G'day Tech-team,
I've been an active member of
Toyota's "Safety Connect" "Telematics system" ever since I purchased my 2012 4Runner Limited on April 21'st, 2012! I think I was paying something like... $135.00 per yr, up until 2017, and then the price dropped to $80.00; which I wrote-up so our members could benefit from the promo:
New "Safety Connect" price
I'd never needed to use the service until Friday, March 29'th, '19; that's when I was completely taken by surprise! I was taking my eleven and twelve year old Niece's to the supermarket to do a lil' shopping for whatever they wanted for dinner, and then off to my house to cook; as we've done regularly over the last 4 or 5 years... but things weren't going as they had in the past!
After I picked them up from their house after school, we started to drive twds the market near my house, about 11 miles from their house. It was starting to drizzle slightly so I turned on the wipers. I immediately noticed that the wipers were moving
'Extremely' slower than normal!
Right after that, the 'NAV' screen began to flicker on & off, and then died all together! Next, the headlights cut-off(?), so I pulled over near the park where the girls and I had played several times before! Now I'd been having some warning light issues from the instrument cluster, for about two weeks prior, so I assumed that this was related.
I got out of the truck, opened the hood and did a quick MB-ECU RESET, hopped back in and pushed the start button, only to hear... click, click, click; DEAD! I checked the battery voltage and it's reading 7 VDC(?) ...WHAT? By then it had stopped drizzling and the girls were getting restless, so I told them they can go and play in the park with some of the other kids; "But don't leave the area"!
I was still able to use the safety connect button near the moon-roof. I was asked "...is this an emergency...?" to which I answered, it is! I got a live CSR and explained what was going on, and asked her if she could see my location and she said, YES! She told me that she had already summoned a flat-bed to pick me up.
...an 'hour-and-a-half' later, no flat-bed, so I called her back; this time on my phone cause there's no power left in the truck's battery! She texted me the number and I called them myself and they said "He's on his way"! In just a few minutes he pulled up. He jump started the truck so it started, but the alternator wasn't charging the battery; still just 9VDC!
Since a jump start wasn't going to get us home safely, I asked him to take me to my house, only 2 miles from where we were (and so was the towing company that came to assist)! He said that unfortunately, he was only authorized to drive me to a
'Toyota Dealership', which was not only five miles away, but their service dept was closed for the night.
Remember I picked the girls up around 3:45, drove for 30 minutes, and waited for our tow for almost two hours! I called our trusty
"Safety Connect" rep back and explained the absurdity of this situation... If this tow truck takes me to the dealer, who just happens to be closed, how will we get home? I went on to tell her that the girls are hungry, cuz we never had an opportunity to eat dinner, plus now they're cold!
I went on to say that the tow truck company is located two blocks from my house, so why take us to a dealership five miles from here that's CLOSED(?)!! To be honest, I'm a pretty large guy and have a bit of a temper if/when I feel threatened or I see that my loved ones or friends are being threatened... so I let that B**** have it, both barrels right between her BIG @** eyes!
I called "Safety Connect" first thing Mon morning and cancelled my subscription; I still had 8 months left on my contract for the year, so they put my remaining portion back on my debt card! So... just so you'll be aware,
"Safety Connect" will ONLY provide road-side assistance to take you to a near-by Toyota dealership, and if your truck is no longer under warranty, why pay dealership rates to have them "Service" your truck... Thought you should be aware!
'Best to you',
rig