Wife wants remote start installed in her vehicle for the sole purpose of having it warm before she has to get in it. She hates being cold. I don’t have the first clue of what to look for. Any suggestions?

I would suggest finding a competent shop to install it. The installations in these can be somewhere between frustrating and suicidal.

I highly recommend Viper. They make a solid product, and it has good security (anti theft). I have had a few of these in cars, as far back as 2003. Never had an issue. Always worked and had incredible range.

A friend of mine has Drone Mobile. He loves it, but I have no personal experience.

https://www.amazon.com/Avital-...ps%2C203&sr=8-1&th=1

If you’re not going to install it yourself, make sure you find someone reputable in your area. I’ve seen a TON of hack jobs when these are installed.

I will not be installing this. There are a couple places in the area I can get to do the install.

Many of the more modern, say 2015 to present, car makers have gone the "app subscription" route for some of these types of features. For example Nissan connect and Hyundai blue link. Both of these allow remote starting in many cases as well as the ability to set up geofences and or speed notices so one could monitor where and how a vehicle is/was driven. I believe these even tie in to service routines as well.

I point this out as a possible option depending on your vehicle.

Nissan connect ranges from $12~$25/month. Blue link goes from $80~$180/year.

Some of these include satellite radio or some other streaming services such as pandora.

Make your decision based on what is best for you both short and long term.

It’s a 2016 Kia Sorento. The only bell/whistle she wants is remote start.

Not the cheapest route but there may be a way to get the Kia remote start. A lot of the vehicles have the ability to add the factory remote start by simply buying the remotes and the dealer programming them.

I don’t want to pay a stupid amount to get it done but if that’s an option and it’s within 15-20% of an aftermarket job I’d go that route. Thanks for the tip!

quote:

I don’t want to pay a stupid amount to get it done but if that’s an option and it’s within 15-20% of an aftermarket job I’d go that route. Thanks for the tip!

If this is available, I'd avail yourself of it. There are too many interconnected modules, even for the formerly simple starting circuit, to just cut and splice a few wires. The wrong one could leave you walking.

I found this, I think it's official Kia.

https://kiastuff.com/kia-sorento-remote-starter-k155/

I found a well established local shop. Went by their recommendations. $310 out door installed.

quote:

Originally posted by BigSwede:
I found this, I think it's official Kia.

https://kiastuff.com/kia-sorento-remote-starter-k155/

Hmm...if there’s no splicing, just plug n play type setup I think even I could manage that. Thanks again!

My response will be of no help in regards to brands, but I too am like your wife. I can't stand getting into a miserable, cold, car. I have also gotten to be a big ole BABY when it comes to being cold the older I get. I moved to the East Coast from CA & only had my motorcycle but when it started getting snowy, I had to get something. I ended up buying an older Jeep Grand Cheerokee that was owned by a mechanic. He had installed his own remote starter. What brand, I have no ide, but it was my 1st & boy was I in LOVE. I wish now that I knew the brand. I could start that thing thru anything & from the far depths of space it seemed. Super far range. Prob was the Jeep was full time 4 wheel drive & only got 11 mpg. Not great when driving half way across the U.S. with my dogs to visit my family several times a year.
Then I got a brand new Subaru Forester. Realized how much I missed remote start so my husband got them to install an aftermarket one for me for Christmas. Had no range, I joked that I had to be within 2 ft of the car to start it. Within a few months it gave me all kinds of fits with only working about a third of the time. My husband contacted them & got them to re-install a Subaru OEM remote starter & it works, o.k. I can start it from inside a building but I have to be kinda close to it inside the building & so far it has never, not started. The thing I don't like about this one is that after you remote start it, it automatically dies as soon as you open any door as an anti-theft feature so you have to manually re-start it with your key. I don't like that. The Jeep would stay running, you just put your key in & turned it to the right position & off you went. Seems the Subaru way would put more wear & tear on by having to start it twice as much.

I just watched some videos on installing the OEM. No way I’m doing that. It’ll be cheaper to have a pro do it and save me broken tools, an all day ordeal and possibly ruining her vehicle.

Last year I had a remote start installed in my fiancee's car. Found a black friday online only deal for Compustar Remote Starter from Best Buy that included install for $299. I did a fair amount of research on the local location's install record and found them to be pretty highly rated overall. Then I stopped by to ask questions directly from the installer(s) - a mini interview so to speak.


The install went off without a hitch and the remote starter has a pretty decent range. Fiancee has been very happy with it so far.


My only advice would be to research and check the reviews of the potential installers.

Just put a Compustar alarm on my new truck with drone mobile. Via the drone mobile app on my watch or phone I can remote start, lock, unlock, receive alarm notification alerts etc. had it done at Best Buy. The days of splicing this and that are over with newer vehicles. It’s all adapters and can bus now and not a big deal. I’d go by Best Buy and get a quote. Remote start by itself should be a few hundred bucks. I paid $700 for full alarm, remote start and drone mobile installed so just remote start should be a fraction of that amount.

It is also worth adding that if your Kia is equipped with a security key or something similar, The Kiastuff that BigSwede suggested is definitely the way to go.

Chipped keys have been around since 1990 and the RFID keys have been around at least since 2003 by various manufacturers. Good luck!

if you get an aftermarket the "brain" will be mounted about 24" from the place which the furthest electrical connection is made (i.e., under the dash).

The reason - that's the approximate length of the harness and most installers will not use extra wire or additional time to mount the brain elsewhere unless the customer requests it.

Ask them how much extra to mount the brain under the center console (not in it).

Have gone both routes on our Honda's. First time was by a reputable dealer installing an aftermarket system. Worked fine the 1st year, after that, a complete nightmare. Had to take it out of the car and repair the wires.

Next try was a Honda made remote starter kit. I installed myself, but I am pretty good at that kind of stuff with instructions, pure Heaven! It was still working when we sold the car years later.

New car wiring is a nightmare, I would say if you can't get a factory kit, don't do it!!

Most are plug and play. Very easy. The hard part is getting the dash apart. You-Tube can be a huge help there. I've done a couple of different vehicles with my friend You-Tube. Not difficult at all. Not to mention it saves a lot of $$.