Guys, need help -- getting all sorts of conflicting info locally.

What are the remote start options for the TCH? The Toyota website shows a Toyota remote starter and has a picture of a "normal" key (ie not a smart key) with buttons on it. Is this just a stock photo? Does anyone have the Toyota remote start on their TCH and is the normal smart key replaced? How does one remote start and what is the real life range?

Has anyone done an aftermarket/non-Toyota remote start? How does this work with the toyota smartkey?

TIA!

I do not have the remote start option, but I believe it is a stock photo as they use the same "old" key for the VIP security photos and I do have that package.

I think the remote start is activated by a certainly key press combination but I do not know for sure. I would also say the range should be about the same as the normal FOB range. My FOB is excellent range.

Other should be able to answer this better.

My TCH has remote start (never use it). The remote start is part of the smart key fob. You push and hold the buttons in the right combination and it starts up.

Thanks for the info. Why don't use you use it (ie because it's terrible or because you live in SoCal?)

Oh it works fine (I did test it) and I'm in NY was it sure gets cold. But car is in garage and I have never "warmed up" a car. And now with a hybrid I'd feel even worse about wasting all that gas just to warm up the car :-)

Well John, we can meet up at work and I will take it off your hands :-) JK

Getting up at 5:30 AM to go to the gym and the car is outside every night, I would LOVE a warm, snow melted car.

I pondered getting the starter when I got fed up with cleaning my old truck as well as going out to start it and then coming back in to finish getting ready. But then I said to myself "gee, seems silly being a hybrid..." COMPLETELY forgetting WHY I wanted a starter before. So, the morale of the story is, the last few days I've had frost on my car and I do not enjoy cleaning it in the dark....and it takes forever for the windows to defrost and I don't like waiting in the cold

Mike - I wish you could . The remote start was not on my list of must have options, but the car on the lot had it installed so I ended up with it. It should help the resale value - not that I'm planning on selling any time soon.

Even without using the remote start, I'm starting to take a pretty big hit in the FE department with the cold mornings. Sure yours is worse since its outside.

Yes sir. I actually just saw your PM. Sorry it took so long. Some how I just didn't see it. Yeah, I'm in the low 30s - 29 right now.

I've still somehow managed to maintain ~40 mpg even in the recent cold weather. Some of my morning commutes don't quite make it to 40 lately but still most days it works out, and evening commute still consistently makes it. But yeah, I'm on the side of not warming up because it's wasteful. Yes scraping sucks, but as for having a nice warm car... my usual thought is if I'm warm enough to be going around outside (jacket/gloves/whatever) then I'm guaranteed to be warm enough in the car where there's no wind chill. I pretty much only ever turn on the heat to help defog (which is becoming more necessary lately), and only as long as it takes to clear the windshield. On occasion I do warm it up some but mostly just deal.

But still waiting for the big FE hit. Dreaming that my increased knowledge and change in driving patterns since last winter might save me a bunch (last winter in mid-Feb when it got _really_ cold, I did in fact drop down under 30 mpg for a tank) this year.

Right now my tank is sitting at 39.9 on the MFD, which last month would have been around 43. (calculated MPG is less - around 41). I'm hoping to nudge the MFD up over 40 before I fill up (only about 400 miles so far on this tank) as it might be my last 40+ tank until spring :-(

Having said that my old trailblazer used to get about 16 in the winter so I'm still way up :-)