Remote car starter

Yes a remote start can be installed but the only downfall is you have to use your spare keyfob to be a sacrificial lamb. Because none of the company's makes a toyota transponder interface yet. So you have to use a universal interface kit.To bad the fobs are so expensive or I would already have one I'm kinda waiting for someone to make a transponder kit because they are only $25 vers $300 for a fob.

 

Does that mean anyone can steal your car while it is so equipped?

Remote starters are great for comfort, but are counter to what the Prius is all about -- fuel economy and reduced emissions. If you're willing to forgo the comfort advantages a remote starter gives you, it is better to warm up the engine while it is doing something useful, like moving the car...

 

Only the remote start can start it you hide the fob in a box then hide the box really really good inside the dash there is a cable with a ring that goes around the back of the fob socket. When the remote start activates it relays the transponer codes back to the hidden fob then the fob responds via the ring. While not in operation the fob signal is too weak to activate the car. If you have smart keyles entry then you would have to take out the batterys in the fob to make that fob only use passive mode. Your other fob works as normal

Everyone thinks its for comfort have you tried scrapping 1/4 to 1/2 inch of ice off of a cold windshield?? It sure comes off easier with 4-5 min of defrost on it

 

I live in Indiana, of course I've scraped 1/4 to 1/2 inch of ice off of a cold windshield.

One could still argue that's a comfort advantage...

Thanks for the explaination!

 

i have to agree with Skew... all things are relative, and in cold climates, its nearly required to preheat the car at least a little.

take the word of a person who has gotten a ticket for windshield obstruction because i only cleared a small hole in my windshield one morning just after one of Michigans famous ice storms thinking the car would warm up faster if i was driving it.

with the car not being warmed up properly, it will still burn gas poorly resulting in polution.

the Prius will not burn anywhere near as much since it warms up quicker and also relys on electric power when on max heat.

oh course i was driving a POS chevy waaay back then too

 

Well, I have to admit, on the days when there is 1/2-inch of ice on the car, I do run the car while I'm scraping, and I do sit in the car until the defrosters have done their work. That's safety.

However, that condition doesn't happen every day, and is a far cry from what a remote starter is typically used for. I have neighbors around me that routinely run the car for 15 minutes to a half-hour every single day, much to my dismay. They leave for work very early, and wake me up long before I would like to be woke up. That's a lot of gasoline lost on a daily basis.

In the end, everyone has to go with whatever is important to them, I just thought I'd point out you shouldn't come crying to us about your cold-weather mileage after installing one of those things in your car!

 

Remote starters are popular here in AK. I suspect I could install one on my car very easily, as I do not have SKS.

Side note: Nice avatar.

 

In college, I rigged up a hair dryer on an extension cord for warming up the car. (It was a VW bug with the air-cooled motor and it's questionable heating ability.)

I used a wire coat hanger to make a clip that went over the driver side window. I put some foam around the hair-dryer's pistol-grip handle, and then wrapped the hanger wire around the handle. Then I formed a window clip that goes over the top edge of the window like an old-fashioned car-hop tray. The extension cord and the clip went in through the window, which was cracked slightly to allow the cord to pass, and that crack also let in fresh (dry) air.

The dryer was suspended by the wire hanger arrangement about 6-7 inches from the side window, and not really close to anything else. I aimed it by bending the wire until the exit air was directed at the front window in front of the driver.

I then connected a timer (inside the apartment) to an all-weather extension cord. I would have it come on about an hour (or was it two?) before I needed to leave. The inside would be nicely warmed, and a good portion of the front window wold be completely melted.

 

B) feemia99,

IMHOP you will not be able to hook up any remote starter for your Prius for the following reasons:

1) First of all you need the FOB to either inside the car (just sitting there if it is an SKS model) or inserted into the FOB slot (hopefully your FOB battery will not die due to either the cold and/or sending the signal constantly);
2) You would need some system to depress the brake and push the start button at the same time. If not you will go into the IG-ON mode;
3) Then some method of insuring that when the brake is depressed and the start button is depressed for a sufficient period of time to insure that the vehicle has been placed into the READY mode.

 

You guys are reminding me that I have to figure out a way to clear a Prius-sized space in the garage next weekend...

 

B) priusham,

I live here in Nebraska and my car stays outside and is never in the garage both in winter or summer.

 

These are no problems. Common practice when RFID keys first came out was to use a universal adapter that attached to one of your spare keys. A wire would then run from this adapter to the keyed ignition. When remote started it would transmit the signal from the key to ignition.

