[FIERCE4203]

Sorry if this post is in the wrong place but I am curious to what people have as an auto start? I'm looking for an auto start that has:

1. good range

2. No alarm (keep factory alarm)

3. Don't need to give up a key to stick under the dash

4. Works as the factory fob in which memorizes presets (seat, radio, etc.)

If anybody has any input it's appreciated. Thanks.

 

[AsAkAs]

Should look into perhaps trying to adapt the STS remote starter system to the CTS, haven't heard of it being done before, but it sounds like your best bet to retain all that functionality without alot of work

 

[MCD40]

I would have liked it if the CTS came with remote start like the STS...it would just round it out so nicely. But I was also interested in getting a remote start system for my car...still waiting on it. I came across this thread a long time ago, check it out, it might help.
http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26179&highlight=remote+start+cts

 

[dkozloski]

I have an autostart on my CTS made by AstroFlex in Canada. www.astroflex.com. My installation requires an extra key under the dash but the maker has since found a way around this with an accessory module. The fob will control the existing alarm system, doors, and starting from a distance of about 1/4 mile. When used to open the car it appears to invoke a third group of settings beyond that invoked by the factory fob. It's kind of like having a ghost driver. The local (Fairbanks, Alaska) dealer has sold and installed thousands of these units over the years with almost no complaints. He did mention that my CTS was the most difficult installation he had ever done because of the data comunication system that the car employs. A very high percentage of the cars in this area have remote starts and the AstroFlex is the best of the bunch by a large margin. It would most likely the only one sold locally except for the pricing, $400-500 installed.
In contrast I have a Bulldog Alarm Systems remote start that I got at Sam's club for $75 and installed myself in my Ford Ranger pickup that has very limited range. You get what you pay for. I have had to replace it once, since.

 

[AznPrydeRegalRyde]

When used to open the car it appears to invoke a third group of settings beyond that invoked by the factory fob.

Can you change these settings somehow?

 

[dkozloski]

I have never taken the time to experiment with them. They have changed over time, somehow. I used to get in the car after using the autostart and find myself crammed against the steering wheel. Now the settings are more reasonable. I just push the selector button on the armrest to invoke my settings.

 

[c5 rv]

I researched remote starts and bought the Astrostart for my Denali. The truck will be spending the winter outside and I want it warmed up with the windows clear by time I step out the door. The dealer I bought it from sells and installs a number of brands and recommends the Astrostart when the customer wants remote starting only, without an alarm. He said he also has the least follow-up problems with this brand. He also installs Viper, but only because people ask for it and he can't always convince them otherwise.

I'm considering an Astrostart for my CTS next spring. So, if you get one, let us know how it goes.

 

[DanDan]

I did a 2006 cts today at one of my dealers. I don't do many remote starts down here in South Florida due to the warm climate. I know they are popular up North. My customers do not want new FOB's so I use the factory ones. I use the Dei 561t. I program it to remote start by pressing the lock button 3 times. I have used the immobilizer bypasses that do not require a key but have had nothing but problems with them setting codes and other odd things. Usually you will get a security light or service anti theft system light. I am done with the headaches with them and being a beta tester! I have gone back to the key in the box method and they work flawlessly. You can purchase keys from a place called Howard Keys. I get there flyers all the time. I get my keys right from the parts dept. at my dealers and they cut them. They are very easy to program. If you have concerns about someone finding them I can just break off the end and insert it in the box. But I usually hide them up behind the instrument cluster where no one will find them. As far as range goes the factory remotes have gotten a lot better. If that does not satisfy you Audiovox has one out that has a very small key fob that is a one button, just for the remote start. Looks no bigger than a quarter. I believe they have 1500ft range. I know nothing of the Astroflex, but I stick with only two brands and have never had a problem. DEI and Audiovox. I use no one elses product. I have been in business for 21 years and they have never failed me.

DanDan

 

[MCD40]

I have never taken the time to experiment with them. They have changed over time, somehow. I used to get in the car after using the autostart and find myself crammed against the steering wheel. Now the settings are more reasonable. I just push the selector button on the armrest to invoke my settings.

DKoz, how strange have the "ghost settings" been? I don't even have memory seating, so I don't think the seating thing will be a problem for me, but I'm in it for the climate control settings. Have you experienced any strange "ghost" climate control settings when remote starting and then getting in the car? I guess that would be my main concern. I would hate to remote start it on a summer day and get into the car to find that it was blasting the heater for five minutes.

 

[MCD40]

I did a 2006 cts today at one of my dealers. I don't do many remote starts down here in South Florida due to the warm climate. I know they are popular up North. My customers do not want new FOB's so I use the factory ones. I use the Dei 561t. I program it to remote start by pressing the lock button 3 times. I have used the immobilizer bypasses that do not require a key but have had nothing but problems with them setting codes and other odd things. Usually you will get a security light or service anti theft system light. I am done with the headaches with them and being a beta tester! I have gone back to the key in the box method and they work flawlessly. You can purchase keys from a place called Howard Keys. I get there flyers all the time. I get my keys right from the parts dept. at my dealers and they cut them. They are very easy to program. If you have concerns about someone finding them I can just break off the end and insert it in the box. But I usually hide them up behind the instrument cluster where no one will find them. As far as range goes the factory remotes have gotten a lot better. If that does not satisfy you Audiovox has one out that has a very small key fob that is a one button, just for the remote start. Looks no bigger than a quarter. I believe they have 1500ft range. I know nothing of the Astroflex, but I stick with only two brands and have never had a problem. DEI and Audiovox. I use no one elses product. I have been in business for 21 years and they have never failed me.

