Rookie

This weeks expierence at Best Buy - always fun.

Bought my wife a Viper 160XV Remote Car Starter from Best Buy and scheduled to install it on Friday (Dec17) My wife is on maternity leave, so she has little to do during the day - but I told her to drop of the truck and take a cab home, Best Buy had said that the install would take 4 to 6 hours

Anyway - when she goes in at 1pm and drops of the 4Runner, I had a list of questions to ask the installer (same questions we asked the sales person) but they included questions about the compatibility with the factory alarm, location of antenna and operation.

OUR BIGGEST CONCERN was that we would only need to carry one keyfob remote to start/unlock and operate the system. We were assured that we would only need one remote for it to work.

My wife calls me at 3:30 and is complaining that she had finished shopping the stripmall and was bored of sitting in the waiting room. I once again told her to take a cab home, but being a needy pregnant woman - she wanted me to come get her. I left a little early from work and picked her up, went and had a beer and burger (No, she didn't drink any beer) and around 7pm her cell phone rang and it was Best Buy saying they were done.

We cruise down and the guy comes out - shows us the car start, shut down, unlock the doors, relock the doors, panic button, and rear window roll down.

Happy and pleased my wife heads home and I head back to the bar where I met a friend for a couple beers and a cigar.

Not two minutes after getting my Bass Ale, my cell rings and my wife is telling me she is back at Best Buy because this thing is seriously ˟˟˟˟ up. I discard it as a ID10T error and tell her I'll look at it when I get home. And Best Buy tells her to bring it back in the morning.

I get home and grab her keys and she was right. If you lock the door with the key or the door button - the factory alarm is armed, and the Viper remote doors won't work - and if you start it, it sets off the alarm. The only way to shut down the alarm was to unlock the doors - not a smart thing when your car is running. The Viper has about a 400' range while the factory remote might have 25' on a good day - so you can see the problem there. This means we would need both remotes, but it would still be useless! The two systems were not getting alonga nd wouldn't work together at all. BUT - if you used just the Viper system - you had no problem (you just couldn't accidently use the key or button to lock the door - and then the alarm would never be active)

We go back in the morning and I ask for thier "Best Tech" and he mentions that he is waiting for Viper Tech Support to open to assist him. We have little faith in this situationa and are prepared to rip the system, refund and head to Tweeter (as recommended)

We go shopping and get some lunch and head home. After 4 hours the phone rings and they tell us to come pick up the truck.

We get there and while waiting in the waiting room, a women came in with her Avital remote starter that had fallen onto her floor and almost got stuck under her brake pedal. She also mentioned that her truck started and stopped on it's own all thru the night. (Avital & Viper are both made by DEI - they basically make every alarm out there. see www.directed.com)

Anyway - the problem was wiring and they got it right the second time (So far) Everything works perfect and I'm spending an hour when it gets a little warmer to insure the install doesn't fall out on my wife and to secure the valet switch which was just stuffed into the plastic kick panel (???)

Oh - and we found out that the women probably accidently engaged a program that starts the car every 3 hours and runs for 12 minutes, and shuts off again - good for those super cold places like Alaska/Canada.

Rook

MTL_4runner

Glad to hear you got it all worked out.
I would have gone with the alarm/remote starter combo and toss the factory system (cause the range sucks).
You can check out the viper 550ESP install in my sig if you ever decide to go that route.

Rookie

The factory alarm is the VIP3200+ and I like the built in features. Now, with the way the new system is installed - we get the range of the Viper and the realiability of the factory wiring - plus it wasn't too expensive ($280 installed)

Rook

MTL_4runner

I wasn't trying to bash the factory system, just the range is not good as you pointed out.
Many others are using the factory system just fine and love it.

......plus if you install it yourself it is just easier to remove the factory one and install complete new system (ie no compatability probs).

leebee

good for those super cold places like Alaska/Canada.

not all of canada is cold, just most of it! ask scofco, hes up in the yukon, its probably a balmy +5c today! yesterday, it was -25c, today we had a veritable heat wave at +2c! there is a saying in canada, if you dont like the weather, just wait 10 minutes, it will change.

lee

Scofco

Of course it's not cold all the time, we just have really nasty bursts that most of you don't get to deal with.

It's only -18c right now, not too bad at all.

I wish I had a remote starter It's on my list of things to buy, just not very high up on the list. For now I'll bust my ass out of bed in the morning and hop onto a rock solid seat in the 4Runner.

(I love how the seats feel like stone when it's -40)

Henryv

Guess thats why everyone avoids getting their electronics installed at chain stores. Sorry to hear about all the trouble you had to go through. Dont they have a bypass module for the factory alarm? Hopefully your alarm will work now and you wont have to have them kids mess with your truck anymore.