Viper Smart Start System VSS4000

• Warm or cool your car
• Lock and unlock your car
• Controll Multiple Cars
• Personalize Settings
• Start your car from virtually any where with your iphone

Bought this system to warm up my car before getting in during the winter. First of all, the command to start my vehicle works MAYBE 50% of the time. Secondly, there is no confirmation on whether your vehicle received the command or not, so generally, I trudge through the snow only to be surprised to find my truck still icy and unstarted. I've had to resort to using the keychain remote starter (instead of my iPhone) which completely negates the purpose of this overpriced piece of garbage. AVOID at all costs.

Just wanted to update my review....since my initial review above, Viper has released a new version of the software which now sends a confirmation back to you if your vehicle has received the command. This is night and day difference as compared to the old software. I would not hesitate to recommend thie Viper SmartStart system to anyone and am changing my review to 4 stars. (Minus 1 star for cost).

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This SOUNDED like such an awesome idea. No keyfob to carry, unlimited range...price was a bit more than a traditional remote start, and annual service fees, but that seemed ok for the benefits.

Except that it only works about 25% of the time. It's not that you think the car is started, but it's not, it's very good about telling you when the start command is received by the car or not...it's just that it fails to send the command. My experience is no amount of retrying is going to make it work either, I've spent 30+ minutes hitting the button over and over (takes about a minute to timeout) and never had success. Either it works, or it's not going to work. The installer shop suggested I add on an antenna and keyfob remote since the cellphone interface is so unreliable. So I can pay MORE, and get less functionality...awesome.

I've seen other reports of people claiming they were told they've oversold capacity and can't keep up...but last I checked, they're STILL selling units and taking money, so I can't imagine things getting any better.

EDIT 2/24/12

Wanted to update this earlier one star review because it's no longer accurate.

Viper has addressed whatever network issues they were having and now reliability is excellent for me. I still get "failure to connect" maybe 5% of the time, but a retry usually works.

One oddity, the "failure to connects" were at the 100% mark a few months ago, and when I gave up and contacted support, they sent me a link to download a special version of the app for my phone (EVO 4G) and all problems went away. Viper support has actually been pretty good.

All that being said, I'm updating my review to 4 stars. It's an excellent system when it works, and currently it's working great.

Support is non-existent. Once I was told "we've reset your system, it works now" and nothing changed. Two other requests for support went ignored.

It's a bit frustrating when you buy something like this so you won't have to scrape your windows and get into a cold car in the morning...and then you have to scrape your windows and get into a cold car. the only difference is now I've paid a lot of money for the privilege.

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I did not purchase this on Amazon but rather bought it and had it installed by an authorized dealer. I was shown how to use it after installation and was thrilled by my new toy. Unfortunately, I would estimate that it only works about 10% of the time. I have found that whether or not the module receives service does not depend on the location as you would think, but it seems that regardless of where your vehicle is parked, service fades in and out. Now I am left with the predicament of whether to wait to see if coverage is improved as time goes on, or trying to return the item where I bought it and attempting to recover the installation cost as well as the $100 I already paid for three years of service.

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Bought this 3 days ago at a local Best Buy and they installed it. Toatal after activating system $586.00 not a problem at all because I was so excited about this awesome piece of technology. The installer and I tested the unit before I left and it worked as advertised and I felt happy I purchased it. Happiness quickly turned to frustration when the next morning it was 30 degrees at 5AM when I get up for work and tried to start my suv and after 15 attempts nothing. Later that day I tried again and it worked. Confused but opptomistic I tried again the next morning and again it did not work. Sorry to say this is a waste of money. Great Idea!!!! flawed system. Hopefully I will be returning system for a regular key fob system and will get my $105 back from Viper for the 3 year activation service. If money isn't refundable this might be a really big scam.....Buyers Beware!!!

I thought long and hard about buying a SmartStart unit. I found way too many negative reviews online. I decided to go for a regular remote car starter after reading all the poor reviews. Then, after 2 days of having to walk across my work building to start my vehicle, I thought screw it, I'll see if I can swap it out for the SmartStart after all. I live in Canada and had it installed at Future Shop. I had problems originally with the install, but I don't think the installer quite knew what he was doing. After taking the vehicle in 3 times at first, it hasn't failed since. I've had the SmartStart for 6 months now and it's worked EVERY SINGLE TIME. I love it! I'm sure I just jinxed myself by writing this review. Note: Vehicle must be located within ROGERS' network coverage in Canada, and AT&T in the US. Phone just needs any internet connection. I also paid an extra 60$ to have an antenna installed along with a keyfob. I did that in case I had problems. Haven't needed it yet. I highly recommend the SmartStart