Driver Profiles and Valet Mode - any function?
 

First up, Driver Profiles. You can set them up and link them to which smartphone is connected. As far as I can tell the only "benefit" to this is now every time you connect a phone other than the last one connected you get an "do you want to change to this profile" message on the media display.

Is there any actual use for a profile or does turning that on just create another annoying pop-up to dismiss each time the active driver changes?


Next, Valet or "Guest Driver" settings. In the Toyota app you can set limits for guest drivers. Setting any of those settings activates the valet mode (you can't decide what you want, keep those settings, and then activate/deactivate the valet mode). Additionally, none of the settings are actively enforced - it simply sends you an alert if someone exceeds those settings. So in my case, I set it to 70mph max, didn't realize that this also "activated" the valet mode, and then got sent an alert when I exceeded that speed on the turnpike.

This is somewhat useful - if I allowed someone to drive the car I could yell at them afterwards if they drove it too fast, but there's more to driving a car inappropriately than simply the top speed you hit.

I'd rather see a valet mode where the ECU actively limits throttle position to 50% max, RPM to say 4000, and top speed to 70mph (or whatever). Some punk bouncing it off the normal rev limiter and driving it sideways around corners concerns me more than someone getting it into triple digit speeds, honestly.

So my two questions:
1. Is there any actual use for the driver profiles?
2. Is there a better way to restrict the lunacy of guest drivers? (I don't valet the car, so all I really worry about is when I get the car serviced, tinted, etc.)

Restricting throttle application would bring with it some interesting legal liability issues. I could easily see emergency situations where having access to full acceleration is the difference between a close escape and a disaster.

Perhaps, but that'd be a very difficult thing to prove for one.

That's a situation where any lesser-powered car would be unable to avoid the accident. I don't believe there's any responsibility on the part of a vehicle owner to provide a guest driver with the full capabilities of that car, and a very strong case could be made that a more alert driver could anticipate such a situation and avoid it by simply not getting into it in the first place.

Have I been in situations like that? Yes. Could I have avoided them entirely? Every time.

If you're parking my car as a valet, or moving it in the parking lot at a shop to do work on it, there is 0% chance you're going to need any real amount of throttle. To even get into a position where that would be necessary would suggest intent to hoon, and if you sue me over it you're probably going to leave the courtroom paying for my car, my lawyer, and my time.

I've quickly learned it wasn't helpful. I was hoping to create a 'track' profile where all of the car settings could be changed when the profile was selected. And I echo the utility of the guest driver in the app too.

The driver profiles feels to me like a feature that's implemented properly in another vehicle and just came along for the ride with a certain piece of the software in this car, but lacks some other plugin or hardware necessary to make it actually "work".

The valet function just feels like someone who's never owned a car they felt uncomfortable letting a stranger drive designed. It's a "teenage driver" function more than anything else, and I cannot imagine any teenager in the world I'd hand these keys to.

The car may not be expensive, but I want it back intact.

get a inconspicuous dash cam and wire it to a battery pack and program it to continue recording even after the car is off. I usually do this when I park in sketchy areas or leave my car at a shop for service.

There's a world of difference between preventing and reporting.

A locked door can prevent a burglary, where a surveillance camera simply provides additional information about a burglary.

The age-old "ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" type of thing.


If I can do something to prevent the car being driven insanely, I can avoid the need to spend time and money pursuing compensation. If I drive it like an idiot and break something, fine - it's my car and I'm responsible. If someone else does I have to first prove it and then force them to take responsibility for it via the law. Regardless of how much I might win in that scenario, it won't compare to the far lower effort of simply avoiding it entirely.

You let other people drive your car? I've never valeted, and I lived in LA for two winters. I always meant to have my girlfriend try my STi but after selling it we realized she never did.

This is over exaggerated. Full throttle in my '99 Ranger is like 1/3 throttle in any modern car. I've never been hit.

Lol wut? The new Corvette limits max RPMs until the break-in period is over. Numerous cars come with valet keys that limit HP. There are no times that a valet should need max acceleration to "escape" an emergency (and even at max power it's not like this car is a Tesla).

I mentioned that I don't actually valet my car (or any other car for that matter). I'm not high-brow enough to go to venues you can't park your own car at, and I'm certainly not going to PAY someone to do something I'm much more comfortable doing myself.

However, there are instances where you're not allowed to drive your own car. If you're getting service or other work done, for liability reasons they often will not let you pull the car into their garage bay.

When I bought my GR86 there was a small, deep scratch on the front of the fender that I had to go back and get fixed (we caught it and documented at time of sale, but their body shop was closed by then and we had to make an appointment). They weren't going to get it done all in one day, so I wasn't going to sit there and watch it 24/7 until it was done.

So yeah, other people drove my car. No way around it unless I decide to do all my own maintenance and repairs all at my own expense. Kinda defeats the advantage of a warranty. (Plus, despite knowing my way around an engine bay, bodywork really isn't my forte.)

For the most part I trust the dealership guys to not hoon my car when I'm not there, but again - if they physically CAN'T make the car do something stupid I don't have to worry about it.

I mean, my 2015 BRZ has Valet Mode, but that's because I asked for it as part of my ECUTEK tune. It does exactly what you are describing. 50% throttle limit in all gears, with a progressively lower rev limiter as you move up through the gears.

I also have a "no start" tune which will just cause the car to crank endlessly with no fuel as a sort of added theft deterrent when I park somewhere a bit sketchy, or am gone on vacation or some-such.

If you're speaking of the Toyota app, no your car isn't missing anything. No other Toyotas are capable of letting you limit other drivers of your car.

And it should stay that way.
Much like human natures says someone could potentially abuse your car while it's in their possession, you as the owner could potentially abuse your magical app powers in a vindictive manner while a friend/spouse/ex-partner are driving and cause much more damage than a shop technician who just wants to rev your car a few times for the boys in the back.

If the only time your car is touched by someone else is when it's at the shop, choose a good, reputable place, and stick with them and don't sweat what could happen, cause most of the time, nothing happens.

LOL!!!!!
Ok, so, apply that same, "logic" to a car with sub 100hp, but full throttle.