If I were buying a car today, I’d probably push for a remote starter installed at a comparable cost of getting it done elsewhere so there’s no future argument that the remote starter was the cause of an electrical issue to TRY and justify not covering a warranty claim. Can’t say it’ll happen, but it’s nice to know you won’t have any claim issues.
You’re brave. I’d never let anybody install any after-market remote starter on any of my cars. If it’s possible to opt for a plug-in factory unit then that’s a different story.
I once installed a factory remote (plug & play) door-lock kit on a Chrysler car for less than the window sticker price of that option when equipped as new.
Besides, I buy GM cars and most models have come with remote start as standard equipment for years.
CSA
Well, before I ask for anything like that I usually try to find out from the person who typically does those installs if there’s any cutting/drilling involved that I should be made aware of ahead of time. If it’s just splicing into the existing wire harness and using shrink wrap to cover the splices, I’m good with it. Am I asking too much? lol
Actually, before I even buy any vehicle I spend 1/2 my time at the dealership talking to a service tech with the salesman by my side to find out what’s involved in basic maintenance (i.e. changing oil, spark plugs, tranny fluid, tranny fluid type, coolant, etc.) and repair (i.e. ball joints separate or integrated into LCAs) which I can’t figure out so I can do a lot myself. I’m sure this time round I’m going to have a rude awakening.
Just to give you some reality on this issue, new car dealers typically bring-in aftermarket installers for this type of job–even though it is rarely (or, more likely, never) revealed that the installation will be done by somebody other than a trained mechanic from the dealership.
A friend of mine bought a new 2008 Rav-4, and wanted the genuine Toyota remote starter installed, rather than the aftermarket gizmo that the dealership was hawking. The next day after installation, he experienced re-setting of the car’s clock, intermittent stalling, and other truly bizarre symptoms that were all apparently electrical/electronic in nature. Two visits to the dealership did not help–at all.
At that point, I drafted a well-crafted Demand Letter, and sent it via Certifed Mail to Toyota USA at the corporate level. Because my state allows the owner of a Lemon vehicle to choose whether he/she wants a full refund (including all DMV related-fees) or a replacement vehicle, I made Toyota aware that we would expect a check for a full refund of his purchase price and expenses if they could not render a complete repair of the problem upon the next visit to the dealership.
Within days, my friend received a phone call from Toyota corporate asking when he could bring the car in for its last repair attempt. I went with him that day, and met the Toyota Regional Maintenance Supervisor and a Japanese engineer who probably spoke no more than 10 words in English.
After about 3 hours, they phoned to report that they had fixed the problem. When I asked what the problem turned out to be, the Toyota maintenance guy stated, “the problem is that the dealership hires morons to do these installations, and this particular moron left the Remote Start System in ‘test mode’, which caused it to shut-down many functions every time that it automatically went into test mode”. He added that the dealership’s mechanics were not sharp enough to figure out this programming problem.
The bottom line is that–on their third and final repair attempt–the big guns were able to perform this repair, but if my friend had opted for the aftermarket system, all bets would have been off. ONLY because it was a genuine Toyota system, and ONLY because it was installed at the dealership was this relief possible. None of that relief would have been possible if the system was an aftermarket system.
And…no…in this case, the problem did not have anything to do with butchering of the car’s wiring. Instead, it had to do with an installer who could not read and follow instructions that explained how to take the system out of “test mode”, and how to program it for “operational mode”.
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Do dealerships still try to prevent the car buying prospect from leaving? It used to be they’d ask for your driver’s license, then “lose” it, so you couldn’t leave. Or while on your test drive they’d have their shop inspect your trade-in, the car you drove there with, then when you wanted to leave they’d say they didn’t know what happened to your car. So you couldn’t leave.
I can’t imagine that works nearly as well when everyone is carrying a cell phone and can quickly call the police to help with the situation
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Wow. Glad you told me about that since this would be the first install I would consider getting done by them. I wonder if I asked them about it in detail if they would lie to my face.
See below…
Yup!
Quite a few years ago, when I had my very first cellphone, a particularly sleazy Honda dealership “couldn’t find my car keys” after evaluating my trade-in.
I pulled out my cellphone, and informed the sales-scum person that he had exactly five minutes to locate my keys before I phoned the police.
Somehow 
that pronouncement motivated them to find my car keys, and I drove away with the resolve to NEVER return to that den of vipers, and I never did return, although I did take the time to trash them online.
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Maybe when you go looking for a new car, you need to do what some jewelry shops do to make sure the customer doesn’t walk away with the ring, tie a piece of string to your drivers license and car keys … lol
I never trade a car in because I like to sell them myself and also makes the deal less complicated.
I recently bought a left over 2016 Hyundai Veloster. Looked at truecar, edmunds and saw what the bottom line price should be on the trim I wanted. E-mailed bunch of dealers from their own site with the specific in-stock car’s VIN. Finally, one came down to the price that I liked, called and confirmed. By the time we got there they claimed that they had sold that particular car but were willing to give us a good deal on one with higher trim and bunch of extra stuff. I told them mu budget was exactly what we had discussed, not a penny more and as we were getting ready to leave the saleswoman agreed to sell the higher trim at the same price; deal done.
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LOL! Very interesting!