Remote Start

[tblake]

Well guys, I buckled down, and bought myself a brand new Remote Start Unit. I pick up an Ultra Start 1250tl to be exact. http://www.ultrastarters.com/starters/1250_2250.htm I basically went with ultra start because everything is on one keypad, and seems very easy to use. The range is alse very good. (1200 Feet) Way better than my factory keyless entry of about 100 feet. I recieved it, and it seems to be a too big of job for me to do, so I'm taking it to a shop on tuesday morning about 15 miles away from my house to have it put in. I went in and talked to the guy about it on saturday, and he's very knowledgable when it comes to these things. He specializes in putting them in, so I figure, might as well let the pro do it, huh? He figured 150 for labor. 50.00 an hour, and then 75.00 for extra parts, (Vats bypass, relays, modules, etc...). Any last ideas before I go ahead and put this thing in? I've heard good and bad about remote starters in general, I've heard they short out your electrical system, but i believe, that if they are put in right, are probably easier on your starter than you are. So, any last thoughts, opinions, or critiscizm would be appreciated before tuesday. Thanks.

[tblake]

scratch that, he's full all day today, my appointment is wednesday at 11am.

[jeffcoslacker]

Never had one, never installed one, never wanted one. Disables a few after they went bad.

It'd be nice when it's hot out, get the a/c going. I kinda like getting in a real cold car in the winter and waiting for it to warm up. I'm weird, though.

[tblake]

I got it put in, that guy really knew his stuff. It was done in 3 hours, and done right the first time. All the wires are hidden, nothing is messed up, Vats is bypassed flawlessly, I would totally go to him for whatever whenever. He really knew his stuff. its kinda neat pushing a button inside a house and coming outside to a nice cool car. Its just something i've wanted forever, and now I've got it.

[9c3]

I put one into my '99 last fall. I've never done it before and it took me forever.

All ther hair pulling was definitely worth not having to go outside first thing in the morning during a Canadian winter to start the car.

The only problem I've had was when one day I remotely started the car, let it run, got in and pressed the brake to turn it off and the car wouldn't shut off. I had to pull out the main remote starter fuse to cut the engine. This only happened once and "coincidentally" while I was parked across the street from a field occupied by five or six giant radio towers.

The $75 price tag for extra parts seems a little high to me. My extras cost about $15. This included a couple relay assemblies and a module for reversing the polarity of the door lock output signal. My car didn't come with VATS so it was a bit cheaper, but I can't see that adding too much to the final cost all the extras.

[tblake]

yeah, he went into detail. My door lock polarity switch relays costed 19 or so, and another relay was needed to my trunk release, and 2 were needed for the vats system, as well as some sort of module. 29.99 I believe. and he put in a better hood sensor than the one included with the remote start unit. This one doesnt war out as fast from what I hear. Maybe unnecessary, but I could not have done it myself, thats for sure, so I thank old school customs for everything. They seemed like they knew what they were talking about, and did a very good job.

[jeffcoslacker]

Originally Posted by 9c3

I put one into my '99 last fall. I've never done it before and it took me forever.

All ther hair pulling was definitely worth not having to go outside first thing in the morning during a Canadian winter to start the car.

The only problem I've had was when one day I remotely started the car, let it run, got in and pressed the brake to turn it off and the car wouldn't shut off. I had to pull out the main remote starter fuse to cut the engine. This only happened once and "coincidentally" while I was parked across the street from a field occupied by five or six giant radio towers.

The $75 price tag for extra parts seems a little high to me. My extras cost about $15. This included a couple relay assemblies and a module for reversing the polarity of the door lock output signal. My car didn't come with VATS so it was a bit cheaper, but I can't see that adding too much to the final cost all the extras.

Off topic, I found a 2003 Impala police special with 80,000 miles for $4995 the other day. It was owned by a College University police dept, so it probably hasn't seen any real hard use. But then again, it may have never been out of third gear since it was new either. I'm sure it's seen a lot of idle time.

I was kicking around the idea of trading the Lumina for it, but I really like my Lumina.

[9c3]

I bought my Lumina exactly a year ago and it only had 45K miles on it for some reason. Since the car is a '99, I've always found the low mileage kinda odd -- maybe it was the chief's car...

Although they may sometimes get the shit driven out of them, the good thing about old cruisers is that it's almost guaranteed that the regular maintenance put into them went above and beyond.