The only thing I've ever used it for is the remote start, mostly to keep the car cool in the summer for the dogs. Most of the rest of it doesn't seem very necessary to me, though I might feel differently if I had a teenaged driver in the house.

One thing to note here is that when the Starlink renewal date comes up, if you call to cancel you'll likely be offered a reduced rate to continue the service. So if you decide to keep it, that's the thing to do ...

 

Remote start is also useful up in the mountains when it's cold and snowy. It's an expensive luxury, though, compared to just putting on clothes and boots and trudging to the car to start it.

 

I have the PLUS version, which I got for 3 yrs real cheap when I bought my car. I use it for remote start and to preload my GPS.

 

I've never used mine. I guess it expired long time ago?

 

So my current free STARLINK package (Safety Plus) expires in 5 months. Is it worth continuing? If so, is it worth upgrading to Security Plus?

And why the hell can't I get the the pricing info on the mysubaru.com website? When I click for Packages & Pricing and then select a package and "GET PRICING," I don't get the pricing information. I've tried on two different browsers. Best I can figure out is that Safety Plus is $9.95 month and Security Plus is an additional $4.95 month. I don't care about the Concierge level. It seems like a lot of money (until you need it!).

I use the remote start and input my maintenance records . I also check for recalls. I got 3 years free on purchase but this will be expiring soon. Hope they don’t charge me to much for renewal. Love the fact records are kept and accessible via the app.

 

1. Well, remote start I can understand but honestly a car doesn't need more than a minute to warm up and then reaches optimum operating temps a lot faster by driving it than by running it at idle for a long time (which wastes gas and pollutes).​
2. Recalls can be checked on the NHTSA website (and my browser remembers my VIN so I don't have to look it up each time I check).​
3. You can input your service records for free on mysubaru.com.​

At this point, I'm leaning away from paying for it. Pricing is apparently $99.95/yr for Safety Plus and then an additional $4.95/mo (no annual price) to add Security Plus. The main potentially useful feature to me with the Safety Plus is the emergency SOS system. It's not until you add the Security Plus that you get the remote unlock and engine start, and the stolen vehicle immobilizer and recovery. I'm not sure that's worth $159.35/year. Of course, the remote unlock and engine start are priceless if you lose your keyfob when you're away from home. Well, I still have a few months to think about it.

 

I've also used my to remotely lock the doors. Mostly because I can get OCD at times and have been on hikes and couldn't remember if I'd locked the doors in the process of getting the dog ready and out of the car. Not sure I'll pay $100 to renew it though. If they offer you a discout keep us posted. I think mine will expire in May.

 

i often second guess if i've locked my car. of the times that i went back to check my car has NEVER been unlocked. OCD works both ways! nevertheless on my hike i often push the lock button at this point to see that reassuring flash of lights .....the fob does work at this range

 

That's impressive!

 

my 2016's fob sometimes would not work standing next to the car but would also work when parked in that exact spot!

 

My new-to-me car is back to basics. It has one metal key that opens both of the doors and the trunk and also starts the car...

 

my tundra has a metal key with push button to lock and unlock doors. works fine except when they key gets worn it won't unlock the steering wheel or start the truck. always something

my 2016 crosstrek only had a problem locking the door -- not unlocking -- but that was occasional and depending on where i was parked

 

Our 2022 came with a 3 year free trial, if we buy out our lease I will definitely subscribe to the service, remote start with the ability to preset the cabin temp is great. Also the ability to lock and unlock the car comes in handy if Im out for a walk (no key fob) and I want to grab something on the way into the apt . I have to admit Ive used the remote lock function for peace of mind when I feel I forgot to lock the car.

The safety aspect is definitely worth if (Hopefully never need it ) but knowing. my car will automatically make a emergency call for help in the event of an accident if we are not able to is worth the cost.

 

it is to me

 

I apologize for being a little preemptive here, but I'm going to request that any extended conversations about Lotus cars be confined to the Non-Subaru and Off-topic forums. Thanks!

 

Does this apply to my '98 Acura Integra as well?

There is an Integra forum but I don't think anybody has posted there in months.

 

Isn't there also a feature, if car rolls over, it automatically calls 911 or emergency responders? Seems to me that safety feature would be worth the annual fee. One time in the S.F. Bay Area, a woman was lost for two weeks until they found her alive in her car that had gone over an embankment. If she had what I think is included in the Subaru safety feature, she'd have been found within the hour of the crash.

