Thanks, I wasn't entirely sure how it worked. I kept seeing instructions online for which buttons to press to do a remote start from the keyfob but nothing mentioned the required add-ons to make it work. I ended up just paying for the Starlink subscription at least for the cold months. I was hoping my Ascent would do an all windows roll down from the fob like some other cars I've had in the past but looks like it doesn't support that either. I plan to have this car for a long time so I may just invest in the remote start package or a competing product just to have the air running prior to getting in. Black exterior and interior was our only option so I'm not excited about summer.

IMO it's a mixed bag. Being able to start the process from further away than your key fob is an improvement because it can get actually warm if you're walking to it rather than it just have a minute head start which at idle doesn't always get the engine warm enough to be nice and toasty.

For electric vehicles there's also benefits when charging because you can actually leave your vehicle and check if it's charged while you eat/shop/walk/etc to kill the time.

Then if you have kids that drive but don't have their own vehicle yet the location and speed tracking a lot of these apps provide is probably a big plus to them too. I'd certainly feel more comfortable with my kid using a car knowing I can find where they are and that they'll be a bit safer drivers since they can actually be caught speeding, I know I was reckless knowing there was basically no way for my parents to know.

None of this requires collection and storage of location long term but that's companies just following the profit motive of our entire system. It's shitty and bad they're allowed to do it but I'm hardly surprised that they do.