Customer Reviews

Viper Smart Start System VSS4000

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

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).

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 was debating ovoiding this product since the reviews seemed pretty bad, but Im glad I decided to go with this unit. I have had it in for about 3 weeks and it has worked 100% of the time - It has yet to miss a remote start from my office or house, I have also started it from the mall when I was shopping over the Christmas season. Every feature works great - I highly suggest this system to anyone who has a smartphone and wants a remote start.

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.

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.

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.

I got this remote start for $400, then had to pay another $100 for 3 years of service. The problem is it never works. What's the point if it won't unlock or start your car MOST of the time? It's a good way to lock yourself out of your car. Totally inconsistant. Takes a long time to get the app to close. Doesn't let you know if your car is running. If you try to start it with the FOB and then realize you might be too far away, you'll never know if your trying to start it or shut it off. WAY TOO EXPENSIVE for nothing more than the cheapest remote start coupled with a worthless app that has a great potential to lock you out in the cold!!!

GET SOMETHING ELSE!

After going around and around with customer service. I have decided to take this POS back. I have my appointment at 12:00 on Tuesday. I have another brand in my other vehicle. It too has a few issues. But none this extreme. I guess after spending 600.00 I was expecting a little more than CRAP.
Customer service was great one day. Then CRAP the next time. Customer service said that it is now the unit not the service. I needed to take it back to the place I bought it from to have them correct there problems. I guess 30 days is getting to the end of its life span. I should know that things don't last fever.
My suggestion to anyone buying this product or any like it. To do your homework. I did and I am still at this point. That is why I opted to do a different remote starter in my other vehicle. That is what I am replacing this one with a DRONE DR1000.

This item worked for 5 days when I got it before failing. It took Viper Customer Support 16 days to reply to my tech support question! As it turns out, the system occasionally shuts down for maintenence or server resets, etc. Which then makes the entire product useless. Better hope you don't accidentally lock your keys in your car thinking you can always just use your phone to get them out! (this really happened to me, of course the product temporarilly went down when i tried unlocking the doors... fortunately only for an hour or so)

I've now (in the past 15 days) had about 6 days where the application didn't work AT ALL. Don't buy this product. You'd think this would be cool to show off to people, but all you'll show off is a broken app and a waste of money. It's embarassing.

This was also for the VSS3000 and not the VSS4000 btw.