For those of you that have a Toyota, it’s certainly possible to connect it with Google Assistant. Doing so will allow you to use voice commands for a limited number of commands such as telling Google to:
-Start your car
-Unlock or lock the doors
-Check if the windows are open
-Report how much mileage is left on your tank of gas
Getting it set up is easy, but finding out if your vehicle is compatible is the challenge, especially here in Canada. When I bought my brand new Toyota Highlander 2020 XLE Hybrid, there was no information if my car could connect with Google Assistant. Even the sales rep that sold me my vehicle didn’t know because their own internal information system didn’t list the feature!
Toyota simply did a bad job of providing that information (depending on where you live).
Is your vehicle compatible?
This is where it’s tricky to find out if your vehicle is compatible if the information isn’t provided properly (like with Toyota Canada). From what I could research, it depends on a few items:
-The model your car was released. It seems as though you need a 2018 model or newer one.
-Your model
-The trim of your model. For example, the Highlander comes in different trims. The “L” is the lowest trim, “LE” comes with a bit more features, the next level up is the “XLE”.
-Here in Canada and the USA, I can confirm one additional requirement. Your car must support connecting to the Toyota remote app for your smartphone and you must be paying the monthly subscription fee for the “Remote Connect” service. I cover the Connect Services and the app in another post.
-Assuming you have the Toyota app installed (this is a key requirement) you can head over to this Google link. On that URL, use the “Link” button, it will connect the Toyota remote service app to your Google Assistant account.
Technically, if you’re not sure if your car is compatible with Google, you could just try the last step I put above and see if it’ll work.
Once you have the Toyota skill connected with your Google Assistant account, you’re all set. The full list of commands is available on the link I provided earlier to connect with Google Assistant.
