How to Choose the Correct Remote Start for Your Vehicle

Restaurants, Malls, Sporting events, Hospitals, Work, Parking Garages, and many others. While remote starts are rated by how many feet of range they have, it is only in ideal conditions with no interference, that you will maximize the stated range.

Things that can greatly affect the range include: RF interference, buildings, power lines, fluorescent and neon lighting along with many other factors. Don’t shortchange yourself on range, or expectations on performance, if in doubt, pay a little more to get a more powerful unit. You want your car to be warm and running when you get in it!

Some 2-way systems will give you much more information. Are the doors locked or unlocked? How much run time your vehicle has left? What is the interior temperature? All in the palm of your hand. 2-Way costs a little more, but it’s worth it!

3) Keyless Entry - Most vehicles now come with factory keyless entry, but there are reasons you may want to have it tied into your remote start. Some factory keyless will not operate while your vehicle’s remote start is operating. You may have to unlock with the actual key (old school) or shut off your remote car starter before unlocking doors with the factory keyless. A lot of factory keyless have a very short range 10’ to 30’!

That is not enough range if you are running out to your car on a cold windy day, or in a heavy downpour of rain. Remote car starters that have keyless entry also offer other convenience features you can add such as turning on heated seats, rear window defrost, car finder, low temp start, and more.

4) Convenience Features - Make sure you visit with your salesperson all of the convenience features that can be added to your remote starter before purchasing, or the installation!

Depending on your vehicle there may be some great convenience features added that can be controlled by your remote start system like remote sliding doors, heated seats, rear window defrost, alarm...It is a lot cheaper to have this done at the time of installation than to wait and add it later. 

5) Warranty - The actual main brain (module) should be warrantied for as long as you own the car. The remote controls (transmitters) should have a 2-year warranty. At Auto Systems, AstroStart follows these warranty guidelines.

6) Professional Installation - Make sure that the place you purchase and have your remote start installed is a remote start professional with installers that are well- trained and many years of experience.

This is very important! Although there are some installers that feel they can save time on the installation by using crimp connectors or scotch locks, the only way Auto-Systems will connect the wire is to solder them.

The electrical systems on today’s vehicles run on just milliamps of current, so the only way to avoid issues down the road is to have a rock solid connection through soldering the wires. Auto Systems has been installing remote car starters since 1989 making us the oldest remote car starter installation center in the Midwest, that’s a ton of experience! Choosing the right installation center is as important as choosing the right brand of remote start.

7) Choose the Brand of Your Remote Starter Wisely - Make sure the manufacturer is a company that specializes in remote car starters and has a reputation for selling high-quality products. There are many companies that just purchase boxed goods, throw a label on them and call it their own.

Stay away from them! They have inconsistent quality, and offer little, if any, support for the product and could care less about the quality of installation of their products. In a year or two, when you need them, they’re usually nowhere to be found. Auto Systems does not sell any brand of generic auto starts or remote car starts.