Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Let me start off by saying I have wanted the Smart Fob technology in my car for years, and while quite a few aftermarket kits have popped up, I was less than impressed by the credit card-sized remotes, and wanted something a little more OEM-styled. Lo and behold came EasyGo with the Universal-R that combines a proximity sensor with remote start, push to start and a trunk button (not to be fooled with their AM-UNIVERSAL kit with the credit card fob and no remote start). I did a little research and found that the company has been in business since 2012, and their vendor/supplier is from China. I was pretty skeptical because their website didn't seem like it was ever updated. It didn't even mention the AM-UNIVERSAL-R as an available kit. Also, their list of EasyGo dealers are far from the truth. It appears as the web designer just took a list of Ford/Honda/Toyota/GM dealerships and stuck them in their page. Because of this, you'll really want to find an installer BEFORE you purchase this kit as many installers will be hesitant to try getting this in your car. Installation: My car is a 2006 Acura TL, and my installer was pretty hesitant to agree on installing this on my car. However, after letting him glance through the install manual (which seemed to be little help, according to him) he quoted me just under $400 for the install, which equals to about half a day of labor. My installer ran into trouble quite a few times and had to contact EasyGo. They don't provide a number, but rather an email address which infuriated my installer due to always having to wait for a response. Finally, they provided him a number after numerous exchanges, and he was off and running with the install. Note: If you, the consumer, ever have questions about the product, good luck getting the company to respond to your email. I've contacted them twice and have never received a response. Anyhow, it took my installer about 7 hours to get the kit fully installed. I provided him a spare keyblade (About $3 from a local locksmith) for him to use in my ignition. If your car has a steering wheel lock like mine, the spare key is placed in your ignition cylinder and placed in position after the head is sawed off. Thieves won't be able to start your car with the lack of the key head and immobilizer chip. This kit provides an ignition cylinder key cover as well. Aside from the extra $3, the installer was able to use everything else in the kit. The kit comes with an immobilizer bypass, which requires one of your full keys with the immobilizer chip inside. This is installed and tucked away with the wiring, and as dangerous as it seems, a thief would need to do a fair amount of hunting to find the key, as well as taking apart the EasyGo system in order to operate the car and disable the alarm. I had the installer place the push to start button close to the ignition cylinder, similar to where most cars have the button. Luckily, the kit contains a drill bit with the right measurements to get the button as flush with the interior as possible-- it really does look like the button came from the manufacturer! After everything, you're going to have four new visible parts in your car: The proximity/remote RF antenna (mounted on the windshield or A-pillar), a valet sensor (mounted on windshield), an alarm LED, and the push-to-start button. Functionality Smart Fob: This remote is probably the best-looking remote for an aftermarket car alarm kit. Instead of going the credit card route, the remote looks very OEM. My coworker mentioned that it looked similar to an Audi smart fob. There are three physical buttons on the remote: Lock, Remote Start/Trunk, and Unlock. Holding these buttons offer extra functionality such as enabling/disabling mute mode (it won't honk if the shock sensor trips), and enabling/disabling the proximity feature (for the times you may be in and out of distance to your car, such as performing a car wash). On the back of the fob is a compartment for you to place a mechanical key for your door in case of emergency. NOTE: The product page says the key is included, but it IS NOT. I tried to get in contact with EasyGo to see where one could purchase a key, but they have not responded. Lastly, the remote runs off a CR2032 battery and requires a Torx T4 screwdriver (not included) to get to the compartment. When your battery is running low, the car will honk 5 times when you lock/unlock the car as a reminder to change your battery. Smart Fob button functionality (including remote start) has a range of up to 200 ft according to the manufacturer. I haven't tested the range, but can definitely tell it is better than my stock remote. Valet Sensor: I have yet to test this, but this sensor is used in case you neglected to change the battery in your fob, or if the fob stops working (which has not happened to me). It uses a low frequency and acts similar to an NFC system where you hover over the sensor to gain access, and similarly to start the car. Proximity Sensor: The proximity sensor senses the smart fob remote from as far as 15 ft away, depending on obstructions. The smart