The Wife would like a remote starter for the Fiat. I have never had one and no nothing about them but this one looks interesting http://www.viper.com/SmartStart/. I like that she can use her phone instead of adding a fob to the already too big key. I would have a competent installer put it in rather then try to hack it into the car myself, I am just wondering if there is anything I should know or a good reason I shouldn't do it.
I think this is the one I have Python 1401 the same model is sold by other folks like Viper too.
It was a bear to install, I had a lot of time searching the web, and upside down under my dash with a multimeter and wiring diagrams. The remote start part wasn't an issue, getting the remote lock/unlock and remote start to play nice with the factory alarm/immobilizer was a pain.
Mine's an old car, and I love having remote start, though I've never been completely satisfied with the install. I had to do some electrical "engineering" with a few relays & diodes on the locking/alarm arming circuit as a result I can't manually lock/unlock all of the doors from the driver's front door. I rarely have to do that, and I can reach the passenger side if I need to manually lock/unlock the doors.
If I had to do it again I'd find a unit that was remote start only, with a little fob of it's own, or programmable to a sequence of button pushes on the factory fob, and keep the factory remote entry function.
I have seen new systems that work with the vehicles network, CAN-Bus or the like, and are literally a plug-and-play solution, in the ignition harness. If I had a newer car those are what I'd be researching.
He's 14, about 5'10", blond hair and loves to start cars on cold mornings.
The only problems I ever have, is a little back talk once in a while and he forgets to take out the trash. 
Oh, and he's unbelievably expensive. Just keeping his batteries charged is getting ridiculous.
Sorry, I couldn't resist.
There could be warranty issues with an aftermarket install. Dealer install may solve that, best to inquire first.
Fob activation is fine for starting outside your house but the phone app is the absolute tits when you're out of fob range.
No reason not to do it.
edit: My first remote starter was an aftermarket fob, greater range than factory units, I swear this remote musta bounced off a satellite.
I doubt I'll ever go w/o a remote start for my winter driver anymore. Besides the factory remote fob the availability of the OnStar phone app sold me on my '12 Sierra.
I wanted the dealer to install it when I bought it but they wanted nothing to do with it. They seemed like they barely wanted to sell me a car at all, though they did put in aftermarket seat warmers but everything else was like pulling teeth. I even ended up buying the chrome fiat gas door from another dealer and put it on myself.
The wifey had an astrostart(?) on the wrx, never skipped a beat. Worked well with the manual trans too.
In reply to Wally:
So Fiat doesn't offer it as a factory option I'm guessing?
At Nissan we farmed everything out to one of a handful of local car audio/alarm shops. We did NO aftermarket remote start installs, because there was no way we were going to take on the liability/warranty of an aftermarket install. When, a customer had an issue we either sent them direct to the folks that installed it or occasionally had the installer come get the car from us.
I think y'all are paying too much. Mine looks a lot like this:
i don't understand the love affair with these things... how hard is it to start a car and drive a mile or two before the heat kicks in?
novaderrik wrote: i don't understand the love affair with these things... how hard is it to start a car and drive a mile or two before the heat kicks in?
It's like once you get that you never go back. 
novaderrik wrote: i don't understand the love affair with these things... how hard is it to start a car and drive a mile or two before the heat kicks in?
It's not that it's hard, it's that it's unpleasant. I lived through 3 Ohio Winters, was born and raised in AR, other than a Summer in NY had never lived anywhere else.
We had a 1 car garage, and my car wasn't the one that got to park in it. By mid November of that 1st OH Winter my old beater got a heated driver seat and remote start.
So if you have the means and and hate the cold, why wouldn't you?
bigdaddylee82 wrote:novaderrik wrote: i don't understand the love affair with these things... how hard is it to start a car and drive a mile or two before the heat kicks in?It's not that it's hard, it's that it's unpleasant. I lived through 3 Ohio Winters, was born and raised in AR, other than a Summer in NY had never lived anywhere else. We had a 1 car garage, and my car wasn't the one that got to park in it. By mid November of that 1st OH Winter my old beater got a heated driver seat and remote start. So if you have the means and and hate the cold, why wouldn't you? - Lee
i don't like the cold as much as i used to, but being a MN native that has lived in MN for all of my 39 years i've come to realize that -30 isn't so bad as long as you are out of the wind. but i'll admit that those first few minutes of snowflakes flying out of the defroster vents can be kind of disconcerting sometimes...
We never thought about them before but now that the nerves in her leg act up in the cold a warm car would make her day go a little better.
novaderrik wrote: i don't understand the love affair with these things... how hard is it to start a car and drive a mile or two before the heat kicks in?
In Georgia, it's not the cold, it's the ice. Dew settles, then freezes. So you sit in your driveway for 10 minutes playing the rev-the-car-squirt-the-wipers-cuss-the-berkeleying-jeep-in-the-garage-while-the-daily-sits-outside-game.
novaderrik wrote: i don't understand the love affair with these things... how hard is it to start a car and drive a mile or two before the heat kicks in?
very hard when you aren't driving 2 miles to work and it's a frozen windshield in and out you have to deal with.
FWIW I have a generic remote start, brand new, sitting in my basement if anyone is interested for $50
novaderrik wrote: i don't understand the love affair with these things... how hard is it to start a car and drive a mile or two before the heat kicks in?
I'll echo Brian. Work is 2.1 miles from home. My heat never kicks in. 
carbon wrote: The wifey had an astrostart(?) on the wrx, never skipped a beat. Worked well with the manual trans too.
Tell me more...
I am with novaderrik on this. I have lived in the frozen upstate NY for most of my life.
If my windshield is frosted over, I have a tool for that.
I believe it is called an ice scraper. QED
RealMiniDriver wrote:novaderrik wrote: i don't understand the love affair with these things... how hard is it to start a car and drive a mile or two before the heat kicks in?I'll echo Brian. Work is 2.1 miles from home. My heat never kicks in.
That is because you ride your motorcycle in winter.
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