The passlockII is a garbage system to begin with! I have had my last 3 GM trucks with the passlockII lock me out with a no start when the contacts in the key cyl went bad.....the current truck i have right now, i had a custom program installed and had the tuner turn the passlockII off....no more worries! :D
I too have installed a few hundred of these systems as i used to work for a company that did all the alram/remote start systems for the dealerships in the area....wasnt uncommon for me to be installing 5-6 per day...anyway we used the Audiovox Pursuit and prestige models....they all made by DEI or AVital anyway...but what i would look for in a system if i was in the market......that the system had buit in relays....i hated having to add relays for door locks or parking lights etc.... some you cant avoid like if the car/truck works on a can bus system and needs certain values to trigger different things ;)

Nice lookin new ride Joe, but how you gonna park it by the garage for a few hours of install work ???????????

Easy, it fits in the garage! Now that I cleaned most of the junk out of there

fixx
 

You have a garage?:bong:

If ned be he could use mine or im sure mike t would also...

p.s. mine has free heat lol...

I have a 2013 Ford F150 and I am thinking of adding a remote start. What is the best brand? How does the remote start interact with the factory key? Is there any way to incorporate the remote start button into the factory key? Can you give me an estimate of the cost for the unit and install?

you can actually get the plug and play model from ford the module just plugs in but you have to pull apart the liner and add the attena I think. Also from what I have been told the dealer must turn on your remote start I have heard from guys doing this they charge anywhere from nothing to 200 bucks to just turn it on. The module is around 200 bucks and can be bought on fords accessory website, and you can use the same key you got know it will just have one more button. I know this because I tried doing it for my 2011 F150.

Personally though you can get aftermarket where the range is 10 times for the same price. factory is only good for really as far as you can remote unlock. One thing with aftermarket you have to have a seperate key fob as far as I know there may be some option to not have to.

Basically you have a one way range can be 2-3000 feetm usually two buttons on and off. They are selling istalled around here for 130-170 bucks.

Two way is the other kind and heres where more options come in. two way basically starts your engine then sends a message back to your key fob saying your engine did in fact start. Two ways you can depending on which package you choose, have them go to your cell phone, tell the temp in your car, change the temp,auto start if it gets to cold and run. Etc. Most two way fobs unlock doors, trunks etc. I have seen these go from 250-600 bucks depending on which model. Also there range can go up to a mile and maybe further.

I just bought a two way for 249 installed, LCD Fob, unlocks doors, trunk, 3000ft range, tells temp in car for my F150.

So really if you dont get remote start from the factory your better off going aftermarket.

oh and all i know about brands is dont buy Viper. Honestly regardless of brand are probably all made in China, by the same people regardless of branding.

fixx
 

i would not say its the bes but for many years i have had the one in my suburban and is still working is called auto page..company goes way back to the 80's before all thease other so calles name brand's..on thease so called name branda you can almost use anyones modules on anyones wire harness..they all look like they are the same mfr and all put their name on the module,,remotes are not the same tho..i had 2 fancy transmitters,5 yrs later i dropped then, cracked the face of them my keys fell in a puddle of water and shorted out the remotes,,i sent them back after 5 yrs of abuse and they gave me 2 new ons free of charge..

http://www.autopageusa.com/

Don't buy Viper? Where do you get that?

I've sold DEI products since the early 90's and IMO, they're the best on the market. I sell/install Avital and Clifford currently, and have rarely had any come back.