Remote Start Troubles

People living in freezing climates especially in apartments that don't offer a garage or a carport would really appreciate the value of a remote starter for their cars. I belong to this group.

Many a time during the winter months I have to scrape my car in the cold, warm it up for a good 10-15 minutes so that I don't freeze myself in the car and also to keep my engine safe. I have been looking at remote starters for quite some time but avoided them as I read some horror stories about them messing up the car electronics/electricals. However I gave in when I came across the Viper SmartStart. This remote start solution from Viper comes with an iPhone app that brings a great cool factor and infinite range. The app itself is free on the iPhone App Store.

I got the SmartStart installed at my local Best Buy for around US$ 600.00 that includes the SmartStart system, additional interfaces for plugging the SmartStart system to my car's electronics and installation fee (included in the SmartStart price of US$ 499.00 before tax). Before I went to Best Buy to pickup my car, I dowloaded the SmartStart app onto my iPhone. When the Best Buy technicians installed the starter in my car, Viper sent me an email with my account information. So, I got my iPhone app ready before I made my trip to Best Buy.

Version 1 (The version that I first downloaded) of this app enabled me to start the car, lock the car and unlock the car, from anywhere in the _world_ where my iPhone has a data connection - WiFi/3G/Edge whatever. However there was no two way communication. So when I pulled up the app there is no way of knowing the current state of my car. There was integration with climate controls etc. Viper advertised that Notifications/Two way communication would be available in the next version. All in all, I found this remote starter system to be real good.

The Best Buy technician told me that this app would communicate with a car only over 3G/WiFi but I tested the app on EDGE and it worked just fine.

After exactly a week the remote system in my car became unresponsive to the app. The physical remote was still able to communicate alright. I took the car to Best Buy and the technician told me that the signal receiver was out of position. The app started working after he seemed to adjust the receiver's position in the car.

However, I ran into the same trouble after some time. The remote works real good but the remote system became unresponsive to the iPhone app. I was very unimpressed with these constant troubles and I conveyed my annoyances to the Best Buy guys. They gave me two options -

1. Get the system corrected
2. Return for a full refund
3. Get a different system

I wasn't interested in (1) at all. I have to wait for both (2) and (3) as appointments weren't available for a month. After talking to the technician I decided to go with (3). After using the system for some time now, I really appreciate it's value. So, given the choice I decided to go with (3). I don't have any specifics about this but the technician informed me that he would install a system that would have two way communication, a remote with an LCD screen that would spit out the Vehicle status - current status (on/off), inside temperature, ability to turn on defrost controls etc. So, I am looking forward to this new system. It doesn't have a cool iPhone app, but it's better to have something that _works_ for a change.