Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I thought this would be a good purchase to replace a failed Bulldog remote starter. Out of the box the install was easy and the instructions were really good. I got it installed in an hour or so. Checked everything out and it started on the first try. I was pleased at that point. After that the honeymoon was over. 3 out of ten starts the remote just buzzes at you with a red LED. If you hit the button for 3 seconds the car will flash it's lights so I know it's not out of range. You try to start it again and the red LED just flashes at you. Maybe the next time it will start the car I can't figure out what the pattern is that makes this happen. Both remotes do it. So it has to be something with the brain telling the remote that it can't start.
Yes, I did check the manual and there is nothing on what a red LED means. Nice. I called tech support and the answer I got was take it back to the place that you had it installed. I told the guy I installed it myself. He explained to me that support for this product is not available to DIY installers. only authorized dealer installers are able to get tech support. His first answer to my problem was to hit the button twice. WTF? Does the guy even know his own product. His next question was were did you buy it from. I told him Amazon. He said the only retailer on-line authorized to sell this product line is Crutchfield. So Buyer beware if you have a problem with this thing and need some help. So if Crutchfield is the only authorized on-line reseller then what happens if you install it yourself when you bought it from them?
It's going back.
1 week later
So after not getting a response from Direct Tech or the local rep. Who by the way was a total moron. RT Grim. I figured I would triple check everything before sending it back. I was able to duplicate the problem. There isn't anything in either the users guide or the installation guide. Which by the way is some kind of super secret document never to be seen by those other than the privileged Direct tech dealer/installers. Try searching on the net for it. There DIY line is pretty much the same thing without as many features. Anyway, the problem turned out to be the hood pin switch. When the car drove around over bumpy road the chassis of the car tweaked enough to just make the hood switch. When one of the safety inputs causes the remote start to not work with this model of remote starter the response from the remote is a solid red LED and a really annoying beep sound. THIS IS NOT DOCUMENTED ANYWHERE IN THE MANUAL AT ALL!!!!! WTF!!!!!
All they needed was a one line bullet point telling you anywhere in the reference guide what a solid red LED response code is. I find it pathetic that a local installer and the tech support didn't know what this meant. Now that it works I am happier with the purchase. But because of the crap tech support and how Direct tech ideally only wants to deal with dealers I won't buy from them again.
Oh, and when the unit is out of range it does flash the red LED. But in a certain sequence which is also not in the manual. So overall the documentation will tell you the connections but that's about it. The trouble shooting section sucks. Since this thing can talk with the remote the fail code should relay back to the remote so that the user can tell what the failure is. How hard would that be? Yes, with a solid red LED it does sort of tell you it failed. But, since it is not in the manual and you have to get to the brain to see the LED for the diagnostic code it isn't to user friendly. If it fails to start the diagnostic code should flash on the remote.
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