This is the best comment in this thread. Can someone confirm this post? Here is another way to describe the scenario of events that I think would happen. 1) You press Start Car on the keyfob. 2) The car reacts the same as if you were in the car and pressed the start button. 3) If A/C is set to 72 deg and it is 90 deg outside the A/C will run and start the engine if needed for 10 minutes. 4) If the heat is set for 72 deg and it is 20 deg outside the engine will start and try to heat the car for 10 minutes. 5) When you unlock the door the car will power down and you need to hit the start button to start it again. The accessory list claims the remote start only works with the IV and V Prius models. Can someone confirm I can install it on a model II?
A better design would be to check for the keyfob. If it's there, leave the car in remote start mode. When the brake is depressed to shift into gear, revalidate the keyfob again and switch to normal Ready mode. If the keyfob is not there when the brake is depressed, then shut everything down. This design would provide a seamless transition between remote start and normal Ready mode. It also maintains the security of the keyfob system.
On what accessories list does it say this. I have the printed prius brochure and have checked the prius section of the Toyota web site and don't see that claim.
You are correct. I went over the material again. I must have been thinking of the ‘Remote Air Conditioning System’ I still would like for someone to post exactly how the remote start handles A/C and Heat. According to the web site it should run your AC or Heat for 10 minutes.
DONT GET REMOTE START! I could not believe Toyota actually offers this as an option. Think about it! WE buy a Prius because it doesnt idle. So why in the world would you buy a remote start to make a low emissions vehicle create emissions from the comfort of your home or office. Laziness kills!
I think it is in line with the new marketing campaign, a kind of "a Prius for the rest of us". They want to get normal drivers in the Prius (not just eco-geeks). Offering usual accessories is probable part of that. Because your are expecting a baby in December, in Quebec, with temperatures bellow -20°C (-5°F) and you have $500 to waste on a gadget to allow you to warm the car for a few minutes without getting out-in-out. Part is laziness, part is practicality. Will I use it for no reason simply because I have it? No. PS. This will only happens when I'm away from home, as the EBH will do the work at home.
WE buy a Prius because of a variety of reasons. Running the ICE for a few minutes for a useful purpose (as opposed to idling at a traffic light) doesn't bother me. In any event, we in the north often have to preheat the car to help remove front and ice from the windows (and sometimes we have to remove ice just to open the doors), so what diffence does it make to you how we start our cars? At least the ICE is very efficient at heating up and has excellent emissions. Furthermore, how does remote starting equate to laziness? To use the remote start, I would have to walk to within range of my Prius. Some of those times I would return to my office (requiring additional work) to finish packing up and other times I would work on clearing snow and ice off the car. I don't understand what's lazy about that. Care to explain?
For those who are claiming that you'll have to go through another warm-up cycle - I couldn't disagree more. If the engine is already warm when starting up, the engine may not even start until needed for motive power. I say this based on how my car operates in the warm AZ climate (minus remote start).
I was wondering about that, but I'm clueless as to the details of the warm-up cycle. It certainly should be smart enough to realize that the engine is already warmed up.
Guess it depends on how long you've been away from the car, and state of battery charge. Since I'm the one that started that thought, perhaps it would have been more accurate to say, if a warm up cycle was required, it would have to resume again on the 2nd start, depending on how long it ran before I opened the door. I still wonder if there isn't some potential extra waste from restarting the car twice. However, I don't even really care about that issue. The main point is that it is just fricking annoying and unnecessary! The car is only going to open if I deliberately open it. Why be so paranoid about someone jumping in the car and driving off with it? As I said in my OP, by the time I normally try to remote start the car, I'm already very close. Since my whole reason for having it was to get the AC going early, and keep it going, I don't want the car to shut down when I open it.
:yo::yo: There appears to be two very different opinions about the Remote Start option. One camp insists that Remote Start will also start air conditioning if that function was on when the engine was shut off. The other camp insists with equal vigor that Remote Start cannot activate a/c even if it was on at the time of engine shut off. Is there anyone out there with INSTALLED Remote Start only who can simply leave the a/c on while shutting down the engine; then activate Remote Start and advise whether the a/c is simultaneously activated?
check my crazy posts for today. i had remote start installed today. in essence its like getting in your car and pushing start. that is the ac or heat will work and all other settings seem to work. however when you unlock the door to get in it turns off. thats ok though because you of course start it right away. its nice so far. since i just got it i dont know all the tricks, but seems very straight forward. fred from nashville