For the last 20 or so years I have had a remote starter in every car I’ve owned that had an automatic transmission. I did put one in a manual tranny car once, but it was a hassle and a pain in the butt to use. Last winter I bought a 4x4 “beater car” for my wife because her Jag is rear-wheel drive and not good in snow. I paid 4 lousy grand for that 4x4 but I slapped a remote starter in it. It’s nice to get into a toasty warm car on a cold day.
A lot of new cars are coming with them as options now days.
But I’m amazed at how many people freak out over it. “OMG! Your car just started up! WTF!”:eek:
"Hey. Hey! Sir! Sir! You left your car running!":eek:
"Will the owner of a white Ford Mustang, license plate# *FA-Q-2 ***please come to customer service!" ** Only to be told at customer service "your car is running! OMG! WTF!:eek:
What the hell? I know a couple of guys who have remote starters. One says nobody pays attention to it, but a couple others all say the same thing I am.
I’m surprised they’re not standard equipment by now. How common are they?
They’re probably fairly common on new vehicles, but a lot of us are still driving 10 year old cars and have never had one ourselves. The OMG! Your car started up with no one in it! will continue for another 10 years or so.
That’s funny- because the van I bought in 1999 had a remote starter and the SUV I bought in 2011 didn’t. I wonder if the push button start had something to do with it
Depends on where you live. In Anchorage they were as common as mice, along with engine block heaters. Many businesses put in outlet posts in their parking lots as an employee benefit. They’re also very common in places like Wisconsin and Minnesota. Here in Portland, they’re almost non-existent unless they came with the car.
And…guess what? Between the time I started this thread and now I went over to the store to use the red box and get a quart of beer, and halfway walking across the lot a woman yells 'Sir! Sir! Did you know your car is still on?"
My first remote start car was on a new '94 ford Tempo that I got in the fall of '93 and this stuff has happened ever since. i just find it odd and didn’t think remote starters were that much out of the ordinary.
I wasn’t offered the option of a remote start on the 2011. They didn’t even try to sell me a dealer installed system. That’s why I thought it might have to do with the push-button start.
Same here. Add to that the fact that I was raised not to waste gasoline by letting the car warm up for more time than it takes to scrape the windows, and a Northern climate that is milder than yours, and I’ve never seen the need. My parents felt that you bundled up in the winter and that would keep you warm in the car until the heat built up. In the Volkswagen Beetle I drove back in the 70’s, that usually didn’t happen for at least twenty minutes, and I only worked ten minutes away. Shivering is good for the soul!
But are you freaked out by one? If someone walks away from their [unoccupied] car and it’s running do you yell across the parking lot about it? I’m perplexed about 1)why anyone gives a shit 2) why they freak about it.
Sure, but that’s probably your answer. I live somewhere where remote starters are fairly common, but if I saw someone’s car running when it wasn’t even below freezing I’d assume they accidentally left their car running or accidentally hit the remote start button and would possibly feel the need to alert them.
To answer the question in the title, I do think they are a bit of a cultural thing (in addition to obviously a climate thing). They seem to be the technological extension of “Honey, go out and start my car wouldja?” which, back when you had to leave the keys in, was only possible in rural and suburban areas. In more urban areas, the idea of leaving your car running for 15 minutes to warm it up has never even occurred. Perhaps that will change now that they’re more frequently being offered as factory options.
It seems like you’re lumping leaving your car running when you leave it in with using a remote starter. Those are two different things. I can see using the remote start to let the car warm up, but if you’ve driven somewhere and are leaving it running, you’re not warming the car up. It’s presumably already warm.
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I can see using the remote start to let the car warm up, but if you’ve driven somewhere and are leaving it running, you’re not warming the car up. It’s presumably already warm.
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Also, starting your car in a private place (at home) is not the same as leaving it running at a gas station or public place,where there are people loitering…and possiblylooking for a car to steal.
It’s not common as a factory installed option but some dealers will install one themselves or send it out to a local installer to have the work done if you ask. The problem with push button start cars is that many installers require that you leave an actual remote key fob somewhere in the car; hidden but none the less in the car.
Most new cars off the line have too many different options for installers to know how to properly install one without a key fob. When I bought my Altima Coupe several years ago every installer in the area wanted to hide the key fob somewhere and I said no because it’s just crazy to leave an actual key in the vehicle in my opinion. So I asked a tech from the Nissan test track to help me and he told me where to go and he would instruct them how to do it. Still it took three trips to the installer to get it right as warning lights for tire pressure and trunk open signals were randomly going on and off. They finally got it right and then someone rear ended and totaled my car.