I installed a remote starter in our Kia Sedona not because we need it warmed up for personal comfort. If that was an issue, we wouldn’t live in Vermont. It’s a matter of warming it up so the doors can even be opened. And no, I would not have bought the van if I had known that would be a problem.
My wife has it in her head that the engine should be turned off and restarted with the key, because just driving away having used the remote to start it somehow uses more gas.
I can’t see how that could be, but she has a problem taking my word for pretty much anything beyond whether it’s raining. Yes, it uses gas as it’s sitting there idling and that may be what she heard, but that’s not how it’s being interpreted.
Yes, leaving the vehicle idling after using the Remote Starter increases your gas consumption.
However, once you begin driving, the gas consumption at that point is exactly the same whether she restarts the engine or not.
Your wife is wrong.
I can almost hear Tom and Ray riffing for 5 minutes about how you should either:
Lie and tell her you’ve changed your mind; now you agree with her, for the sake of domestic bliss,
but inside you accept her fault, like others she may have.
On another note, can we assume you’ve tried putting something on the rubber door seals to help with this issue? Many people use a silicone-based product like Armor All, but one of our past cars specifically said not to do this in the manual, so I’d use a product like 303 Aerospace Protectant instead.
I have a remoter starter.
I do NOT have door sticking issues.
---- for door sticking, try the good ol’ bar of soap rubbed on the contact areas of both door/body and weatherstrip.
For remote starter …the action she’s thinking of, and misinterpreting, is that you must insert the key and turn to the run position to drive away.
– No need to re-start at all , ever.
The higher mpg average numbers you get will be exactly the same, due to idle time, no matter what.
The key doesn’t matter anymore. Some cars don’t even have a “key” per se, just a fob with a radio in it to tell the car to wake up, set your seat and mirror to your settings (not the wife’s) and let the “start” button actually start the car. The key is just there to make her feel better.
The car doesn’t “know” any difference between the a key-on and a remote start.
A little PAM spray or silicon spray on the problem areas?
What about a plug-in heater or flood lamps in the vehicle? Cheap non-polluting non engine-wearing 100% efficient heat.
@mfwills…I was stationed in Alaska and Northern Maine years ago. The solution for the sticking doors is fairly easy. I always used “White Lithium” grease to coat the door seals and edges of the windows. Just wipe off the excess grease. I never had a problem opening my doors or windows in temperatures as low as -40 degrees. I also agree with the others about your wife being wrong.
A person convinced against their will is of the same opinion still. I have remote on my Pontiac. All it does is start the car and uses the same amount of gas as starting it normally. You unlock the car and you have a brief period to put the key in and turn it on. Then you can shift it. Thats all. Shutting it off and starting again will wear the starter out faster which is far more expensive than the gas.
Now deal with the doors. Use a silicone lube or something on the gaskets.
The notion that not stopping and restarting the engine will alter gas mileage is pretty silly. I’m going to be blunt here…If your wife is this disrespectful of you, you have problems more serious than sticky doors. All joking about agreeing to keep peace aside, a man will only put up with this nonsense for so long.
I dunno, doubleclutch. I know one beautiful lady that can disrespect me forever and I’d be happy forever.
Bill Withers did a song years ago that said
My friends feel it’s their appointed duty
They keep trying to tell me all you want to do is use me
But my answer yeah to all that use me stuff
Is I want to spread the news that if it feels this good getting used
Oh you just keep on using me until you use me up
Until you use me up
My brother sit me right down and he talked to me
He told me that I ought not to let you just walk on me
And I’m sure he meant well yeah but when our talk was through
I said brother if you only knew you’d wish that you were in my shoes
You just keep on using me until you use me up
Until you use me up
Oh sometimes yeah it’s true you really do abuse me
You get in a crowd of high class people and then you act real rude to me
But oh baby baby baby baby when you love me I can’t get enough
I and I want to spread the news that if it feels this good getting used
Oh you just keep on using me until you use me up
Until you use me up
Talking about you using me but it all depends on what you do
It ain’t too bad the way you’re using me
’Cause I sure am using you to do the things you do
Ah ha to do the things you do
“I think he was talking about heating the cabin with floodlights, not the engine.”
Maybe yes, maybe no.
Those with very good memories will probably recall that a few months ago Robert talked about heating his engine with the use of floodlights.
