Toyota DCM Seven Day Sleep

Toyota Camry XSE Fin

The DCM (Data Communcations Module) in my Toyota Camry XSE has had issues since I purchased the car a little over a year ago. I had the headunit software upgraded late last year which fixed the issue for a few months, but it stopped working only to have functionality start working again this February. I was hopeful that it would keep working and I even renewed the Remote Connect service after it started working again.

As we continue to be in this pandemic and I continue to work from home, I don’t have a lot of reasons to drive my Camry XSE as much as I would like. Because of this, the Camry XSE sits in the garage for days at a time without being taken out. I check on the DCM functionality from time to time to make sure that it continues to function.

Yesterday, to my horror, it stopped working. It wasn’t functioning again. Except, this time around, with all the updates that Toyota has been putting into their app, I got this message (truncated because their app still needs a lot of work):

Toyota DCM Error

I did see the full message when the alert showed up on my screen. The last sentence said that if the vehicle hasn’t been driven in seven days or more, remote functionality will not work. Knowing this, I went out to grab lunch and to get some stuff for the house this afternoon. This driving triggered the recovery of the Remote Connect functionality.

So, if you are like me and don’t take your Toyota vehicle out for an extended amount of time, a drive around the neighborhood might just wake up the DCM in your vehicle. I am curious why Toyota does this, I figure it has to be associated with cost some how.