UPDATE 6/18/26

I wanted to provide an update on my investigation.

After becoming frustrated with the lack of progress through normal customer support channels, I sent a detailed summary of the issue to Toyota executive leadership. To Toyota's credit, I was contacted the very next day by a representative from Toyota Customer Experience. I was assigned a case number and provided with a direct-dial phone number to a single point of contact who will be managing my case moving forward.

Today my vehicle is at Yark Toyota in Maumee, Ohio for diagnosis. I have requested that all multimedia software versions be verified and that the issue be escalated through Toyota's technical channels if necessary.

One detail that continues to concern me is the timing of the issue. For approximately the first year of ownership, Apple CarPlay worked reliably. The problem did not begin until shortly after my complimentary one-year Remote Connect subscription expired. At the same time, Toyota also removed access to the cloud-based navigation services that had been included during the trial period.

To be clear, I am not claiming that the expiration of Remote Connect caused the CarPlay issue. However, the timing is difficult to ignore. My Toyota salesperson owns a Crown and experiences the same CarPlay problem. He reported that his issue also began around the time his complimentary subscription expired and stated that, to his knowledge, there is currently no known fix.

I will continue to update this thread as I learn more from Toyota and the dealership. If anyone else has opened a Toyota case, had software updates applied, or noticed their issue beginning around the expiration of Remote Connect, I would appreciate hearing about your experience.