Advice on car alarm systems?

There have been a rash of car break-ins in my area. My car still has 4 small gouges in the vinyl on the driver's door panel where some inept (thankfully) would be thief couldn't get to the door lock tab, from last summer.

So I'm thinking it's time to put in a car alarm system. I know absolutely nothing about auto alarm systems, so I would appreciate any and all advice:

Features that are 'must have'.

Features to avoid.

Features that add to the cost, complexity, and end up being a PITA.

Brand name(s) to look for, and brand name(s) to avoid.

What to look for when picking an installer. Also what sends up a red flag, to avoid a 'bad' installer.

About how much I can expect to spend.

TIA

Well, I really can't answer all your questions, as I'm no expert when it comes to car alarms. But, you can't go wrong with Directed Electronics. I very large portion of the alarms out there, are made by them.

As for features, I would look into a two-way paging system. A blaring alarm in the middle of the night usually only annoys people. A two way alarm will page your keyless remote from up to 1.25 miles on some models, and let you know what your car is up to. The paging models usually come with more features as well, such as remote start, onboard relays, etc.

Installation is by no means easy, but with a basic knowledge of automobile wiring and connections, you can easily install one yourself in your driveway, in under 1/2 a day. Just make sure to solder all your connections, hide everything as best you can, and don't slack off on anything.

I would also look into getting a second sensor for the alarm, as most alarms only come with a shock sensor. A digital tilt sensor is good if you have aftermarket wheels, or want to know if your car is being jacked(lifted). Microwave sensors can dectect people near your car, or if a window is left open, inside your car.

You can expect to spend upwards of $500.00 for a nice two way remote start and paging system installed. Usually local stereo shops and such will install them, or the major retailers such as Best Buy. I can't really say I'd reccommend getting your alarm installed at Best Buy, as I've seen some pretty shady work done there, but entirely up to you. You can save money by purchasing the system online, but usually they don't come with any warranty, and you have to install them yourself. That decision is up to you really. The options are almost endless, depending on the budget. GPS tracking, digital video recorders, etc.

I really don't think much of car alarms, just a way for people to make money selling them. I work security at a hospital and college and we often have vehicle break in with the car alarms going off. Criminals don't really care if a car has an alarm or not. They often go off because of a loud noise or someone just bumping into them, people don't really pay much attention when a car alarm goes off. Atleast around here. I had an alarm in my dodge neon that I used to have and I managed to have over $1000 worth of stuff stolen out of it. I once saw a video on the internet of a guy going through a parking lot of a movie theater and broke into 20 cars (alarms going off) within a very very short amount of time. My best suggestiong is to keep eveything of value out of your vehicle or out of site. Tinted windows help out alot. It they can't see anything they like, it is less likely that they will break in. JMHO

I don't know much about car alarms except they **** me off. Even when I'm at work (law enforcement), I ignore them. When I'm trying to sleep, I HOPE the car is getting broken into as revenge for waking me up at 2 AM. I sympathize with anybody whose car gets broken into UNLESS they have a car alarm that has annoyed hundreds of people with false alarms prior to the real thing--in other words, all of them.

Another factor is what you can really do if the car is broken into. Smash and grab thieves have been known to kill car owners who tried to stop them. This can be a dangerous business.

Having a blinking light that looks like a real alarm is the best compromise in my opinion.

I got a flood light on my car, a video camera and my rotties running loose in my fenced yard. Never had a problem.:naughty: Car alarms are over rated by the way.

These are a few things I've found important. My four current vehicles and my g/f's car have all had alarms for about four years with the exception of my latest toy, which I've only had for a few months. We've had one false alarm the entire time. Here goes:

Two way paging is a must. It's been my experience that most people will at least look over when an alarm goes off, and if someone is obviously breaking in they'll call the police, otherwise you'll be the only one that cares if your car is getting broken into.

Make sure that the tilt, shock, and glass breakage sensors are tuneable. These are the biggest culprits of false-alarms. If they're not tuneable and you can't afford an alarm that has tuneable sensors, then either disconnect the sensors completely or don't bother with an alarm at all. You'll just **** people off(as evidenced by the replies in this thread). Get your alarm installed, tell all your neighbors what you're doing, make sure none are sleeping or have a migraine, and start doing things to set off your alarm. Bump into your car. Did the alarm go off? Too sensitive, back it down a bit. Really give it a real good solid shove. Did it go off? No? Turn it up a bit. Get the kid down the street with the Honda and a fart-can muffler to sit next to your car and rev his weedwhacker at you. Did the alarm go off? Too sensitive. Something tuned with a Honda/fart-can muffler combo will likely still go off if a big v8 with a deep rumble parks next to you. Properly tuned alarms don't false.

Turn off your arm/disarm chirp. This is VERY important if you'll be parking/leaving late at night or early in the morning.

Don't arm the alarm when it's honestly not needed.

Make sure your alarm has a timer and turns off automatically after 30 seconds or a minute if it should false and you can't get there to turn it off. 30 seconds is twice the time it took anyone to look over, realize it was nothing, and start getting annoyed because it was a false.

Generally, do your own research and pick your own alarm to suit your needs, then call around and find who has the model you want. If you're going to install it yourself then buy from the cheapest place, either brick and mortar or online. If you're going to have them install it, buy from the person who knows their business and not the greased-mongoose salesperson. Most places won't warranty anything they don't install, but most warranties are lifetime on the brain and 30 day on everything else. Not worth it, IMO.

Follow all the normal security advice. Stack the deck in your favor every way you can. If you have a big stereo, don't go booming when you're near where you'll be parking. That's called advertising; telling all the robbers in the area that you've got something in the car worth stealing. Etc etc (un)common sense stuff.


Hope this helps. :buddies:

P.S. I apologize to those of you who've had trouble from irresponsible alarms. Rest assured that not all are merely annoyance generating nuisances or purely to provide "status," similar to the way some people conspicuously use a cellphone.

As to the false alarms, a little adjusting will make those almost never happen. I think I've had my alarm go off for no reason once in the last year. You just have to set the sensitivity, and most installers set them too sensitive. The recommendation for DEI alarms is good, they make good electronics.

Also the instal is everything, a good instal will make the alarm harder to disable. But you have to remember it's only a deterent, best defense is to keep any valubles out of sight. Why break into the car with the alarm and no visible CD's Radar detectors, when the car parked next to it has a BIG CD case on the seat and no alarm? Theifs are lazy.

Here's a little tidbit I got over the weekend. I was attending some firearms training conducted by a retired cop who lives in Los Angeles.

He has a new H2 Hummer. Just recently, thieves attempted to break in, according to scratches around the door handle.

I asked if he had an alarm (thinking of my response in this thread), and he said after the attempted theft, he got Viper.

cyberhobo said:

I got a flood light on my car, a video camera and my rotties running loose in my fenced yard. Never had a problem.:naughty: Car alarms are over rated by the way.

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Does your car stay at home when you go out?