will i be first with remote start?????

well, beaman toyota has called and said my remote start is in. i plan to get it installed friday. i think this will settle the question as to whether or not you can use remote start on gen3. wish me luck i will keep you informed
fred from nashville

umm...sorry fellow, a lot of people have it already. An advance warning, it seems you will dislike it: You can remote start at much as you want. As soon as you unlock the door, the thing will turn off. If you are in a place where there is weather cold enought to warrant a "engine warm up", then remote start is great for you. But if your weather aint that cold...you just wasted 529 dollars. (+ tax)

It is also available from the factory as well (option V4). In fact, the one that I drove had it. I didn't mess with it though so I'm not familiar with how it worked.

It can also be used to cool the interior before you get in. The brief shut down doesn't wipe out that effect and is not a big deal to everyone.

fgp, I'm looking forward to learning from your experience with it.

Seeing you are in Houston, so you are saying having it run for some time with the A/C wouldn't make you more comfortable when you unlock and enter the car? I live in Dallas and am considering the remote start particularly to cool my car down a bit in the summer before I get into it. Is there something else I am missing about the concept of it? Because if so, I would gladly save the money.

I ordered it for my 2010, but I'm having second thoughts due to the shut off when the door is unlocked. I may ebay it if I decide not to install it. After reading the PDF, it seems like a simple install, so if I keep it I'll do the install myself.

Actually no, it can't. Remote A/C switch is a feature that comes included with solar roof package. Remote start simply starts the car and is available as an option. They are two completely different things

Again, no. I have researched this at the Prius official websitem and I was also told several times (and by looking at pictures of the Key fob) that A/C remote start (toyota calls it "Remote Air Conditioning System") and ENGINE remote start are two completely different things. The A/C remote turns on the A/C for three minutes prior to entering the car. This runs on the battery, not the engine, which is why its limited to 3 minutes. THis is one of the reasons why I want the solar package, to cool off the interior before I enter (to answer your question checo446). So yes, that i want. But it seems people are getting this confused: The remote start simply turns on the car, in other words, the engine. It has nothing to do with the remote air conditioning system...As I already posted right above.

Well in that case, I suppose if you do not have the Solar Roof package that would help, because if you do not have the solar roof package it means you do not have the Remote Air conditioning system which turns on the A/C without turning on the engine, but if you do have the solar roof package and the only reason you would want the remote engine start is to get the A/C running then it is of no use to you.

And in the case of our fellow who started this thread, he does not seem to have the Solar package since he ordered a Prius II, so for him it would be handy just for the A/C thing. So I apologize to him for not initially thinking of that possibility

Except that, from what I've read, the "remote A/C" that comes with the solar roof package only runs for 3 minutes. Which, when used in combination with the solar ventilation, will probably be long enough to cool the cabin of the car.

I don't have mine yet, so can someone please comment on how the remote A/C works exactly?
It shuts off automatically after 3 minutes?
How does the ventilation work? When the cabin reaches a certain temperature, the ventilation starts... and then does it stop once it lowers the temp to a specific degree? ...then it turns on again when after heating up again?

Does the ventilation system make noise that is audible from outside/inside the car?

thanks dark. i just did not know the nice thing is that this is "free" as part of my deal. we will see
not to disagree and i might have misunderstood but i believe that since my ac is set for auto temp, it will do what it does now, that is cool as soon as the vhicle is started. am i wrong. we will soon see as they say. the plot thickens

Just to be clear, from the Toyota Prius web site, describing the remote start:

"This clever accessory allows you to start the engine - and to activate the air conditioner, heater, defroster and defogger functions - before entering your vehicle."

What do you mean "except that", sounded like you were gonna disagree but you agreed with what I said?

And for your questions, I can only answer what I know:
Solar ventilation runs entirely on, well, solar power. It must be turned on before leaving the vehicle, according to Toyota. Also, apparently it will start or stop when it reaches 68 degrees Farenheit?? i am not quite clear on that. Anybody who owns one, I would apprecciate your input.
As far as the remote A/C, you would use it the same way you do remote start. When you are, I dont know, at a restaurant, and you know you will be leaving soon, you would press the A/C button located on your key fob while still in the restaurant, pointing at your car through the restaurant window. Then, after three minutes have passed, and you finally exiting the restaurant, your A/C will turn off automatically. Also, if your battery is low, this feature will simply not work.
I think the whole point is though, that if your solar ventilation has been cooling your car ever since you went into the restaurant, Toyota calculates that by the time you get around to use the remote A/C, your car will be somewhat cooled and 3 minutes of real A/C should be more than enough to get it nice and confy. I think that is why toyota designed it that way.

Well then can somebody explain to me why is it that according to this (Toyota Prius - 2010 Options and Packages) the Solar Roof package comes with "Remote air conditioning sytem", but when you "build your own" here (GST Build Your Toyota) The remote A/C comes as part of the $3600 solar roof package, and the Remote engine start must be added separately as an option for $529?

Can you tell me how to find or access the install PDF? Thanks.

The remote A/C with the solar roof only works for 3 minutes using solar power. I guess it will only work on a bright day, but not at night.

With remote start, the car will actually start and the A/C or heater will run for 10 minutes. BTW, why would anyone use a remote start other than to heat or cool the car?

Actually, the solar roof activates a ventialtion system, not the A/C. The ventilation system makes the inside of the car match the outside temperature, and then some, relying on solar power. The A/C remote thing relies on battery power, not solar (I posted several times on this same thread already) which is why is limited to 3 minutes. However, the reason the A/C remote comes packaged with the solar power ventilation is because they compliment each other. The solar powered ventilation pre-cools the car so that the 3 minute limit of the Remote A/C is more than enough to fully cool the car...anyways. I really dont mean to come off as rude, but I explained this so many times already, and it seems like nobody fully read it...either way, thanks for your input.

And the remote engine start has existed since 90s (as far as I know) and I always thought its purpose was the warm up the engine in really cold places (i,e. below 25 Farenheit)

That last post kinda confused me...

The remote A/C does NOT rely on solar power, right? Only the ventilation does... right?

right. As a matter of fact, as I already posted somewhere above in my "if you are in a restaurant" example, if your battery is low, the remote A/C will not work....because it relies on the battery.