101–110 of 268 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
What is the usecase for a remote starter? I don't really understand why someone would want this. Could even be dangerous if it's left in gear.
To heat your car when it’s cold outside, prior to your entry.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's hyper super duper useful in rough climates. Primarily when it's minus 40 outside and you have kids, it's nice to warm up the car slightly before entering it. If you get spoiled, you might then also remote start it when it's plus 40 outside and you want ac to at least start. Also note that "if it's left in gear" is virtually irrelevant in North America, fwiw - something like under 2 percent of cars here are manua…
Thanks also, I get it now. I used to do this manually sometimes in the Netherlands to warm up the ice to make it easier to scrape off. But it involved the spare key to relock it while running and also to set the heat to full blast. We never get minus 40 though and where I live now it doesn't even freeze :) And as we also have pretty tiny engines here, it takes a long time to heat up this way because first the cooling…
https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/dmh5s/does_this...
https://www.reddit.com/r/reddit.com/comments/doe17/update_to...
Ahh. Looks familiar. A dealer in the PNW installed one of these (without our knowledge) in a Honda CRV we purchased. Something about anti theft and vehicle recovery by finance, for all the cars on their lot. The car had all sorts of crazy power problems. Smart display would randomly crash, interior lights wouldn’t work, just… flakey. Called the dealer and demanded they remove this. Electrical problems went away insta…
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30833566
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30833566#30838294
I discovered it when my new car started having the same issues you saw.
NOTE: it's somewhere between a scam and a crappy business practice. Here in southern california it's by no means only used cars or shady financing. The dealers install them on all the cars to keep track of their own inventory. Then they try to sell it to you as a kind of lojack for $$$$. If you are smart and decline, they just deactivate the unit (stop paying for the service), but do you think that they remove it? or repair the wiring?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
New car, bought from dealer, who swear they did not install it and are blaming another dealer from whom they acquired the vehicle. As far as the dealer goes I intend to make a lot of over-the-top demands and threats until they replace the wiring with all-new OEM parts and a lifetime warranty, but I think I'll start from just pointing to California Penal Code 637.7, demanding a completely new vehicle, and seeing what…
You’re better off just disconnecting it than getting new wiring. Wiring harness replacements are notorious for requiring obscene amounts of interior disassembly, and you might just end up with annoying squeaks and rattles.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thanks also, I get it now. I used to do this manually sometimes in the Netherlands to warm up the ice to make it easier to scrape off. But it involved the spare key to relock it while running and also to set the heat to full blast. We never get minus 40 though and where I live now it doesn't even freeze :) And as we also have pretty tiny engines here, it takes a long time to heat up this way because first the cooling…
Almost every car I’ve recently owned and/or rented has this option: unlock the car, then hold down the unlock button to roll all the windows down (and in some models, additionally open the sunroof).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most people in the US do not drive manuals. You can get them in manuals but you have to hack some stuff, and yea, it will stall your car out if you start it in gear. In the US they are largely for convenience so you can heat or cool your car before you go out.
No manual I have ever driven will even start without the clutch engaged, so I assume a remote starter can bypass that somehow? I always leave my manual car in gear in the opposite the direction the car would be likely to roll if the emergency brake ever failed. (If the car would roll forward, put it in reverse. If it would roll backwards put it in 1st).
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yeah, people are just imagining the NSA led global surveillance apparatus.
the NSA is certainly real, the likelihood of them bugging your car unless you're smuggling nuclear secrets is rather low the three letter agencies don't care about people who play video games and watch cat videos all day
(Talking out of my ass)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
How is it allowed for a dealer to cut wires and install a non OEM-approved electronic device onto the CAN bus? This seems like it would void all the manufacturer warranties and potentially create liability for the manufacturer if it malfunctions.
This seems like it would void all the manufacturer warranties That's what the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson%E2%80%93Moss_Warranty... is for.
This is a complete hack job and I doubt there is a single component related to the electrical system that wouldn't be an easy denial from Honda unless the dealer played along... and in a modern car so much is tied to the electrical system that, while technically they didn't just void their entire warranty, they did just gut it to the point of being nearly useless.