NHTSA Complaint #11090079 — 2017 TOYOTA 4RUNNER

TOYOTA ENTUNE (IPHONE APP) WILL NOT PAIR WITH YOUR PHONE OR DISCONNECTS DURING USE BECAUSE APP DOES NOT MAINTAIN THE USER'S LOGIN CREDENTIALS. THE BEHAVIOR OF THE CONNECTIVITY BETWEEN THE VEHICLE'S ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM AND PHONE IS DIFFICULT TO PREDICT, SOMETIMES THE SYSTEM WON'T WORK WITHOUT THE PHONE'S APP RUNNING AND OTHER TIMES IT WILL - SOMETIMES IT WON'T WORK EVEN WHEN THE APP IS RUNNING. OFTEN, WHEN THE ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM FAILS TO CONNECT IT STOPS FUNCTIONING AND POPS UP MESSAGES THAT REQUIRE USER INPUT WHILE DRIVING. MANY TIMES THE PHONE APPEARS TO BE CONNECTED UNTIL AFTER YOU START DRIVING AND THEN THE SYSTEM ASKS FOR INPUT (WHICH YOU MUST DO ON YOUR PHONE, NOT THE ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM'S SCREEN). THE WHOLE POINT OF CONNECTING YOUR PHONE WITH THE VEHICLE'S ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEM IS TO ELIMINATE THE NEED TO USE YOUR PHONE WHILE DRIVING, SO A SEAMLESS CONNECTION WITHOUT UNNECESSARY USER INPUT IS IMPERATIVE TO SAFE OPERATION OF THE SYSTEM. THIS IS ADMITTEDLY A RELATIVELY MINOR SAFETY CONCERN, HOWEVER A FIX WOULD BE REMARKABLY EASY TO ACHIEVE AND WOULD GO A LONG WAY TOWARDS REDUCING DRIVER DISTRACTION. TOYOTA VEHICLE OWNERS HAVE BEEN ASKING FOR THIS FUNCTIONALITY FOR MANY YEARS (SEE APPLE APP STORE REVIEWS FOR TOYOTA ENTUNE), BUT, DESPITE MULTIPLE REQUESTS, TOYOTA MOTOR COMPANY HAS REPEATEDLY IGNORED THEIR CUSTOMERS. THIS PROBLEM OCCURS ACROSS MULTIPLE VEHICLES IN THE TOYOTA LINEUP, BUT I AM ONLY FAMILIAR WITH THE IPHONE APP, SO I'M NOT SURE IF IT ALSO EXISTS WITH OTHER PHONES. THE ISSUE HAS OCCURRED CONSISTENTLY SINCE WE PURCHASED THE VEHICLE A YEAR AGO AND PERSISTS DESPITE KEEPING BOTH PHONE SOFTWARE AND VEHICLE FIRMWARE UPDATED.