Something similar can be used to work for the Prius. No problems with battery, in fact you would take it out if you have SKS. It is passive.

A brake depress is easily simulated to the ignition with an aftermaret remote start. You think the Prius is the first car to have this safety feature.

Most remote starters have a timer setting that will allow you to specifiy the starting time. Most use a tachometer tap to tell the remote starter to stop starting as the engine is running, but of course that isn't necessary in this case.

A remote start would work just fine. If you are not sure of your abilities I would have a professional and a reputable shop that works on high end cars. Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, they all have had these features for years now.

 

wont work for a regular car either as it will have to have some way of physically turning the ignition and...

OH WAIT!!

we actually already have that and there is no requirement to physically touch or move anything...

i guess with the proper programming, the same can be done with the Prius

 

Skew,

Will a remote starter void my warranty for my new Prius

 

No it won't if done properly, for it to void the warranty they have to prove that it caused the problem. The good news is there is a bypass module that will work on the databus so you don't have to use a spare key. I have 1 that should be today hopfully I can install one in my prius in the next few days. I do about 50-60 remote starts this time of year so my personal car kinda get pushed to the end of the list I was nice enough to put one on my wifes car about 2 months ago before the maddness hit.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wayne @ Oct 30 2005, 09:02 AM) [snapback]147505[/snapback]</div>

Wayne,

Could one also agree that there is a mechanical advantage to remote starting (on cold winter days) for the purpose of:
1) getting the oil flowing
2) getting the mechanical parts warmed up
all before driving at high rpms?

I know that I am a little stiff when I first wake up, I'd sure like to keep my PRIUS for 10 years & 200,000+ miles. And yes I run full synthetic oil to reduce the friction.

To easily get 1/2" of ice off the window, place a tarp over the windshield of the car at night and in the morning just remove the tarp. The ice comes off with the tarp, easy, but ugly method of ice prevention.

Enjoy you PRIUS!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Hard_working_student @ Jan 4 2007, 07:41 AM) [snapback]370705[/snapback]</div>

Getting the oil flowing might be reasonable. But the engine will be idling at high manifold vacuum, which is not good for valve guides. I'm not saying you'd want to hot-rod an engine while it's cold, but it's good to put it under a little load---driving---to warm it. This assumes you've cleared the windshield of ice.

As for mechanical parts, there are far more parts on a car that don't warm up at idle. Transmission, differential, struts, shocks, brakes, you name it. (Yes, I realize the Prius doesn't have conventional trans and differential. But the point is that there are plenty of cold parts besides the engine.)

 

I have a remote starter on my car. Here's a link but it's in Japanese. Sorry, I can't read it either.

http://es89.com/es/es89/es89light/light2/push/default.asp

I had a remote starter on my gen 1 Prius and really liked it. I could start my car from my house in 33 degree C below 0 weather and 5 or 10 minutes later hop in, put in the key, and be in a nicely defrosted car. If the brake pedal was depressed before the key was put into the ignition, the car would shut down as a theft prevention measure.

When I got my '05 I asked about the remote starting system and was told it would be quite expensive, (about 7 or 800 dollars.) However, since it was right before my wedding, my dealer threw it in for free.

I have to say, I don't really use it that much, except for those really really cold days. The main reason is that the version for the new Prius has a lousy anti-theft measure. When started with the remote, the car shuts down automatically when a door is opened. There seems to be no way to get around this, the guys at Toyota say that's how it is with this model. It seems silly to warm up the car and then kill the engine and start it right back up again. If anyone knows of a good reason for this, please let me know.

Also, the car warms up so much more quickly when it's driven, (as do most cars.) As long as I can see out of the windows, I find it is much better to grin and bare the cold for those first 6 or 7 minutes of driving rather than waste the gas in the driveway.

Anyway, that's the Hokkaido perspective on the subject.

 

Hmmm,
Some folks here post how unlikely it will be that a remote will soon be available, due to the fob issues, then other folks just keep asking questions about how it will affect warranties, etc. Hmmm. Maybe the obsticle facts aren't sinking in. I've inquired from the dealer ... they say, "no such thing" ... yet skijapan says his dealer put one on? Weird. Time for more research.

Anyway, here in So. Cal many have never even heard of a remote starter, except for mafia guys that want to make certain their car won't explode upon ignition.

We bought our daugher a car retrofited w/ a remote starter (that neither she nor the dealer even knew about) installed, but NO REMOTE :^( she could use such a device now that she's in TN. The frieky thing is sometimes stray RF has caused the car to start on it's own. Sure tripped her out the first time she came out to her car only to find the engine running.