Do Remote Car Starters Work for Every Car?
Extremes are bad. So, whether it’s the sweltering heat or the piercing cold, if it’s intense, we won’t be able to stand it. These severe temperatures can make a simple trip from the parking lot to the car seem like an extreme sport. Well, a remote car starter comes in here to save the day.
These devices allow you to switch on your car’s heating or air conditioner from a distance. So, by the time you reach your ride, its interior temperature would be just the way you like it. While that sounds amazing, you must first find a remote starter that is compatible with your car.
Now, we know what you’re thinking: get a universal remote car starter. Well, that’s easier said than done. Today, we’ll take you through some reasons that make coming across truly universal remote starters for cars so hard.
Can a Remote Starter Be Installed on Any Vehicle?
1. An increasingly competitive landscape
From consumer-oriented companies like Toyota to luxury options like BMW and Mercedes, car makers have increasingly started to create an ecosystem around their brands. So, a car from BMW would require official company-made parts and accessories for ideal performance.
A remote car starter is a generic piece of equipment. Hardwiring it to the internals of a multitude of cars would either be impossible or require significant skill and time. Brands also aren’t too jolly about a random mechanic sifting through the wirings of their cars. So, there’s always the risk of voiding your vehicle’s warranty or compromising its internals when trying to fit a generic remote starter kit to it that isn’t specifically made for the car.
2. Technology changes with time
Cars have changed quite a lot over the past two decades. So, finding a remote car starter that works with all the previous models of cars, while remaining evergreen enough for future models is like searching for a needle in a haystack. But it’s not just one haystack but a barn full of it and it’s all up in flames.
3. Not-so-universal
While a universal car remote starter, like the Crimestopper RS7-G5, will work with most automatic vehicles, it will require extra components to be wired onto a hybrid car or one with manual transmission. These extra components can be hard to come by which means they won’t exactly be easy on the pocket. Also, when you add the price of labor into this, the final cost ends up being significantly high.
Final Thoughts
While many brands position their remote car starters as being universal, their universality can easily be questioned. From brand differences to variations in engine types and transmissions, it can become extremely expensive and in some cases downright impossible, to install a generic remote car starter.
So, the best way forward is to get one made specifically for your car’s model. This can be ensured by going through the product page of the remote or consulting your mechanic before the purchase.