Remote Start OEM or aftermarket?

[slalemand]

And what do most of you have? What do you recommend and why?

2008 Avalon

[limited05]

I have the factory installed DONT GO THAT ROUTE! The reason is if you start the car you cant enter it in any way or the engine will shut off.Either clicking the unlock button or grabbing the handle will kill the engine. Its useless!These are really good I have one on my Lincoln LS and it works well.http://www.directed.com/
Good luck be sure to get a good shop to install it.

[MikeS.]

I had the factory remote start on my 05. It was pretty useless, only worked from upto 50' I had an aftermarket put in my 08 Tacoma. It works from several hundred feet away. Rated for like a .25 mile I think.

I looked into getting the same for my 08 Avalon but 2 shops said it would be close to 500 bucks. They said they had to put in a whole alarm/ remote system because of the push button start. Bummer man.

[Amaury]

One thing that the dealer or any installer won’t tell you (unless you ask) is that by implementing the remote start in your vehicle, you’ll be loosing the best theft deterrent your vehicle has – its engine immobilizer.

Both technologies can co-exist in your car without any apparent problem, but the true nature of the remote starter undermines the sole purpose of the engine immobilizer. And because of this, manufacturers make sure that only one technology be present in your car.

Amaury
'08 Limited

[jbinbama]

I just went through this with my local dealer with an 05. I asked about 2 things - 1) that I don't have two key fobs and 2) all other features work as is. I was worried about the keyless entry I have in my car and was assured they could program it into my current key fob and everything else would be fine. They installed it and when you start the car the key fob is basically dead so the keyless entry stopped working. I was told that's the way it works. Only way to get into the car was to pull out the manual key from the key fob and then unlock the door manually. So using the remote start essentially disabled the keyless entry (I couldn't use the unlock button or even the trunk release). If I didn't use the remote start then everything worked as is. Can't believe installing one optione disables the use of another (and I love the keyless system). Only option they gave me was to program the remote to use the unlock button to start the car so then I have an unlocked car (all doors) and a running vehicle. I got so ticked I had them remove it. As far as I'm concerned it was really useless.

[Amaury]

This happened since the yota techie didn’t go the extra mile. What this guy did was, he disabled the entire certification ECU in your vehicle, which is quickest and easy way out. By disabling this controller, he shot down your keyless entry system, engine immobilizer, OEM alarm among other features. He could’ve tapped only on the communication bus that controls fuel injection and engine ignition (unfortunately this is part of the engine immobilizer), and leave the other routes free of interference. Being that he’s the dealer, he has the blueprints for this approach.

…hummm…unless the yota VIP unit won’t allow him to do that.

If the VIP unit is the culprit, then you could try a good aftermarket unit; CodeAlarm, the elite series for example. But then, again, the installer should have the Toyota blueprints in order to do it this way.

A good alarm system is just as good as the guy who installs it.

ps: Be aware that no matter how this is done, you'd loose your engine immobilizer feature.

Amaury
’08 Limited

[MikeS.]

I had the factory remote start installed by my dealer, Younger Toyota of Md, about 2 weeks after buying the car in Feb. of 05. When they installed it everything else worked just fine. Doors and trunk release. Matter of fact when you opened the door it shut off the engine.

So I know for a fact it can be done with a factory unit.

[jbinbama]

You lost me Mike - you opened the door and the engine shut off? Which means you started it with the remote start - then entered the car which shut off the engine and then had to start it again? If that's the case I wouldn't say that's what I would expect either.

Either way I'm not going throught that headache again with my dealer.

[Amaury]

So when Mike opens the door, the engine goes dead. Nice theft deterrent, but kinda inconvenient for the driver.

A nicer approach would’ve been to tap into the brake “circuit” instead of the door’s.
This way if someone without the ignition key enters the vehicle he won’t go anywhere because at the very moment he depresses the brake pedal to shift from park to any other gear the engine simply goes dead. However, if this guy knows his business very well all he needs is a couple of minutes to get the car moving (and nobody watching of course). This is not the case with the engine immobilizer. As far as I know, no thief has been able to defeat it.

Amaury
'08 Limited

[black_sedan]

You're constantly stressing theft. But if you think about it, who wants to steal an Avalon? It's not a Honda...
I really wished they incorporated it to where, the engine only stays on if the key is detected while opening door. Is this possible?

[chepito]

I have an aftermarket (DEI) remote start alarm system in my 08 Avalon. It works great and comes with a turbo timer option which would be cooler if I had a turbo. The best part is the place that installed it told me said if I ever get rid of the car (not by choice) they will uninstall it for free so I could put it on my next vehicle.. You can't do that with a stock remote start alarm system. The downside is I did lose a key.

[Amaury]

black_sedan,

As I said earlier, the engine stays on as the driver's or any other door is opened. The engine shuts off only when you press the brake pedal to shift from "P" (park) and you don't have the key in the ignition. With the key in the ignition this won't happen. How can you tap into the brake circuit? Just use a couple of relay and/or solenoid switches.

Hmmm...I'm not so sure about no one wanting to steal my Avy. Let's see: before going to bed, have yours parked in the street with the engine running with the driver's door wide open and no soul in sight. Just tell me for how many consecutive nights you can do this.

Chepito,
The stock alarm can be removed just as easily as any aftermarket. It all depends on who does it.

Amaury
'08 Limited

[gary1015]

i have a 05 avalon with toyota remote starter. Yesterday i figured out that to start the car you have press 3 times lock button and the 4th time you have to hold it to start the car. Is there any way to reprogram this. Thank you.

[black_sedan]

Amaury

I start my car up every morning. It's fine. No one comes by and touches it. Headlights, motor, and engine are on with no one messing with it. Rims and a screen playing with no one inside...

I have a limited so when i grab onto the door handle, it unlocks the car. Thats when the engine shut off, NOT when you step on the pedal. Maybe you're confusing mine with an aftermarket remote start system...

[Amaury]

black_sedan,

You misread my explanation.

Amaury
'08 Limited