Big Brother, You Can Drive My Car

Having once lived in the frozen north – okay, actually a smallish mountaintop in the northwestern most corner of New Jersey – and having to clear windows and dig my car out of innumerable frozen piles and snowdrifts all those years, teeth chattering and frostbite-kissed fingers barely clenching the scraper, I think I could really appreciate the concept of a ‘remote start vehicle’ (Although with the ferals around the house up there, I probably would have never utilized it for safety’s sake). The idea of frost-free windows and a snug, toasty interior is pretty appealing to anyone when it’s 18° with a negative degree wind chill outside.

For folks who live in places that see those sorts of numbers as a matter of course over the late fall and winter, I have no doubt it’s a lifesaver.

In fact, it is highly recommended in numerous articles.

Cars With Remote Start: A Must-Have Feature for Extreme Temperatures

Quick Facts About Remote Start

• Remote engine start is a necessity for many drivers in very cold or very hot climates.
• Factory-installed remote start is available across most makes and models.
• Aftermarket remote-start kits are available for almost any vehicle with an automatic transmission built after the 2000 model year.

With that ability, though, comes the usual qualms about what you give up for the luxury of that warmed-up car to climb into, especially in newer vehicles equipped with all the remote bells and whistles.

For instance, our newish Grand Highlander had all sorts of controls available from the Toyota app I could use. Check tire pressure, open or lock the doors, start the vehicle, practically everything but drive off was available from my phone. Way cool, I thought. 

I ran up against two huge issues with it. 

The first was when I started getting solicitations from car insurance companies based on my wonderful, safe driving record. They had approved me based on information thoughtfully provided by my Toyota app, which had been constantly monitoring the vehicle’s performance, and then the Toyota corporation sold our driving data.

This intrusive and constant surveillance is a serious issue.

…Modern cars have been called “smartphones with wheels” because they are internet-connected and have myriad methods of data collection, from cameras and seat weight sensors to records of how hard you brake and corner. Most drivers don’t realize how much information their cars are collecting and who has access to it, said Jen Caltrider, a privacy researcher at Mozilla who reviewed the privacy policies of more than 25 car brands and found surprising disclosures, such as Nissan saying it might collect information about “sexual activity.”

“People think their car is private,” Ms. Caltrider said. “With a computer, you know where the camera is and you can put tape over it. Once you’ve bought a car and you find it is bad at privacy, what are you supposed to do?”

Privacy advocates are concerned by how car companies are using and sharing consumers’ data — with insurance companies, for example — and drivers’ inability to turn the data collection off. California’s privacy regulator is investigating the auto industry.

For car owners, the upside of this data-palooza has come in the form of smartphone apps that allow them to check a car’s location when, say, they forget where it is parked; to lock and unlock the vehicle remotely; and to turn it on or off. Some apps can even remotely set the car’s climate controls, make the horn honk or turn on its lights. After setting up the app, the car’s owner can grant access to a limited number of other drivers.

VURT DA FURK

Wasn’t that a good time and pain in the royal tuchus trying to extricate our permissions through a rabbit warren of different sites and permission matrices. Eventually, though, they ceased, but I have screen captures and all the emails for good measure.

I used the past tense ‘had’ for the app’s controls because, as we approached a year of owning it, I got a cheery email from Toyota informing me that my trial period for the app was up, and inquiring which monthly plan I wanted to pay for to continue using it, all based on the bells and whistles attached.  

The hell I did, after what we paid for that vehicle? You mean I had to fork over at least $15 a month to check if I’d remembered to lock the doors?

Oh, no. Toyota can kiss my car fob.

How would you feel about paying $5 each month for the ability to lock and unlock your car from a distance through an app? What about a $25-per-month charge for advanced cruise control or $10 to access heated seats? What if those charges continued long after your car was paid off? 

As vehicles become increasingly connected to the internet, car companies aim to rake in billions by having customers pay monthly or annual subscriptions to access certain features. Not content with the relatively low-margin business of building and selling cars, automakers are eager to pull down Silicon Valley-style profits.

