I have read through the previous threads and couldn't find if anyone has installed a remote starter for their TL yet. I see some folks had Best Buy do the installs with some epic failures.

So my question is, has anyone installed a remote starter themselves on their 4th Gen TL? Besides the remote starter kit, is there a harness or any other items that come into play when performing this?

Might not even work, but just as an example ->

 

Or a better one that is designed for the push-to-start model that I have...

 

I was just looking at that one from Amazon. I looked up the installation instructions and see that on our cars, it requires stripping, tapping, and electrical taping a bunch of individual wires all over the dash including behind the instrument cluster.

https://ts.mypushcart.com/tipsheets/B-2354-111/298

I was hoping it was more "plug and play" with pre done harnesses that would go between the existing harnesses (like what Navtool does for their media product)

While I'm perfectly capable of doing it, I just don't want to create that much wire spaghetti on the car just to get remote start.

 

Hey all,

Yup I've done this. Unfortunately there is no "plug and play" harness of any sort. It requires connections to the Power Control Unit, amongst other things.

Here's an install diagram for Smart Key TL: https://directechs.blob.core.windows...N_20201104.pdf

Cheers.

- Chris

 

I did a little more research and discovered something that is a game changer for me. Besides the Remote start kit for our car, they also sell the Smartphone app add-on which lets you use your smartphone from anywhere to do stuff like:
GPS locate your car
Lock the doors
Monitor battery condition
Start and stop the engine
and get alerted if the car alarm goes off.

They are having a 15% off Black Friday deal right now (promo code Black-Friday-15)

The grand total for everything was $263 with no tax and free shipping.

 

Yeah so just a couple things - that company MPC is actually just re-selling a Fortin interface called the EVO-ALL. Again, not a "plug and play" solution.

And there's a number of different solutions for adding phone control on the market such as SmartStart Pro and Drone.

My thoughts on this are if you haven't successfully installed a remote start before this is probably not the vehicle you want to cut your teeth on. My 2 cents.

 

Although I do want to note - I believe the OEM remote starter is more like a "plug and play" style install. Of course it has its own sets of limitations.

 

The OEM kit is plug and play, but it is crazy expensive for what it does and requires you to carry around a second dedicated remote that is used only for the remote start functionality. That was a deal breaker for me.

The MPC kit lets you use the original key fob to start the car or allows you to do it from inside your house or job even if out of range of the key fob, with the smartphone app.

The MPC kit is just a prepackaged custom kit with the correct programming and wiring for the specific vehicle. It is made up of parts that can be purchased separately for cheaper, but as I get older, I’ve gotten lazier and I’m perfectly willing to pay a little more for some convenience and simplicity.

I was hesitant to go through all the trouble of the install just for the remote start functionality, but now that I discovered the smartphone app functionality to monitor the alarm, see the status of the locks, lock or unlock them if needed, GPS track the vehicle, and other functionality, that was the incentive for me to pull the trigger.

I used to have a “Delphi connect” ODB2 unit that had the GPS tracking and monitored the status of the car, but it could not control the locks or see their status on the TL Tech version. The service was eventually discontinued and I miss that functionality. I especially liked that this MPC unit will be hidden and hard wired, so it’s not as easy to defeat as an ODM2 connected device that can just be unplugged under the dash.

I’m very familiar with electronics and audio/alarm/accessory wiring, so I have no issues with the complexity, but I do agree that if someone is not comfortable with disassembling the dash or wiring, then they should not attempt this themselves.

Once I have it installed and test it for a few days, I’ll post a detailed review on the Facebook 4th Gen TL page, and update this post here.

 

Yeah just for the record the ability to use smartphone control (or even OEM fob) is not unique to the Fortin EVO-All. That's the case for iDatalink interfaces as well as Directed DB3 and DS4.

Enjoy the install!

 

I totally expect that there will be lots of cursing involved. LOL

 

Thank you both for your input. And since this is my first time installing a remote starter kit, I might not want to cut my teeth and use my car as a guinea pig. The St. Louis Acura dealership has a deal for $500 to have it installed, but I think I'll just man up and drive around in the cold for a few minutes before dropping that kind of cash.

 

Too bad you're not in the SoCal area because I would gladly beat that price!

- Chris