2006 Buick Lucerne Extended Range Remote

Mike: The only car I have seen this listed on the window sticker also had the remote starter option. I think you can get it independent of the remote starter. It would be useful if you are having trouble finding your car in a big parking lot. Hit the lock button and listen for the beep. What I find suprising is that they don't just include it and bump the price of the remote locks or remote starter. $50 is a pretty cheap option.

It's possible that Buick and Pontiac are different then. I recall that "Remote start enabler" and "Remote start" were distinct options on my car when I ordered. Looking on

I see that the "Extended Range remote keyless entry" listing for the Lucerne has the RPO AP8, which is the required RPO for the GM accessory remote-start kit. Looking on at the Grand Prix, the AP8 option is listed as "Remote start enabler", so it appears that the Buick and Pontiac option serve the same purpose, they're just labeled differently.

It's not an option for JUST extending your RKE range (from 60 ft. to

492 ft. according to my GP's manual), it's also required for the future addition of the GM remote-start package if it was not equipped with it from the factory.

I can vouch for the range, I walked out of a store that had its own entrance, and essentially its own park>Mike: The only car I have seen this listed on the window sticker also

I guess that it could be both a requirement for adding on a remote starter as well as a range extender with a factory installed remote starter. I have seen 8 or 9 window stickers with only the remote starter listed and only one with the range extender. The one with the range extender also had the remote starter option. I worked in a GM dealership for 30 years and it was always difficult to determine what was actually included in an option. There was a fleet book that used to have a full description of each option. I guess I need to find one of these books and see what it says. thanks Frank

Considering the RPO for the "range extender" (as you call it and as Edmunds calls it for the Buick) is required for the remote start accessory sold by GM, I imagine that it's included as part of the remote start option when the vehicle is ordered from the factory with remote start.

I'm not trying to argue what you say you saw, but it may be possible that the car you saw was ordered with only the RVS (remote vehicle start) prep package (or extended range RKE) and the dealer added the GM accessory remote start system when it arrived. They then printed a new sticker with that as a "dealer installed option". I did a gmbuypower.com search of the dealer I bought my Pontiac from (they also sell Buick), none of the Lucernes had both remote start and extended range RKE listed, actually, only one or 2 that I looked at had the actual remote start installed. I also looked at the Lacrosse inventory, like the Lucerne, they all had either remote start or extended range RKE listed, none listed both.

Just went to build a Lucerne on Buick's site. Selected a CXL, added the "Driver confidence package", which includes AP3 (remote vehicle start) and the ability to add extended range RKE goes away, it WAS listed an item or 2 below the package I selected, when the page refreshed after selecting the package, the option was gone.

Mike: You are correct. I went back and looked at the window sticker on the car I thought had both but it only has the extended remote not the remote start. With the remote door opening option it says the range is

30 feet. The write up for the remote start lists 200 feet. It makes sense that the normal remote key fob only works when you are close to the car and in order for the remote start to work you have to be a lot further away.

I also tried to select remote start and the extended option goes away.

Thanks for setting me straight.

Frank

No problem. Maybe the Buicks have a shorter range, or the "add-on" remote start has a shorter range, but Pontiac lists the range as 492 feet. Now that I think of it, that's also the range for the RVS-prep option on the Pontiac. My doors will unlock from that range, and lock, since the sequence needed for a start is to press the lock button then hold the start button.

This is slightly inaccurate: "The new RI-GM-1 interface works with GM vehicles that come with a factory installed remote starter. These factory starters have a performance range that is limited to less than 150 feet*".

Of course, the * >Find an ASTROFLEX dealer. They have an add on unit that will increase your

You sound like a salesman for the company. I looked at the unit, the remote looks rather cheap to me. I'll keep the reduced range, thanks.