Can anybody recommend a good cheap remote car starter?

I'm not looking for anything fancy, but I also believe you get what you pay for. Just looking for the best value out there in remote car starters. I was thinking of trying to install it myself since I'm somewhat literate with electrical stuff. Hopefully they come with good instructions! Hehe.

Also what frequency should I go with and why? Should I go 900mhz FM?

I do kind of like the CompuSTAR P2BLED-S, but I'm not sure what the price is or if it's available yet. It says it uses Super Heterodyne 433Mhz AM.

I don't want or need anything with an alarm on it.

I work with a friend that was a mechanic at a garage here locally. After my brother was looking into getting one, he said DON'T. They develop moisture in them and then work erratically. He said he's seen at least 20 after market models that develop this kind of behavior. My ex sister-in-law(my brothers ex wife) has an after market and now its acting erratically!!!! He said he's never seen this with factory installed models though. Only after market.

tiktok 22 said:

I work with a friend that was a mechanic at a garage here locally. After my brother was looking into getting one, he said DON'T. They develop moisture in them and then work erratically. He said he's seen at least 20 after market models that develop this kind of behavior. My ex sister-in-law(my brothers ex wife) has an after market and now its acting erratically!!!! He said he's never seen this with factory installed models though. Only after market.

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Mine (Clifford Matrix RSIII) has been in my truck for well over 125,000 miles and 5 years now, and I've never had any "erratic" problems with it. If you get a crappy install, then you may very well have problems. I love mine, and the 2-way remote is the way to go, IMO. My Ex-GF has an Avistart (or something like that) and hers is great also. Call around to your local "car stereo" shops that have been in business for a long time and see what they have.

Also, you probably can install one yourself, but you usually lose the warranty if it isn't done by an authorized dealer. I installed a Viper alarm system in my Mustang, and it was pretty easy. Only a few more wires for the remote start.

Roger

Ditto the 2-way!! Additionally I can't recommend CompuSTAR enough!! I'm very pleased. My son has one in his car as well, & if I ever get the spare change - would put one in my wife's ride as well.

DEI (Directed Electronics) makes very solid products, I've owned several Python branded units with no problems.
I would recommend professional installation by someone who is current on the latest vehicle interfaces.

My folks had one installed on their Buick (98 Regal) about 3 years ago and have never had a problem. Don't know the brand but it cost about $220 installed. Can't steal the car either, touch the brake pedal and it shuts off. Can't put it in gear without pressing the brake pedal.

What do you need a remote car starter for?
Driving on the roof? Consuming gas while sitting in the house?

worldedit said:

What do you need a remote car starter for?
Driving on the roof? Consuming gas while sitting in the house?

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When your 70+ years old and can't scrape windows well or make numerous trips back and forth to the car in wintertime its quite helpful. And yes, for driving on the roof. :thinking:

worldedit said:

What do you need a remote car starter for?
...

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It's a winter weather thing here in the northern climates. Warms the vehicle's engine up before driving in extreme cold temps (not to mention defrosts the windows & warms up the inside)...along with theft prevention as well.

Doesn't get cold in Germany?

worldedit said:

What do you need a remote car starter for?
Driving on the roof? Consuming gas while sitting in the house?

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It warms your car up when it's -20F outside and so you don't have to scrape windows all the time.

It gets cold in Germany too, but we are more the scraping kind of people
You would understand if you knew our gas prices.

worldedit said:

What do you need a remote car starter for?
Driving on the roof? Consuming gas while sitting in the house?

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I use mine for cold weather, but I also use it when I'm on scene of a MVA or house fire, etc. I leave my lights running, and the engine @ idle (or elevated by control module) so that my battery doesn't run down. Its also handy if I have to run into a store (mainly gas stations for me) to get something really quick (some call it "pit stop mode"). I might burn an extra 2 minutes of fuel, but I'm saving my starter!!!

Roger

A block heater is more useful IMO, but then again I never use mine. I just go out, brush/scrape, and idle for 30 seconds to a minute and go. Driving is more effetive on warming up than idling.