DanDan

DanDan, how hard are these units to install? Would it be possible that I do it myself? I would like to avoid leaving it at a shop/dealer unless it's recommended that I let a professional do the job.

 

[dkozloski]

Krank, no problem with climate controls.

 

[RobertCTS]

Krank, no problem with climate controls.

Dave,
I imagine in Alaska a remote start is a necessity!!

 

[dkozloski]

Remote start is about the most popular after-market accessory in this area. The guy I got mine from says he installs over a thousand a year.

 

[RobertCTS]

Remote start is about the most popular after-market accessory in this area. The guy I got mine from says he installs over a thousand a year.

You know Dave, Alaska is beautiful in pictures but the enviroment is to unfriendly for me. Even the winters in Ohio turns my head south. I would want a remote start to get my A/C up to speed in the summer.

 

[dkozloski]

I use it for the same thing. It gets into the high nineties here in the summer. We have zero tornadoes, zero hurricanes, total precip is 10-12 inches per year. Not too many street thugs are out in fifty below. The thing is that you have to have a reason for being here; a spirit of adventure, more gumption, more ambition, the call of the wild, evading justice. Nobody comes here to loaf around. If you want to be recognized for what you can do on your own rather than your daddies influence this is the place for you. If you need a fresh start, this is the place. The harder you work, the luckier you get. It takes real skill to avoid having a job mainly because you'll starve if you don't have one. It concentrates the mind wonderfully to stare freezing to death and starvation in the face, to paraphrase Ben Johnson.

 

[RobertCTS]

I use it for the same thing. It gets into the high nineties here in the summer. We have zero tornadoes, zero hurricanes, total precip is 10-12 inches per year. Not too many street thugs are out in fifty below. The thing is that you have to have a reason for being here; a spirit of adventure, more gumption, more ambition, the call of the wild, evading justice. Nobody comes here to loaf around. If you want to be recognized for what you can do on your own rather than your daddies influence this is the place for you. If you need a fresh start, this is the place. The harder you work, the luckier you get. It takes real skill to avoid having a job mainly because you'll starve if you don't have one. It concentrates the mind wonderfully to stare freezing to death and starvation in the face, to paraphrase Ben Johnson.

I've seen enough of your posts in the past to know you are up to the challenge.
It definitely sounds like an adventure.

 

[dkozloski]

You never know who you might be talking to in the supermarket line. One of my acquaintences was a "remittance man" from Ireland. He was paid a yearly stipend by the family if he agreed to emmigrate to Alaska or Australia and never come back. He chose Alaska. After he succeeded in crippling himself racing motorcycles he started a sawmill and building supply business and retired a millionaire. An old friend I came across the other day was carrying two suitcases that had over a hundred pounds of gold nuggets in each one and he was on his way to the bank. He's made several similar trips to town each year for the last thirty years. Another friend sold his gold mine and jade mine near the villiage of Kobuk and retired to Palm Springs where he owned more than a dozen antique Rolls-Royce cars that he cruised around in for fun. My next door neighbor owns hundreds of acres of oil leases on the Coleville River Delta, between Prudoe Bay and the Naval Petroleum Reserve. One of his boys, a Harvard MBA and Rhodes Scholar, with his brother, started a business picking up garbage on foot (to comply with the environmental regs) left behind by the oil companies on the North Slope. The first year they made enough money to pay for a turbine helicopter and picked up more garbage. They since have developed it into a trucking and petroleum supply business and have been written up in Baron's Magazine. The harder you work, the luckier you get. On top of that there are no state taxes to pay. The feds are still there with their hand out but the state gives you a check every year. This year it is $845.76.

 

[HSD100]

:Offtopic:

Did I accidentally log onto the Alaska Forum?

 

[RobertCTS]

:Offtopic:

Did I accidentally log onto the Alaska Forum?

Hey, leave the Koz alone. He has a refreshing insight that's interesting to hear from time to time. Be a hell of a guy on a trout fishing camp-over telling stories over a fire with a few beers. We'll get back to the topic.

 

[dkozloski]

I apologize, this stuff just keeps popping into my head., i.e. My neighbor across the street was a Kansas City gangster that was sent to Alaska by the rest of the mob to "cool off" shortly after WWll. He did well in the vending and pinball machine business until he decided to branch out into illegal slots and income tax evasion. His neighbor was the Territorial tax Commissioner and took a rather dim view. After he weathered that storm he moved over to the next logical progression, politics, and died an influential man.