# Cold car? Why not phone it in? **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [February 1, 2019, 11:55am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/cold-car-why-not-phone-it-in/133739 "2019-02-01T11:55:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![common-sense-answer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/common-sense-answer/32/716_2.png) [@common-sense-answer](https://community.cartalk.com/u/common-sense-answer)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 11:55am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/cold-car-why-not-phone-it-in/133739/1 "2019-02-01T11:55:45Z")
**Cold car? Why not phone it in?** That’s what Users of the myChevrolet, my Buick, myGMC, and myCadillac apps did **1.59 million times** on January 30, 2019, according to **Dalvin Brown, USA Today,** today. > **[Record number of people use GM's remote start to warm up vehicles as cold...](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2019/02/01/cold-weather-record-number-use-gm-remote-start-polar-vortex/2734857002/)** > > A record-breaking number of drivers used GM remote start via their mobile app to warm up vehicles during the brutally cold weather. I guess I could have done that instead of driving all the way to Florida, eh ? … **What do you think? Do you already use this feature for your car driving pleasure/safety?** **If not, would you use it?** **Energy waster, atmospheric CO2 enhancer?** **Or is this technology we don’t need, an answer to a problem that doesn’t exist?** **Other?** _ **CSA** _ 🌴🕶🌴 ---
**Author:** ![Purebred](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/purebred/32/46796_2.png) [@Purebred](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Purebred)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 12:05pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/cold-car-why-not-phone-it-in/133739/2 "2019-02-01T12:05:06Z")
I don’t have that available, but if I did, I would. I would use it down here in the summer, get the AC going before I got in! ---
**Author:** ![Manolito](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/manolito/32/3070_2.png) [@Manolito](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Manolito)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 1:09pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/cold-car-why-not-phone-it-in/133739/3 "2019-02-01T13:09:51Z")
If the car is parked outdoors, remote starting would really help clear the windows on frosty mornings. Our Tesla remotely heats or cools by phone app. The car does not care, but we appreciate it. …then there is opening the garage door, backing out of the garage, closing the garage door, and coming to the front door on its own… ---
**Author:** ![thegreendrag0n](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/thegreendrag0n/32/9265_2.png) [@thegreendrag0n](https://community.cartalk.com/u/thegreendrag0n)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 1:49pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/cold-car-why-not-phone-it-in/133739/4 "2019-02-01T13:49:52Z")
> [@Manolito](#): > > …then there is opening the garage door, backing out of the garage, closing the garage door, and coming to the front door on its own… aha… and then FedEx driver does not deliver a package you waited for and you call them up with a polite “WTF?!?” question, they say “it was nobody home, it was no cars in the front of a house” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 1:56pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/cold-car-why-not-phone-it-in/133739/5 "2019-02-01T13:56:59Z")
> [@Purebred](#): > > I would use it down here in the summer, get the AC going before I got in! A friend of mine (who has to park outside) uses his remote starter in both the winter and the summer in order to get the interior of the car to a comfortable temp before he enters the car. His operates via his key fob. ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 1:59pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/cold-car-why-not-phone-it-in/133739/6 "2019-02-01T13:59:30Z")
I don’t need it, but folks who park their car outside might. I park outside at work, and the interior gets very hot in the summer. I might use remote start if I didn’t have remote windows. As soon as I exit the building, I push the unlock button, release, then push and hold until all the windows are down and the sunroof is fully open. The temperature inside drops dramatically, and almost instantly. ---
**Author:** ![Mustangman](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/mustangman/32/44130_2.png) [@Mustangman](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Mustangman)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 2:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/cold-car-why-not-phone-it-in/133739/7 "2019-02-01T14:04:51Z")
If I had it, I would use it on occasion. When I lived and worked up north, my truck was parked outside so I used to start it, eat breakfast and then drive to work. I only did that when the car was seriously iced over as it was impossible to clear the windows. In the summer down here in Florida, I could see a remote start to at least minimize the possibility of searing my hands on the steering wheel. ---
**Author:** ![thegreendrag0n](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/thegreendrag0n/32/9265_2.png) [@thegreendrag0n](https://community.cartalk.com/u/thegreendrag0n)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 2:49pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/cold-car-why-not-phone-it-in/133739/8 "2019-02-01T14:49:23Z")
I install it and use it on every car I buy for “outdoor use”, which is defined as “regularly parked outdoors and/or used to get to ski areas”. Currently it happens to be a 13-years old SUV. I see no reason to install/use remote starter on cars regularly parked in a garage, which are our daily commute vehicles. ---
