Car alarms ??

alfarocks

Anyone use an alarm on their classics, got any recommendations ?? apart from pulling out the rotar arm

DC5_ITR

It depends really. I've been accused of going over the top with the alarm I put on my pride and joy. It cost me 1400 yoyos but it's worth every penny in my opinion. There are various flavours of it though. Prices start at 250 yoyos and can go up to 1200 yoyos now. (The price has come down since I got mine). It is made by a company called "Clifford" and it's the fifth generation system.

If you're interested, then you can call the chap who did an excellent job on mine (and all my friends cars). Call A.P.A. in Cherry Orchard and ask for Peter or Brendan. I don't have their main contact number but if you want, pm me and I can send you Peter's mobile number.

HTH.

mustang68

I put in a Falcon with pager, beeps/vibrates the key fob when its triggered (within a certain range) I've found it great for shows and that moment of doubt in your mind when you hear an alarm outside the house and wonder if its yours.

The thing about alarms on classics its that if you have a bit of a think about it: its very easy to actually force it to start and drive away :eek: , your best method is deterence. I'm much more worried about valdals. :mad:

alfarocks

Was thinking of something reasonably simple, basically go off when someone shakes/bumps the car.
Immobiliser and central locking are pretty pointless and as you say its pretty easy to hotwire if someone really want to.

mustang68

Well then, an alarm with tilt sensor and ultrasonic sensors is cheap and will do the job if you don't want bells and whistles.

Dades

I installed one of these, purely as a deterrent.

I fitted the LED into a spare "socket" on the dash and now it flashes a noticable red LED when the ignition is off. Okay so it won't deter a determined thief, but it might some knacker looking for a sneaky smash & grab. Worth the 7 bucks for piece of mind.

mustang68

Make sure you have locking wheel nuts if your wheels are nice, the big flashing red light is a very good idea too.

Stevo11

I've used a Falcon in the past too, has shock sensor, bonnet, boot + door switches, one-touch full closure(doors + windows), allows for addition of boot popper too, remote start and has a good robust pager. Easy to wire up + it WORKS! ;-)
Loads more features... have a look here :
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Falcon-Predator-EVO4-LCD-Pager-Car-Alarm-Remote-Start_W0QQitemZ8042856746QQcategoryZ75329QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

dubtom

A mate of mine deals in alarms, use to work for that crowd in cherryorchord, does his own thing now. He fitted a clifford in my taxi, basically for the hijack feature, but their expensive. I got a basic alarm for the Mustang with immobiliser, flashing lights ect. It's actually quite a good one,unless the alarm is turned off you won't even get a red light, no hope of starting it, and it resets itself after about 10 seconds if you don't start immediatly. pm me if you want his number, he'll do a good deal for you.

franksm

I've got a Clifford too (Avantguard 5 or something). I got it from the States and installed it myself - pretty straightforward. I love the anti-hijack feature, it has loads of outputs (eg. for popping boot), has a wireless immobiliser too as well as the usual two immobilised circuits. You can adjust the sensitivity of the warnings and full-activations using the keyfob or by plugging in a laptop.

As DC5_ITR says, it's 1400 quid's worth - mine cost about 700 cos I fitted it myself. That's in my MX5

For my Stag, when I went to buy another Clifford it seems that Clifford have cracked down on unapproved sellers, so it's impossible to buy them it seems unless you go to an approved dealer and get them to fit it. I have ended up with a Falcon-type thing off Ebay as per Stevo11 - haven't fitted it yet. Need to plug the holes in my sieve before adding any more electric gear to it :rolleyes:

mustang68

Whats this anti Hijack feature ?

franksm

You have to type in a pin-code after starting the car otherwise the alarm gives a warning after about 30 seconds; 30 seconds after that, the alarm cuts the engine as soon as it sees the car is slowing or stopped. During this time the brake lights are flashing, so whoever is in the car isn't overly aware of what is about to happen after the first warning - although I guess the flashing LED will give a clue. Motorists behind will see the flashing brakelights of course.

Kinda scarey when it happens, but seems safe - ie. won't cut the engine until it sees you're stopping anyway.

The system also kicks in if the doors are opened while the engine is running - it starts that whole procedure I talked about. So if anyone wants your car supposedly you can let them have it and step away knowing the thing will cut out 1/4 mile down the road - for whatever that's worth.

You can disable all that of course, but if you get used to typing your code it's fine. "blackjax" is the name of this in Clifford terms

MercMad

The anti hijack is an excellent feature and is possibly the most imnportant nowdays where people break in/assault you and steal keys !

I put in a Scorpion myself when I got my SL and its been fine, it gives peace of mind but I know the determined could still drive away in it so I dont park anywhere thats dodgy and the old chain is a good deterrent too !

I fitted LED up on the wood dash vent so its quite obvious and it's handy if I want to pop into a shop or pay for petrol and dont feel like putting the top up etc !

When I get my car back I may upgrade it though !

alfarocks

Thanks for the info, picked up an alarm at Maplins for €66. Basic enough design but has everything I'm looking for.
Not really sure I even need it in this weather - not the easiest to start in these damp conditions.