I have been looking at remote starts and wanted to know what every thought about them before i bought one....are they worth it???what is a good price???are they hard to install and if so where can i get one installed??? i have a 04 sunfire 2.2 ecotec....any info will be greatly appreciated...thanks
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are they worth it???
---Yes, imo.

what is a good price???
---Depends what you want and where you get it. If you get remote start and alarm then it could be a lot. I bought mine, Viper 5900 SST, off of Amazon for $250. You can prolly get an alarm and remote start from anywhere between $60-$250. If you want just remote start you could prolly spend anywhere between $25-$100. It just all depends what features you want and where you get it.

are they hard to install and if so where can i get one installed???
---Yes, they can be. My first one I ever did took me 2 nights so all in total probably like 15 hours, but I did it. If you don't have experience with car electronics/electronics in general, I wouldn't attempt it. If you read up, after a while you should be able to get a hang of what you need to do but if you know you aren't good with electronics, I wouldn't try it. If you did want to get it installed, you can go to Best Buy (mine installed from best buy is a base of $500 and that doesn't include extra parts you need). You can also go to local shops and see what they want to intall it. Most likely it isn't going to be cheap and usually they will only install stuff you bought from them; it all depends on the shop. You could also try to find someone you trusted to do it. Like for example, if I did a remote start/alarm on ur car i'd prolly charge 100ish for scothlocks and 150ish for soldering.

Keep in mind that you'll also need relays and an immobalizer bypass.

If you need any more info, feel free to email or im me. Im usually on im from like1-4pm and from 2-5am.

-Seth

Bottom line is: you get what you pay for. If you go with a DEI product you are in good shape such as Viper, Clifford, Avital, etc. This is nothing like installing a cd player. You have to locate many wires and test them all over the vehicle. To purchase one of reasonable quality and have it installed by a qualified technician it will cost between $150-$300 depending on the model.

Make sure that you trust your car to a shop who:
1. Offers a lifetime warranty on parts AND labor,
2. Solders their connections. (If they cut corners here, they cut corners in other places too.)






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remote start is good for when it gets really cold out, and you dont feel like sitting in your car waiting for it to heat up. Thats really what its meant to do is warm up your car. If you live in a cold area with snow and crap like that, than yea its worth it. But if you live in a area where its mostly about 60 than no its not needed. If you plan on installing one for first timers it might take 5+ hours to do...Usually takes me an hour to 2 hours to install one and I've been doing them for a while now. You'll need basically the alarm setup and the bypass module/s. The reason for the bypass module is due to the fact our keys have a vats resistor in them. Which controls whether or not the car turns on or not. So you may or may not lose a key on this install. As for the cost... you get what you pay for. I perfer working with DEI products very easy to install..i.e Viper which includes a basic how to in the manuel. And to make things easier for you check out Direct Techs or 12 volt source They have the wire color list of basically what wire goes where for alarm remote starts fir your car.

definitely worth it, i got an audiovox prestige aps 997 pager alarm for under 150$ and it works great! just as good as dei if not better...dont let any one fool you this is a great system for the price! Now the install is a lil different, i did my own but then again im an installer =P. If you dont know what your doing dont try it you can really mess something up! DEI is good but the system i got is just as good and cheaper =) its all up to you this IMO!

I sell and install Omega products, if you need some stuff I can fix you up with a package deal.

I love mine. Bought a Viper 791 for $130 and the bypass module for $15. My first alarm install ever, and it took me about 8 hours total. Very time consuming... I was exhausted.

ive installed a few of them also. it really depends on what your doint them on. if your gonna do it on a mallibu or grand am then have fun. itl take you prolly 2 hours just do the ignition harness just cause its a bitch to get to. but a cavalier is fairly simple. ive done 3 cavaliers first time took me about 3 hours. especially when you have the correct diagrams so.

Thanks everyone...for the info...i talked to a friend of mine and he got me a viper set up with alarm and LCD screen on the key chain for $300 installed...