 

I always wondered about that - how may 911 calls / emergency dispatches were made - and have proven to be more effective than calls - thanks to the emergency functions of Starlinks, Onstars and their siblings (given that everyone and their cat have a mobile phone now). Haven't found a single analysis either in Canada or in the US.

 

Unless the driver is unconscious.

 

Ours works from the second floor of a condo building with the car in the underground parking so I disagree that it's "extremely short range". Too many factors to figure out exactly what's going on...

 

Hence my interrogation about how many occur and do help! I'd just be curious to see the stats.

 

It's not that uncommon for a single-vehicle accident in my part of the world to be undiscovered for several hours or longer ... I've actually read stories about fatal crashes out here where the car wasn't found for months. The problem is that the locations where that's most likely to happen are usually places that don't have cell coverage, so Starlink wouldn't be of any help.

That's why the emergency satellite SOS feature in the new iPhones is something that a lot of us out here are pretty excited about. That's already started saving some lives.

 

Oh, I thought Starlink was satellite. So it would definitely not work in some of the places I travel.

 

It wasn’t too many years ago that Verizon was the only national carrier that had decent coverage in much of rural America, but both AT&T and T-Mobile have really expanded their network in recent years. There are still some regional variations, but in broader terms, I think all three networks are roughly comparable these days.

 

That's good to know. The only reason I have stuck with Big Red is their network coverage in rural areas. Though I have still recently been in plenty of places where I had coverage and people with AT&T had none.

 

Looks like AT&T has extremely good coverage these days. Unless you live in Montana, LOL!

 

Signed up this AM for my new-to-me 2021. We'll see how useful it is in practice, but its pretty neat so far.

Did I read somewhere that Starlink is being discontinued and replaced with MySubaru?

 

Signed up this AM for my new-to-me 2021. We'll see how useful it is in practice, but its pretty neat so far.

Did I read somewhere that Starlink (APP) is being discontinued and replaced with MySubaru?

Yes, that is the way I understand it.

 

Not sure what Starlink offers over Mysubaru, other than more dollars in the dealer's pocket...

 

The StarlinkApp had links to a NavigationApp and a BirdsApp and a few others that were all pretty useless.
The only useful operability that it 'did' have was that CarPlay worked much easier when you had the starlink.app running on your phone before you plugged in your phone to the HU.
That operability seems to have been given to the MySubaruApp now.

 

Verizon's reputation for great coverage came from before they killed analog towers 12 years ago. Today its more location dependant. My county (almost all rural) has much better AT&T and T-mobile than Verizon. Last year when I spent a week camping in Big Bend, my father's verizon phone was frequently useless, my tmobile was worse, but my brother's AT&T had pretty consistant coverage everywere. I'm sure there are places where Verizon has better coverage too, but its not accurate to say one is radically better than the others.

 

I have Google Fi which uses other carriers, depending on which has the best coverage.

 

Not sure if pricing is different by country, but my 3 year subscription is coming to end and now they want CDN $179.95 PER YEAR ... I live in a condo and rarely drive so I'm really not seeing the value when CAA for simple towing/batteries are way way less.....am I missing something?

 

Do you have the equivalent of AAA or RAC?

 

Yes CAA. membership range from CAD$79-149 so save over $100/year

 

With a MT, I have yet to find out a single useful feature of Starlink..

 

Subaru uses "Starlink" to describe three or four different things. With MT you won't have most of them.

 

I find it a worthwhile option, we park out side so its great to be able to have the car at a comfortable temp when we get to it also to be able to lock or unlock if needed remotely I will definitely continuing the subscription once our 3 year trial is over

 

I've had remote start on two or three vehicles over the years and can count on one hand the number of times I tried to use it, so it's not really important to me... but it kinda pisses me off that they tied it to Starlink. Enough so that even I wanted to keep Starlink for other reasons, I probably wouldn't. I'm a hard headed, grouchy old man.

 

Perhaps it's because it's tied into the AT&T mobile service that Starlink uses, so someone has to pay the phone bill? That would also mean it wouldn't work if you're in an area without AT&T coverage. Can anyone confirm?