This post is prejudice against those of us with Manual transmissions

Good thing I have one of each... I love to start my wife's when someone is next to our car with their shopping cart... It's kind of like an "Ah Hum, your a little too close to my car". I looked into adding an aftermarket remote start to my Manual and you really gain a bunch of distance, but you have to do so many things when you park to get it to work, just not worth it....

 

If I went back five cars ago, I had to start it with a hand crank.

 

I use it a few times a week. It's great for cooling off the inside here in FLA when the car has been sitting in the sun all day. I park right outside my office door so when I'm ready to leave I fire it up, lock down my office and by the time things are secure it's nice and cool inside the car. Signal distance isn't an issue for me because I'd never use the remote anyway if the car was more than 20 or 30 feet away.

 

Its starting to get a little chilly out in the morning here, so the remote start is a nice plus. I have to start remembering to turn the heat on before I get out while its still warm in the afternoon.
a/c in 45 degree days kinda sucks

 

I especially like to use it when we're at the son's place. They have an expensive acura mdx and surprisingly no autostart. I like to remind them that an inexpensive GM has it.

 

I garage mine at home so don't use the remote start then, but I do when I'm leaving work. The only problem is that it doesn't work very well when the temps are really cold and you actually want it to work. Mine seems pretty inneffective at anything under about 5 degrees F. It just doesn't crank the engine long enough for it to catch.

Maybe that's why it's not standard in Canada.

 

It's nice to poke your head out of the airport baggage claim and hit the remote when you come home from a trip and its 5 degrees F or snowing out.

Your remote can be used 2 times before you are required to insert your key and start the engine manually. Your engine will run for 10 minutes at a time then shut off.

The best rule to know when using your remote to warm or cool your HHR so it is ready when you get there is......... Adjust the settings and fan before you walk away from parking the HHR.

 

I've had my HHR for a day now but that feature is so cool. I mean there's no need to warm up a vehicle here in Miami lol but it's going to be fun to see my friend's faces

I was looking at my HHR on the lot yesterday before I was even thinking about buying it when the salesman started it from a distance catching me offguard. I was like no way and told my friend, ooh this guy is good

 

My `07 with 45k miles was a rental in VA in it's former life, and does NOT have the remote start option.

I didn't worry about it because I bought it over the summer from a dealer for $8,500 with 38k miles on it.

 

Like you my car is a manual - I half looked into a remote start for these cars - but I am having enough issues with my Personal Audio Link - and it's a factory add on. I just like the improved performance of the manual transmission to give it up for remote start - wish I could add traction control though. In any kind of weather this thing gets squirrelly. Oh well.