Remote starters. Any real difference?

2002 Gen one
Getting a remote start for Christmas with locking door option
Is there any real difference between them? I don't need anything fancy just something that will start from my kitchen window to the truck in the driveway 40 feet away. Will be getting it professionally installed.

Should I just pick one and be done?

 

Can't speak to other brands but I have a compustar system and it works great.

 

I've had Viper and Clifford 2 way alarms made by Directed Electronics which are considered good alarms. Both had remote entry, start and door lock/unlock with added sensors for alarm. Both worked great with exception to draining the battery. When either of the vehicles were left for a week w/o being started, the vehicle's batteries would drain down to nothing. Remedy was to remote start each unused vehicle every day or two to keep the batteries charged. When at Sears checking one of their batteries that drained for replacement, I noticed a couple vehicles in their shop with same problem. The alarms were made back in 2010 and that issue might have been corrected by now. Check online who makes the better alarms like Directed Electronics and go from there with battery drainage problem in mind.

Getting feed back on that one will save you from unnecessary headaches, otherwise distance for activating starter and door lock/unlock is a concern. Also check if remote start and door lock can be hacked. Career criminals are always keeping up with sophisticated remote alarms, door lock and start. One thing you don't want is remote power for windows open/close. Heard stories that when batteries drain, alarm sensors go off or for unknown reason, windows go down on their own. That's bad when it happens to rain or snow outside, especially when unattended for awhile like overnight or when at work, etc..

Good luck and let everyone know your choice so we can learn from your research.

 

Good tip on Battery drain. I wouldn't have thought of that. To be honest I'm not overly concerned with theft. It's a 20 year old pickup truck. If they were going to chance getting busted for GTA I would think they would be going for a much more valuable vehicle

 

Personally, I'd read the reviews and go with a brand name. A remote starter is not the kind of thing you'd want to fail and potentially reduce the life or cause your starter to fail especially when its single digit temps outside.

 

I installed a remote start that I bought from 12voltsolutions. They sell a plug and play kit which was easy to install and works very well. The remote start is made by Fortin, thought I don't know if that is what they still use. It uses the factory "h' style key fob that comes with my Tundra, but they have other kits to work with other type Toyota keys. The range is dependent on the range of the factory key fob. They do sell a range extender, but I can't tell about that because I don't have it.

 

I'm going with this one. I shopped around local places and everyone installs a different brand/starter. A local guy that works out of his house with beyond stellar google reviews and TONS of knowledge said he never had a problem with them and they haven't changed there technology for years because they work. Plus I'm using a guy that does every install himself out of his house for over a decade

$48 Avital 4105L 1-Way Remote Start System with 4-Button Remote

https://www.amazon.com/Avital-4105L-Avistart-4-Button-Controls/dp/B01BHQ1YQE

 

Avital is another DEI brand. As mentioned above, quality stuff. We used to exclusively install Avital and Clifford products at the shop I worked at many moons ago.

DEI pretty much owns everything these days.

 

I just had the viper installed 2 days ago, the simple one. 3 presses of the lock button. I had the fancy ones on other cars but I really don’t need to start my truck from the other side of the city. No screen just the oem key.

 

I second the 12volt.solutions kit. I installed myself in under an hour taking my time and double checking everything and it works perfect. No cutting or splicing of wires either, all plug and play on 07 Tundra

 

They don't make plug and play for anything past 2007. I messaged them

 

All done works great. lock/unlock, panic mode, quite mode. No complainants $200 installed. Homerun

 

My go to guy for years mostly installs Avital starts and idatalink bypasses with no issues, if customer wants extra features he goes with Viper

 

I got the alarm kit from James, and the TPMS pigtail from 12volt.solutions. It was still cheaper than all of it from 12volt.solutions and James' instructions were super easy to use.

 

The one I got from them is in my 2019 Limited. Everything was plug and play except for a single wire which I had to splice in.

 

Pretty sure he meant pre 2007 @Geezer but either way, you are in the wrong forum

 

Just had mine installed in my Tundra on Thursday, Got a Compustar with 2 way communication. I like the fact that it sends a signal back to you and lets you know your truck actually started, also has an led timer that signals how much longer your truck will run and when it shuts off.

Had a Viper on my Superduty and like others, it kept killing my battery.

 

While Viper is also owned by DEI now, yours is a constant complaint we saw, and why we went with DEI's other brands, Avital and Clifford.

Viper had issues with battery suck, and their vibration sensors were atrocious, would trip the alarm over a brisk breeze, even at the lowest settings. Got someone nearby with a loud sub? Too bad, your alarm is going off every time they go by thumping.