Now depends on what vehicle you have, if you have a chipped key (and most newer cars do), a remote starter would require a key to be present all the time, effectively made the theft prevention system useless.

jzmtl said:

A block heater is more useful IMO, but then again I never use mine. I just go out, brush/scrape, and idle for 30 seconds to a minute and go. Driving is more effetive on warming up than idling.

Now depends on what vehicle you have, if you have a chipped key (and most newer cars do), a remote starter would require a key to be present all the time, effectively made the theft prevention system useless.

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The "chipped key" cars use a bypass module when the RS is installed. If the remote start/alarm is properly installed, you don't really lose any security. If you leave the car running, you are fairly close to the vehicle and you can monitor it if you are worried. If the car is just sitting there, not running, a thief wouldn't know that the RS is installed and that the bypass module is installed. If they tried to take the car while it was running (after breaking into the car) the engine would stop as soon as the brake is pressed to put the car into gear.

Roger

Ditto z96...and up here in AK, we use block heaters as well - along with the RS typically when it's 20 deg and below.

I would still like to put one on my wife's manual transmission...they make them (requires a transmission monitor module), the major companies are using them (CompuSTAR included)...but I can't shake that liability issue in my brain!

Sigman said:

Ditto z96...and up here in AK, we use block heaters as well - along with the RS typically when it's 20 deg and below.

I would still like to put one on my wife's manual transmission...they make them (requires a transmission monitor module), the major companies are using them (CompuSTAR included)...but I can't shake that liability issue in my brain!

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What do you have to do, bypass the switch on the clutch pedal and/or interlock with the steering wheel? I had a car w a manual trans and it had to be in reverse to turn the key off.

They have really novel idea for manual transmission car. I wish I had thought about it!

What you do is when you are ready to turn off the car, you let the remote starter know it via pressing one of the remote button, pull up the parking brake, put the car in the neutral, take out the key from the ignition (at this stage car stays on running) and exit the car. When the last door is closed, the car gets turned off. Now the remote starter system knows for sure that the car is NOT in the gear and would let you start it remotely. If you open the door before remote starting, it will disable the remote start provisioning. You can still screw yourself up if you leave driver side window down and put it in the gear after the remote starter is "armed"

It is certainly a novel idea and I hope the guy who came up with this one got a patent on it.

- Vikas

By the way, Bulldog Security makes affordable remote starters for do it yourself. I did lot of research before deciding upon letting CircuitCity install DEI made Valet 521R system in my wife's van. If your car does not have the chipped key, it should be pretty easy. Only few wires needs to be patched in. For some cars you can even find a T wiring harness for ignition which makes the job even easier as you only have to hook up into brake light switch, parking light and tachometer input; everything else comes of the pre-wired harness. If you want to do remote locking and unlocking of the car, you will have to hook up two more wires.

^^ I think it's completely unnecessary, if someone is stupid enough to leave it in gear then remote start it, maybe he shouldn't be driving to begin with. I hate all these nanny features, disabled my clutch safety interlock first day I got mine, never had any problem in two years.

jzmtl said:

^^ I think it's completely unnecessary, if someone is stupid enough to leave it in gear then remote start it, maybe he shouldn't be driving to begin with. I hate all these nanny features, disabled my clutch safety interlock first day I got mine, never had any problem in two years.

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I hope you never sell that car unless you reconnect the neutral safety. It could very easily get someone killed. Out of habit, most people will leave their manual tranny in gear. If they installed a RS without the safety, sooner or later they will probably forget and put it into gear when they leave the car, just out of habit. Then if he/she "isn't thinking" and they try to start the car, there are going to be some problems. I wouldn't call "safety features" "nanny features". To me a neutral safety switch is just as valid/important as seat belts.

Roger

I think he is talking about manual start and defeating clutch safety interlock. I can see his point that a person driving manual most probably will not crank the starter while sitting in the car without putting it in neutral or pressing the clutch.

With a remote starter, all the bets are off. Remote starter has to have fail-safe interlock mechanism, otherwise, someday your vehicle will be in your leaving room

- Vikas