I have a 2008 1500 SLT coming in in the next few days. I wanted one with remote start but ended up sacrificing it for a pickup I wanted. The remote start from the factory with the button on the keyless entry is $185 option. The dealership wants around $600 to add the remote start and upgrade the keys so I have the keyless entry/remote start all in one.

Anyone else look into this? Sound like gouging?

 

Well i almost did it on my 2006, but i shopped around first and found a highly reccommended shop that does nothing but that. They promised to do it in half the time the dealship said and they warranty their work. I went that route and so labor was less money and the kit was the mopar one. i purchased it and they installed it. It was great. It was about Half price of what the dealership quoted me on. So shop around go in and talked to people. Someone people will give amazing deals on stuff for the right people.

 

That seems high. The factory kit sells for $235.00. Labor should be about 2 hours. With the factory setup, if you install it yourself, the dealer has to hook up the STARScan and tell the truck that remote start has been added....

 

hey Parts, Can you throw up part numbers for what I need for an 04, and if I can make it single key/remote for start/locks. Is self install a pain?

I've asked you this before but all my messages got lost in the upgrade.

 

You should take a look into getting an alarm setup with the remote start. Thats what I did. I got a top of the line model from autopage with the two way transceiver, purchased and installed for 600 bucks. Little expensive but you get what you pay for. I love mine and havent had a problem with it. If you don't want to do that you can find a remote start system for around 80 to 100 bucks...not sure on the quality of those.

 

yeah but what happens if you have a truck with a key with the chip in it and want to go aftermarket? do you have to keep a key in the truck for it to work?

 

That sounds like it might actually be right - the kit costs around $235 as Parts/Service said, add on top of that labor and two new keys (because your keys don't have the remote start button) and it will probably end up being around $600 for the factory system. I was considering doing that too mainly because I want to stay with factory options as much as possible so they can't claim problems are caused by aftermarket systems. Already went thru that with my old truck... The dealer blamed everything on my aftermarket alarm and starter. Funny thing is, they were in the truck for years with no problems before I started getting mysterious ABS problems. Even disconnected the starter and alarm and the problems remained, but the dealer then started blaming my aftermarket head unit. Anything they can do to say it's not their fault.

 

I wish I did it when I ordered my truck last year. Never thought I would use such a device. I wish I had it today. Go figure. Red

 

Not that it helps much, but my 04 has remote start and keyless entry all on the stock FOB.

To the original poster, I would just look into an aftermarket alarm/starter. You can get a top of the line Clifford alarm and starter installed for less then what the dealer wants. If you go this route, the starter range will be better and you will have a top of the line alarm to protect your new truck.

 

Have to agree with RAM_05, most of the time you can get -not just a better deal- but more feature-rich stuff when you go aftermarket, you'll also end up saving money since you won't be paying any interest on your remote start (if you've financed your Ram). When I lived in Alaska I found the most popular model of autostarts seemed to be from a company called Astrostart. They have pretty good range, some coworkers of mine could start their truck from the shallow basement of our office.