Remote car starters

[3pronghook]

Im kicking around the idea of having one installed on wifes van. detached garage and 3 kids in seats. can open garage door from house. What experience, and opinions do those of you who use them have? Any recommendations? i know a salesman will tell me what i want to hear so im asking the honest people here first. thanks

07 toyota

[walleyeseeker]

I've had them on the last five vehicles and would highly recommend them. Don't skimp and get the cheapest around and stay away from Bull Dog.

[deadeye]

If i were to get one, I would go to mach 1 and get a viper installed.

[hookjunior]

Once you have one you will never go without one again. Use it at home, stores, restaurants and you are able to leave the car running with no keys in the ignition if you run in somewhere quick.

[cold one sd]

My wife has an Astrostart and loves it. She works in three different stores and can start it from inside so it is warm for her. She can also set it to start and run for a preset amount of time every couple of hours when it is really cold. My son also has had one for about six years and is very satisfied with it.

[jigginjerk]

I'll second the don't go cheap. Had astrostarts in the wifes last 4 cars over 12 years and no problems. She will now not go without one. That being said once she has one she will want one from now on.

[jigginjerk]

I forgot, get the remote that has return reply so you know if the car starts without seeing the car. The wifes car will start from over a block away.

[cold one sd]

The wife's will start up to 2,000' and the more expensive model will start up to a mile. I think my son's will start out to a half mile.The expensive one lets you check the status of your vehicle from the remote. Poor me, I have to go out in the cold and turn a key.

[Iron Cowboy]

the only problem you will have is that then you will want one for all your cars. Living in the state we do I think it is a must for a daily driver. I cant tell you how nice it is to just hit the button instead of having to go out in the cold in the morning before work...and my cars in an attached garage. plus at work its real nice to walk out after my day into a nice warm car in the winter. one word of advise is get a good one. I went to a friend that does it for a living and does quality work, he said half of their jobs come from people that had the cheapy from best buy installed and have problems..then it costs them twice as much as they have to uninstall one and put in a good one. you get what you pay for..get the good one from a specialist.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

I have Viper 5200 and it works real well. Never go without one now

Only issue is with the door locks & alarm. With my vehicle ('08 Pathfinder) if I lock the doors using the switch on the door and then use the Viper remote to unlock it without remote starting, the alarm goes off. If I lock the truck using the Viper remote, it doesn't do that, however the Viper remote does not activate the factory alarm on my vehicle.

I heard this unique to my vehicle type, but I would ask about that before buying again.

[Jeremy airjer W]

Give Dealer Automotive Services a call. They do all kinds of custom installs on late model vehicles. We have used them fro some custom a/c work in the past but they also do custom stereo's, alarms, and remote starts. They have been top notch for us.

[3pronghook]

Thanks for the feedback. i've heard enough poitive to begin shopping.

[311Hemi]

  deadeye said:

If i were to get one, I would go to mach 1 and get a viper installed.

I second this. We just had a Viper 5301 remote start (two way remote) installed at Mach 1 this past weekend on my wifes Highlander. There is a cheaper model that has only the one way remote, but after having a one way in the past the two way is pretty sweet since it let's you know the car received the signal. The one way you need to be able to see your car to truly know if it started.

I was contemplating going the Best Buy route to have it installed, but do not trust their installers. I have heard of too many bad experiences, including a couple friends of mine.