For those of you with car starters (and those that are just knowledgeable about them)....

Who makes a reliable brand of them? And installs them? I see ads around town for $100 installed....those make me nervous! I want to get one on our 99 for my wife for Christmas.

Does the remote starter require a seperate fob or can it use the keyless entry fob?

I have a remote starter, but it came with the car. It'* an UNGO, which is now owned, or at least made, by Clarion. It uses a seperate fob, and as a guess I would assume all would. There'* probably no easy way to reprogram the existing fob to run extra features. But even my starter fob will work the door locks and trunk.

What range do you get with it?

Not much on mine. Old and/or crappy model. But, it came with the car. Nice little bonus for me

The newer ones seem to be "How far away can you afford to start your car?"

I plan on installing a Viper 791 XV It has remote start and alarm. I think that it has a 1 mile range

100ft max on any factory alarm. The two way paging alarms get the 5280ft as an average. Some get less, some get more. If it'* just an average one, from wal-mart, don't expect more than 100ft there, either.

This is just a general guide, these will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, and model.


-justin

DEI (Viper and other reptiles), Code Alarm and Audiovox Prestige all are very good units. Auto Command is OK but I would stay away from Bulldog stuff.

Some remote starts can be activated by the factory remote by sensing lock pulses. For instance, if you pressed lock twice within two seconds, the unit senses the +12 volts going to the lock wire and begins the starting sequence. The range for GM RF systems are very poor for a remote start. I've installed them in some Chrysler products that have better range in the past.

Like the set-up that MOS has, you're better off adding the keyless entry features to the remote start for the convenience of only having one remote to do everything. This can get pretty expensive though if done by a shop. To give you an idea, this is what I used to charge:

remote start with basic installation $179
VATS bypass $25
keyless entry $50
trunk release $20
------------------------
total $274

I also installed some integrated alarm and remote start combo units. These combo units usually were $100 more retail but way less wholesale.

I have an Avital model and it'* been absolutely great! I highly recommend it. I'm going to get my brother a Viper remotestart/keyless entry for Christmas on his 2000 Bonneville too.

I have a DEI Viper, it hasnt caused any problems for me and have had it since 2000. I don't remember what the range on it was, but then again don't read too much into range as it'* measured by line of sight. :?

i have the viper 791 and the range is not 1 mile. the recieving range for the transmitter is 1 mile, not the sending. i think the range on mine is around 500 ft or so. works really nice. only problem i have is when you turn off the remote start it keeps all the radio and stuff on untill fifteen minutes later or you open the door. its the delay for the radio untill you get out of the car. does everyone else have the same deal or is there a way to bypass that.