I just found out that the In Control app on the phone that YOU OWN and controls the Defender that YOU OWN actually expires. Are you kidding me? This is utterly ridiculous. Talk about milking your good customers. It's sad too because I really like the car. But why would you make people pay for an app that should be a standard part of owning a car? That's just highway robbery from your best customers. Seriously, I'll sell my Defender before my app expires. It's that ridiculous. Tell anyone considering buying a Land Rover that you'll need to pay for a normal phone app that is included with other cars as it should be. How pathetic. Shame on Land Rover. So disappointing.

 

Speaking from my experience with my '17 Discovery....

While I agree that you shouldn't have to pay for the remote start, etc. as those are available on the key fob of brands like Jeep, the app is only $10/month. Seems like most major automakers have moved or are moving to this subscription based model.

 

$10 a month to start my own car? That's $120 a year to start my own car! My Lincoln Aviator did not do this to its customers. Land Rover is giving customers absolutely NOTHIHNG by charging a fee for this app. It's just a pure money grab, and it's embarrassing. Customers should let companies know that we don't enjoy being bilked. Seriously, $120 a year to start my own car from my own phone. That's just sick. Crossing off Land Rover as a car I will purchase again. I don't support companies who bilk their customers for no reason.

 

Has anyone had their subscription expire during this window where JLR has had their systems shut down due to the hack? Did you lose your remote app access?

While there are some subscriptions I have not renewed - I do want the one for the remote app. Even if it underway up being $120 per year.




Just figuring out if I’ll lose it indefinitely until their systems are recovered - which I feel like is a long way out.

Ie. Come Nov 2 am I SOL and lose access?

 

it is a bit annoying, but if this is your position the number of auto makers you’ll be able to buy a car from is going to be pretty limited. It’s not like Land Rover is doing anything out of the ordinary. As much as you/we may not like it, your phone isn’t connecting directly to your Land Rover when you remote start or use any app feature. Land Rover has to maintain the cellular connectivity and backend infrastructure that makes everything work. I think most of these things are free for four years, which isn’t unreasonable. And I’m not gonna cut off my nose to spite in my face for 10 bucks a month. I didn’t renew connected navigation because CarPlay etc does that better anyway, but for continued remote app functionality you’re probably better off paying it than losing the features. At least IMO.

 

Toyota has had the same paid for model with its remote phone app since 2019 at least. Toyota is 3 year expiration. then paid for model.

 

If remote start is that important to you, just pay the fee, otherwise just let the plan lapse. It is still a great vehicle with and without the plan.

 

You certainly can't install a keyfob remote start for less than $10 a month.

Where I live I'd happily pay to start my car when it's -20f and it's been sitting in an open parking lot for 10 hours.

It was also pretty clear in the purchase documents what was going to be free and not free. And then I need to consider I bought a GAP tool for $500 and added $3k worth of "add ons" that I just turned on with the app. So I think it goes both ways. I take a little, they take a little.

 

Hypothetical exercise.
Let's say you want to ditch the JLR service and install your own connectivity. You will have to get a sim card/subscription for your car with a certain amount of data per month and then pay for some apps on this account, e.g spotify or a real time traffic provider or weather service. Some might be free, some not. Then you need to get an app on your phone and the car to talk to each other for throughput of certain functions, like remote start, unlock, or whatever. Forget for a second the build cost, but would the monthly cost for the apps, the data plan, the sim connectivity cost less than JLR?

 

The app doesn’t expire, your subscription does. It’s disclosed when you buy the car.

Do I like it? No.
Is it a shameless money grab? Yes.
Has the world gone to utter **** in the last 10 years? Yes.
Is this just another thing that’s piled on to that pile of ****? Yes.
Would I sell the Defender over this? No.