I am deperately looking into buying a car remote start with alarm. So far these are the options I have been offered, please help me decide.

1. Audiovox APS996 (remote start + alarm) US $486.37 installed
2. Compustar 2WSS US $714 installed
3. Autostart (remote start only) CD $580 installed
4. Autopage (remote start + alarm) CD >$1000

Do you think its a good idea to install just the remote start with the stock alarm system left in.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

This is purely opinion based question. Different people do different thing with respect to car alarms. I mean I alway felt that the stock alarm in our cars is pretty crappy, so I'm waiting to get the Viper 550 ESP Alarm w/remote start installed. You should be able to get this installed somewhere for about 500 dollar range, maybe a little more or less. Includes parts and labor. I am also going to add in the modules so that the windows and sunroof will close when the car is armed. This will obviously cost a little extra.

But if I had to make a suggestion, I would tell you to stay away from all of your choices and get an alarm manufactured by DEI... (Directed Electronics Incorp.) They make, Viper, Cliffor and Matrix I believe. All are good options and you'll find that these are the choices made by other people on this board, including myself. I have the Viper 550 just need to find time to drop the car off for a whole 2 days.

I hope this helps.

 

Be Careful however with remote starts, I work at Circuit City, and a customer came in with a 03 Maxima, that just got stolen because someone saw that they had remote start, and knew that the bypass was infact inside the car, so they broke in and opened the bypass and took the key.....crazy sheehat

 

Thats a scary situation you just described. I have been told one way to avoid such problems is by cutting the key so that only the plastic head containing the chip is left inside the car. Also ebay has a lot of Honda/Acura transponders for $22 which I believe can avoid such situations from occuring.

 

Thats a great idea, think i'm gonna do that to my key.

Question for anyone with a remote start. When used, Does it turn on your climate control and radio??? Mine does not, even after being left on. I do like how it does not turn the radio on, but the one of the purposes is to turn on the heat. Is there way to changr this???

AcuraDoc -- I have a clifford matrix RS 2 two way by DEI. I love it, works great. You can find it for about 500 installed.

 

Dam that is scary!! I would've have never thought thas possible!! I thought if u break into the car... the car is automatically armed now and the ignition switch is cut off? So even with the key from the transponder... you would still have to deactivate the alarm first before starting the car.

If you dont understand what Im saying... next time.. when u get into the car... arm the car with ur remote... then open one of the car doors manually from the inside... this should sound off the alarm.. same as if someone has broken into your car. Now while the car is goign crazy... take your key and try to start the car.. it shouldnt start, cuz the alarm that is sounding has deactivated ur ignition..so the engine won't crank.

So how did they steal that 03 Max?

 

once they found the key in the trasponder box they can turn it on then push the override button or just unplug the main alarm unit near by, once unplug you can start the car unless there is addition fuel cut off or normally open starter kill

 

I have finally decided to go with the Viper 791 combo unit. I have spoken to different installers, few want the key to be left in, few said they could use a bypass unit. One guy said he has 10 years experience and he has never heard how they could do it wihtout the valet key (for a 2002 TL-S). Is it really possible to do away without the valet key to be left inside the car???

They all gave me a price around $500 installed

Secondly, does the install require the door panel to be opened???

Thanks for your help.

 

I think they need to remove the door panels because they need to install the shock sensors/door sensors.

 

You could just have the bypass key programmed without having it *cut* to the original key, i.e blank key.

-carlos

 

I am getting the viper alarm and starter combo installed next week. They quoted me at about 550, which is not to bad since it comes with the two way pager set up which alerts you if your alarm is set off. I'll let you know how it come out next Thursday the 11th

 

Yes, thats the price I have been quoted by different stores, so the deciding factor should be the installers' experience especially with Acura.

One of the stores gave me an estimate of $485 for an astrostart 5204 which is 'Made in Canada' has a two way pager remote and a distance of ~2000 ft.

http://www.astrostart.com/

I am confused again!!!!

 

No they shouldn't need to do anyting with the door, the shock sensor is usually mounted on the steering colume as it is the most sentive. They do open up the trim under the sterring wheel. I do believe that leaving the key or part of it is the only the remote start will work, mine was done by a friend whose been doing installs for years and that what he told me.

 

Please tell me you didn't get the Viper 790. . .I have installed about 10 of those in cars since I have been with CC and I have had to replace just about as many. It is a cool feature to have the 2 way page, but that is just in theory, most of the time if you aren't in audible range of the siren you aren't likely to be able to get back quick enough to protect your car. This isn't even taking into consideration the fact that when the pager itself goes bad (and it most likely will), you have to replace the entire alarm instead of just the remote. Personally for the same money the one i would look at is the Viper 550ESP with an additional Pezo siren hidden in the dash. The output from that alone would be dibilitating enough to an would be assailant trying to get in your car that it's contents would remain relatively safe.

 

if the remote malfunctions, why would you need to replace the whole alarm system? I have the 790 and I was told by the installer I can get additional remotes and they just need to program the remote to work with my existing 790 alarm system. I know at least 10 ppl with the VIper 790 and no complaints from a single one of them.

 

Don't need a whole new system you can just get a new remote, kinda costly though.