**Author:** ![TwinTurbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8baadc/32.png) [@TwinTurbo](https://community.cartalk.com/u/TwinTurbo)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 2:52pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/cold-car-why-not-phone-it-in/133739/9 "2019-02-01T14:52:47Z")
My truck is outside. Been chilly around here lately, maybe low single digits in the AM. I just get in, start the engine, turn on the seat heaters and go. The seats are warm in about 2-3 minutes and the engine warms up much faster with a light load on it… ---
**Author:** ![oldtimer-11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e79b87/32.png) [@oldtimer-11](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldtimer-11)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 9:43pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/cold-car-why-not-phone-it-in/133739/10 "2019-02-01T21:43:46Z")
I don’t need or want remote start or seat heaters, guess I am just bred for the North. I never needed A/C until they took flow through ventilation and vent windows out of cars. Didn’t have A’C in our tractor-trailers until 5 years before I retired and then they only had it in the road tractors and not the city ones. No power steering on the road tractors when I retired. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 10:52pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/cold-car-why-not-phone-it-in/133739/11 "2019-02-01T22:52:25Z")
Yeah I used mine a few times when it was 29 below. The police don’t like cars running unattended but with the remote start it’s no problem. Car is locked, can’t move the shifter until you put the key in and turn it on. You only have so long to do it or the car shuts down. Also 10 minutes max per time and I think you get two or maybe three times. If I was out and about and stopped at a store I’d use it. Problem is you have to shut the car off then hit the lock on the fob twice and then hit the start button, so it kinda puts a strain on the battery. Wife wants it but doesn’t have it on her car, heh heh. ---
**Author:** ![VOLVO-V70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/8e8cbc/32.png) [@VOLVO-V70](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VOLVO-V70)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 10:54pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/cold-car-why-not-phone-it-in/133739/12 "2019-02-01T22:54:46Z")
Seat heaters are really nice . ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 10:57pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/cold-car-why-not-phone-it-in/133739/13 "2019-02-01T22:57:40Z")
+1 I have had seat heaters on my last three vehicles, and I would never consider purchasing another vehicle that wasn’t equipped with seat heaters. ---
**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2019, 10:59pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/cold-car-why-not-phone-it-in/133739/14 "2019-02-01T22:59:48Z")
Yeah wife has those and I couldn’t figure out why my rear was so hot. Guess I bumped the switch. So she gets seat heaters and I get remote start. Even trade. ---
**Author:** ![oldtimer-11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e79b87/32.png) [@oldtimer-11](https://community.cartalk.com/u/oldtimer-11)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2019, 2:44am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/cold-car-why-not-phone-it-in/133739/15 "2019-02-02T02:44:54Z")
Seat heaters? I can’t even stand wearing a coat in the car and the sound of a heater blower irritates me, I used to like the Chrysler products of the 40s through 60s where you could set the heater for the air to flow through the system without the blower while the car was moving. ---
**Author:** ![common-sense-answer](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/common-sense-answer/32/716_2.png) [@common-sense-answer](https://community.cartalk.com/u/common-sense-answer)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2019, 10:48am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/cold-car-why-not-phone-it-in/133739/16 "2019-02-02T10:48:14Z")
I’m a pretty active guy, in fact I’m always in motion, heading out for a bicycle ride right now and it’s not light out, yet. I even run inside the house/condo. My rear-end never cools off and I’ve sat on those heated seats before and it felt quite uncomfortable, very disconcerting. These seats are quite popular with women. My wife says she’d like that feature in a car. She is more sedentary than I am and her posterior must cool down. That’s all I can figure… I guess some people like them and some don’t. _ **CSA** _ 🌴🕶🌴 ---
**Author:** ![sgtrock21](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/sgtrock21/32/246_2.png) [@sgtrock21](https://community.cartalk.com/u/sgtrock21)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2019, 7:30pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/cold-car-why-not-phone-it-in/133739/17 "2019-02-02T19:30:26Z")
Since I would only need this feature an average of 3 or 4 times per year I am not really interested. Two days ago I had freezing fog +28F and started my car in the driveway which was defrosted in 10 minutes. I had an extra cup of coffee. Kia has for some reason prevented me from having the key in ignition switch with doors locked. I really don’t worry as my small town has a near zero crime problem. I also have a currently effective anti theft device. The manual transmission. One feature I really like is the heated outside mirrors.