fob will blink when you are within range. I usually walk up to my car from behind, and by the time I'm reaching for the handle, my car unlocks. When I walk from in front of my car, the car unlocks when I'm about 3 ft away. I found that if I walk to the rear of my car, with the trunk open, the sensor locks my car which could be annoying if your shock sensor is hyper-sensitive. The car will honk to confirm that the doors have locked, and that the alarm is armed. The sensor will search for your remote for up to 36 hours until it shuts off to conserve your car's battery life. After the 36 hours, you will have to use your remote to unlock the doors, and once your remote is back in range, it restarts the 36 hour timer. I am usually away from the car for a good 12 hours, and have yet to encounter any battery issues. Push to Start button: It's not obvious, but the push to start button is actually illuminated. It lights up green for accessory, red for ignition, and white for engine on. You simply step on the brake and hit the button, and you're off and running. To cycle through the accessory/ignition modes, don't step on the brake; simply tap the button to your desire. NOTE: My installer needed to install a relay to get the accessory mode working. Without this relay, my car's HVAC and seat warmers were the only things functioning. Make sure you check that your accessory mode is working before you drive off! Alarm: This kit uses your factory alarm, unless you have an aftermarket system it can be tapped into. It also comes with a shock sensor, in which you can modify the sensitivity. I was never really a fan of shock sensors. Living in San Francisco, the MUNI buses produced such a high amount of vibration, it would set off alarms in masses. I don't know what my installer set the sensitivity to, but I have my system on mute mode anyhow. Issues: I haven't run across any major issues yet, aside from the ones I've already mentioned. One thing I noticed is that there is a ticking sound when you are in the car and everything is off. I stayed in my car for a good 10+ minutes, and after I got out and opened the door, the alarm armed itself as if it couldn't detect the remote. I'm chalking this up to an anomaly as it has only happened once. Conclusion: After lusting for a proximity/remote start/push to start system for ages, I finally found a system worthy of installing. All in all, it cost me about $800 including labor, and in my opinion well worth it. I LOVE being able to leave my keys in my pocket, and either using the push to start, or remote starting on cold days. I highly recommend getting this installed by a professional just because it is a pretty complex installation with shoddy instructions. I'm knocking off one star for EasyGo's lack of customer service and false advertisement of the included mechanical key. I hope this lengthy review paints enough of a picture for you to decide if you're willing to shell out the money. By no means is this a necessity, but a very convenient luxury that I will enjoy for years to come. For what it's worth, the installation guide also has a diagram with wiring from the EasyGo brain to a SmartStart system supposedly in the works. For those of you who want the GPS/mobile application remote starting functionality, it looks like it may be coming in the near future. UPDATE 9/7/2017: It's been a few years since I've had this installed on my '06 Acura TL so I figured I'd give you all an update! My key fob has started to act a little funky, with the fob sometimes requiring a hard tap to "wake" up and search for the signal to disarm and unlock my car. Additionally, sometimes the fob won't work at all. Fortunately, the backup RFID windshield-mounted tag works very well, which apparently disarms the car and allows you to start the car in emergency situations. Since this appears to be only an issue with the fob, I think I'm going to just switch to the second fob provided and hopefully alleviate this issue. I really do wish there were a way to mute the honking on this system-- sometimes I feel a little too self-cautious to use the remote start when there are people nearby, because the honks are obnoxiously loud. If you have the mechanical know-how, there's probably a way to forego the wiring to the horn; see if your installer can do anything for you in that regard. I was seriously worried about battery drain when installing this on my car, but am happy to say this is really a non-issue. I just returned from a 9-day trip overseas and am happy to report that my engine cranked successfully after two attempts. I wish there were a way to set how long the engine should crank, as I noticed (especially in the winter) that an extra half-second would reduce my need to crank the engine twice. Seeing as most of my issues are coming from the key fob, I am very delighted with this system. The main components of the system are holding up VERY well and I have no regrets having this installed in my car out of sheer convenience it has provided me. With more and more cars offering the smart fob system as a standard option, I don't see EasyGo having much competition now or in the near future.