 

the general problem is that the remotes can lose there signal. this is a common problem in most all dei alarms and for the most part is easy to fix using the auto learn function built into the alarm. THe problem with the 790 is that once the remote loses the frequency it is impossible to auto learn it back. this is where the problem lies. you can go about ordering another alarm key which will cost you, or you can go and get the alarm replaced (taking advantage of the lifetime warranties through CC and DEI) the problem with that is why would you want to deal with the hassle. That is why I said i would rather just go with the 550ESP and avoid the whole ordeal.

 

I installed Clifford RS2 by myself and it works great. And you don't need to leave a key inside the car...There is a bypass module made by DEI for this!!

 

Many of the "DEI 555I HONDA, ACURA TRANSPONDER" modules are available on ebay for about $30. I wonder if these units are compatible with other remote starters or just with DEI.??

 

AS long as ur remote start has the (remote start status output (-)200ma...it should work...

 

ooooookay.. whatever that is....

 

I'm in the same boat. I want to alarm the car but have been undecided as far as which to choose between the Viper 790, and 550. I actually got an UNCUT key coded from Acura to be left in the car cuz I'm not a fan of leaving it in the car. The installer I spoke to told me the bypass modules to avoid leaving the key are no good. They go bad alot. Who knows?!?! After reading all you guys' posts, I am leaning toward my first choice again. 790...

 

We install the 790, well, the 791XV now, all the time with no issues. There were issues with the 790's remote, but the new version listed above is pretty solid. I have it in my own Ram, and have probably done 50 or so of them since they've been the 791 with no problem.

As for the key, we normally use this method, and either request the customer gets an uncut key (which is not possible for some cars as they need to be programmed IN the ignition), or we cut the key in half so it's useless except for the chip. On top of that, we hide the module VERY well, so it's almost impossible to find.

 

Street, I got the 791XV installed today, so far so good but since you do the installs maybe you can answer a couple of questions for me. First, the installer said he couldn't figure out the connection of the power trunk for the car to have it on the AUX. channel, is it THAT hard??? And second, when I remote started it the first time, the Navi didnt come on, said unformatted disk, but when I shut the car off and turned it on normal, it came up ok. WHY?
Thanks in advance..

 

hooking up the trunk release isn't that hard. all you need is to put a relay inline(i'm not positive you have to do it with our cars, but I put them in on all cars just to be safe) with the 3rd channel output wire on the alarm. and then you connect it to the trunk release wire in the car. This sounds a little confusing but just about any installer ought to know what I am talking about.

as far the Nav, has it done that everytime you remote start the car or did it just do it the first time?

 

Havent tried it again, it was crappy out today so i didnt bring the car out. I hope it was only the first time...

 

Hi Everyone, sorry for such a long message but I need your input. I'm being very wishy washy as I can't decide which security system/remote starter I want. I was planning on getting the Clifford Matrix 3.5 but I just found out today that one of my coworkers has one of the older Compustar model and he loves it.

Does anyone know the dimension of the remotes for both the Clifford Matrix lll and Compustar 2WSS models? I really don't want a bulky remote.

In the Clifford manual, the battery is a 1.5 AAA. In the Compustar, it is a AA battery, a noticable difference. Also, in the manual for the 2WSS model, it says to replace the AA battery roughly every month based on usage and car type. The Clifford doesn't say.

Lastly, the Clifford Matrix requires a toggle switch placed someone in the car to turn on/off the remote during servicing, etc where you don't want the remote starter to come on accidentally. It also requires a valet box to be installed somewhere in the car for those times the remote operation to set the valet doesn't work. (You press the switch on the valet box to turn on/off the system will turning on the ignition.) while in the Compustar, there is no toggle or valet box. If you need to go into the valet mode without using the remote, you turn the ignition to on and then off mode 5 consecutive times within 10 secs. And last, with the clifford, they need to install another LED indicator to show you if the system is in valet mode. The manually said this is the only way to tell. With this, the Clifford requires 3 additional items to be installed. This is making me lean towards the Compustar but from what I researched and other people's comment, the Clifford is probably the better alarms system.

HELP!

 

I haven't dealt with Clifford alarms, but they are still made by DEI and I have to believe there alot of similarities as Viper alarms. that being the case here are the answers as best I would guess and know.

All Viper Alarm/Remote Starts come with both a toggle switch and a valet switch. The valet switch has to be installed on the viper alarms just to get it to learn the tach for remote starts. The toggle switch isn't necessary though. It is just there to be wired in if you would like to have it there. As for the stuff about the LED you shouldn't need an extra one just to see if it is in valet mode. Basic rule of thumb is if the siren is silent and the LED (the one that flashes when the system is armed) is one constantly without flashing, then it is in valet mode. The remote itself isn't terribly bulky, about a third of the size of the LGVX6000 camera phone. That is about the best description of the size I can give you. Again this is under the assumption that DEI is cross platforming the Clifford the same as it does the Viper to the sidewinder, etc. . .

 

O.k. The Navi hiccup I mentioned before was just on the first time it was done. Navi turns on fine when the car is remote started... Thanks for the other info..

 

Got another question... Can the Viper 791XV remote be programmed to control the power seats like the factory remote?