Hello everyone. I am new to the forum and this is my first post. I have an '05 RL that I purchased about 6 months ago. I absolutely love this car by the way! I was given as a Christmas present a remote starter installation from a local stereo/car alarm shop. I've done searching, but haven't found much info on remote starters for the second generation RL's. Does anyone here have one???
Thanks
Tom

 

Tom,

Be very very careful about what shop does the installation of the remote start on the RL. The RL is a very complicated machine and its electronics are very complicated. Having said that, adding aftermarket components is OK, but it must be done carefully and from a shop that has a lot of experience.

You should carefully interview the shop that is going to do the work. Are the installers MECP certified? (They better be). How long have the installers been in the business? What kind of cars have they worked on? Will they guarantee their work if the remote start causes problems with the cars electronics?

To be quite honest, you should see some trophies in the shop if they are any good. Those trophies signify that the shop has entered some competitions and won. That means they probably do good work. That's not a guarantee of anything, but its another way to verify they are good.

I guess my point is this: You don't want a young kid, with 2 years of experience, working on the RL. You want someone experienced, with 10+ years of experience, working on the RL.

 

To echo CFoote's advice; 3 years ago I bought a high end remote starter for our '02 RL and had it professionally installed at a place which had a very good reputation and which we'd worked with before. We had nothing but problems with it from day 1. The OnStar notification would turn on at strange intervals, the doors would lock and unlock unexpectedly and only memory seat 1 would work.

After that first week I took the car back and asked them to de-install everything to it's original condition. The shop was very good in that they stood behind their work and returned the car to it's initial condition and refunded all of our money as well as provided us a gift certificate. We got lucky there as I'm sure some other places wouldn't have been so easy to work with. They had installed the starter in TL's but this was their first RL and they vowed to not try it again.

We have an '05 now which makes the '02 look like a technological dwarf. I wouldn't go near another remote starter regardless of who was installing it (even if it was free). Good luck and I hope your experience is better than ours.

 

Yeah, that is my general feeling about it. I love the car, and have NO desire to screw it up in any way. Remote start would be nice, but not worth the risk. Maybe I will have them install it on the family hauler (Dodge Caravan) instead, unless of course I can get them to give him a refund rather than store credit.

 

I did see a sign at my dealer a couple of weeks ago...something about remote start but it didn't mention which vehicle could or couldn't use it and I didn't ask. I will next time I'm there.

LL

 

Have remote start on my other car and while in San Luis Obispo on a Lexus meet I freaked out a lady walking by the car when it started by itself. Wish I had my camera handy.
Handy at times, used it twice all last year though.
Be interested how it bypassed the key fob perimeter limits.

 

^^^ i'm from canada, and up here you need one for sure! i have a compustar pro 2 way installed. These cars are very tricky! what my installer did was he had to use a blank transponder key and wire it up to the ignition barrel. Some places will tell you that you need to lose one smart key fob, this is not true!

 

i heard something like that, you have to purchase a key from the dealer or some sort of bypass for an additional ~$150. or so on top of the remote starter price.

 

Guys there is an OEM acura remote start now......

 

no bypass is needed if your installer goes same route as mine. The smart key bypass box DOESN'T work for this vehicle, I don't know why they even manufacture it.

 

I personally dont like the factory ones if theyre like the honda remote starts which im pretty sure they are. Ive installed them in hondas and i dont like the features and theyre expensive. Not for me.

 

I thought about the remote start but i found it to be too risky. So instead what i do is since the car has keyless start i go in the car and start the car then use the key to lock it. I do that all the time. Its a pain to go out in the car to start it but hey it works well for me.

 

For the RL? I heard it was for the newer cars like the RDX, TSX, TL, etc. If you know it's for the RL let us know!

 

bump

 

I checked, the new Acura remote starter is for 2009 cars I wanted to install it on my 06, but the dealer said it was no go. It requires a specific wiring harness.

 

I had a Alpine remote start back in my 1999 TL. It worked flawlessly, but that was a different animal than 2nd gen RL's. I wouldn't try any aftermarket remotes on my RL now.

As for Honda/Acura's OEM remote starts, I thought it was something like you can remote start it, but when you enter the car, you had to shut it down and re-start it the traditional way? Not that this is a big deal, but not like the old days of just poppin in your key and driving off.

 

Im from canada and I was thinking of doing this but after a while it didn't make sense to me. The car heats up very quickly once in motion and if you let the car idle for periods of time it eats up A LOT of gas. There is a huge difference in gas mileage if you let the car idle for 5 min opposed to 2 min and driving off.

 

what is the purpose of remote start?

 

The real purpose? To heat up the car and inside when temperature is freezing outside or to cool the interior when it's blazin' hot outside.

For fun purposes? To scare people around the car when nobody is inside. The cool factor of starting your car remotely. The lazy factor of not needing to crank your ignition when you get in and wait a couple of seconds for things to settle down or startup. Also to be able to keep your car running and lock the doors for a quick <5 minute errand (this was pre push button/keyless starts).

 

Purpose for a remote start on an RL? Strictly for fun.

The car takes LEGIT 3-4 minutes to warm up.

 

You've never lived in the wintry north, have you?

I wish it could be easily installed on the RL.

 

nope... I'm a tropical kinda guy I can't function well in the cold:P

but doesn't our RL need the key fob to be detected to start the car? I'm sure Honda have the engine block warmer.... I've seen them before as an option dealers sell....

 

While I was at my dealer's last weekend getting the power steering hose recall completed, I came across an official Acura brochure on just the remote start. The brochure made the installation seem so simple. It appeared to cover all Acuras, although mentioned none specifically. When I showed it to the Parts Manager, he mentioned that it was for the 07 and later MDX. He further stated that they have had nothing but problems with them and suggested that I wait. He said that he thought there would be a remote start accessory available for the RL later this year.

 

So does acura sell remote starts for 09 RL's as add on accessories? If it works in a 09 it should be able to work on a 05 right?

 

i too am interested in a remote (engine) start for the RL. i just searched acura.com and the only thing i found was a video for a Remote Engine Start for the 2009 Acura MDX. i wonder if it will work on 2009/10 acura RLs.

i doubt it will work on an 05 rl cuz some else mentioned that it requires a different wiring harness.

i hope the new 2011 RL will have a remote start, at least as an option or accessory.

 

Indeed. The stock remote start on my CTS-V is a wonderful feature. I turn on the car as I'm headed down the stairs and by the time I get to the car 60 seconds later, the oil has fully circulated through the engine and I can take off w/o much engine wear.

I wish there were an easy way to add it to the 2G RL.