These are all annoyances of the modern age – part and parcel of the conveniences that come with technology. In our knuckle-dragging minds, we still have the temerity to believe that when we pay for something, we’ve purchased all of it. Like me with a car that can lock its doors remotely – as it did flawlessly for a whole year – until I suddenly am not allowed to unless I continue to pay the Dane geld for a car I have PURCHASED with a buttload of money already. I’ve already paid for all of this.

Irritates the crap out of me.

Perhaps you as well.

Now, take our irritations and feelings of being abused in and by our vehicles, against which we do have varying avenues of complaint and redress, and toss in a dystopian, authoritarian government with a fanatical climate cultist bent and deep-seated Big Brother complex. 

Hey, wait a minute – did I tell you how cold it was going to be in Europe next week?

Siberian Blast Threatens Late-January Freeze Across Europe

Icy Siberian air is forecast to sweep Europe later this month, lifting heating demand and tightening regional gas supplies.

The cold shift is set to be unleashed by an unusual atmospheric pattern that flips winds eastward, according to models from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and analysis from meteorologists.

The freezing conditions would hit eastern Europe first, with forecasts showing average temperatures in Estonia and Latvia plummeting to -13C on Jan. 24, more than 9C below long-term norms. As the frigid air moves west, temperatures in Poland and Germany could sink far below the average to -10C and -3C, respectively.

“It’s been a while since [Europe] has seen cold of this depth or magnitude” in forecasts, said Judah Cohen, a research scientist at MIT and director of seasonal forecasting at Janus Research Group’s Atmospheric and Environmental Research.

If you’re in Germany with a Lexus that used to remote start and get you nice and warm no matter the weather outside?

Too bad for you.

The government just shut off your car’s ability to remote start, and there’s not jack you can do about it.

🇩🇪‼️🚨 BIG BROTHER: German authorities forced Lexus to turn off the parking heating in Lexus cars! Just when it got cold and people needed it!

Imagine you bought a car and paid for specific features, but the government just turns it off because it’s NOT GREEN!

I’m not joking,… pic.twitter.com/x3wMmwVCNu

— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) January 15, 2026

Your toasty interior is not ‘Green’ enough for the cultists because your internal combustion engine had to run for a few extra minutes to get it that way.

• German regulators remotely disabled Lexus remote start via over-the-air updates nationwide
• Toyota deactivated combustion engine warm-up to protect owners from emissions fines
• Connected car features enable government control over vehicle functions you purchased

Dead phone batteries during emergencies are dangerous, but frozen windshields on winter mornings? Apparently that’s a luxury German authorities won’t let you solve anymore. Your Lexus remote start just got remotely murdered by regulators who decided warming up your car counts as environmental terrorism.

Toyota spokesman Ralph Müller confirmed the parking pre-heating feature—previously free via MyToyota or Lexus Link Plus apps—is now deactivated on combustion-engine vehicles across Germany. The reason? Legislators consider remote engine warm-up “unnecessary running” that creates “avoidable exhaust pollution,” with Toyota disabling the function “to protect the vehicle user from fines.”

When Big Brother Updates Your Car

This isn’t some future dystopia—it’s happening right now through the same connected features that made your luxury car appealing. Toyota used remote access to disable the function for compliance, protecting owners from potential penalties under regulatory enforcement. The feature remains active on pure EVs and plug-in hybrids, where cabin heating runs without starting the combustion engine.

Think Netflix removing shows from your queue, except this time it’s a safety feature you rely on during winter mornings. No uniform EU law mandates this—Germany acted alone, using emissions regulations to justify reaching into your vehicle’s software and flipping switches.

This brilliant plan from the same country, which, as our own Energy Secretary Chris Wright points out, has experienced near-catastrophic results with its Green transition solutions.

The U.S. Energy Secretary just obliterated Net Zero ideology in 60 seconds.

Oil, gas, and coal power EVERYTHING including green energy.

This is what adults sound like.

Liberals are not ready for this conversation.pic.twitter.com/c6J4x7k7Nk

— Marc Nixon (@MarcNixon24) January 7, 2026

…In Germany, they’ve invested a half a trillion dollars, more than doubled the capacity of their electricity grid, and they produce twenty percent LESS electricity than they did before the half trillion dollar investment. And they sell it at THREE TIMES the price…

I guess if you have frozen fingers, it is harder to make a tiny, angry fist and wave it at the government.

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