Car alarm installs

Doodee

Hey There,

Basically Im looking for a decent place to install a car alarm in Dublin.

I've been told that the person who installs the alarm can sometimes be more important than the alarm itself.
Now i've rang a few places (while i was in galway mind you) and they all wanted me to buy the alarm off them and have it installed.
Sicne I already have a Falcon Evo Predator 4 alarm from not so long ago I was looking for someone to install that instead.


Anyone know of anyone good and what kinda prices am I looking at.
I've budgetted from 300 - 350e as i realise it will be an all day job to wire up a remote starter alarm but anythiung more than this and I'd feel like being taken for a ride.

Reccomendations please!

JohnCleary

Paul Devane @ Western Windscreens will install it for you

Search for Western Windscreens in goldenpages.ie

Dish

I had a Clifford G5 fitted to my car. Got a mobile electrician to do it for me! Cost me 250 to fit! Was happy enough with that!

MAYPOP

http://motovation.ie/web/

franksm

Dish wrote:

I had a Clifford G5 fitted to my car. Got a mobile electrician to do it for me! Cost me 250 to fit! Was happy enough with that!

Dish, where did you buy your Clifford if you don't mind me asking ? Or did the mobile-mech providde it ?

Reason for asking is that I bought a Clifford G5 system in 2004 and fitted it (great system) but now need one for another car - yet can't find anyone that sells them without wanting to do the install themselves (understandable from Clifford's point of view, but I want to be the one doing the install)

Wibbs

Doodee wrote:

I've been told that the person who installs the alarm can sometimes be more important than the alarm itself.

In a big way. I'd rather have a cheapo alarm properly fitted than a top of the range job done the usual way.

Whoever you get to fit it, get them to install a backup battery siren, a piezo siren under the dash and if you really want to get flash a backup battery for the whole system(you can get all of the above on ebay for very little money). Also make sure they really bury the alarm so that it's difficult to get to. Most installs a practiced thief can bypass because they're so easy to access. Also don't advertise what alarm you have by putting stickers all over the place. keep the scum guessing.

franksm wrote:

Dish, where did you buy your Clifford if you don't mind me asking ? Or did the mobile-mech providde it ?

Reason for asking is that I bought a Clifford G5 system in 2004 and fitted it (great system) but now need one for another car - yet can't find anyone that sells them without wanting to do the install themselves (understandable from Clifford's point of view, but I want to be the one doing the install)

I got mine on ebay. Check out some of the viper alarms systems there too. Same company as clifford, but a lot cheaper.

Doodee

Wibbs wrote:

In a big way. I'd rather have a cheapo alarm properly fitted than a top of the range job done the usual way.

Whoever you get to fit it, get them to install a backup battery siren, a piezo siren under the dash and if you really want to get flash a backup battery for the whole system(you can get all of the above on ebay for very little money). Also make sure they really bury the alarm so that it's difficult to get to. Most installs a practiced thief can bypass because they're so easy to access. Also don't advertise what alarm you have by putting stickers all over the place. keep the scum guessing.

I was advised about this before aswell.

So of those who have experience with the fitters mentioned, did they obey what wibbs suggested above?

also, that motivation place, is it only cliffords they install?

Wibbs

I would say 90% of fitters out there don't, mainly because of the economics of the time it takes and the complication involved. They're naturally trying to make a living and what most would have to charge for their time just doesn't make it worth their while. The main problem are car owners trying to do it on the cheap and not having the knowledge to hand about alternatives. Go to an Irish enthusiasts site and type in back up battery and wait for the electronic blank stares. Enough said. If the demand was there the fitters would obviously do it, but it isn't. Loads of car enthusiasts will spend thousands on ICE, wheels and whatever sticks to their pride and joy after they drove through Halfords with the car covered in glue(never mind the cost of the car itself) and then protect their investment with 200 odd quid of a cheapo car alarm. Or trust one of those dopey steering wheel locks(bypass in seconds, helps break the cars own steering lock too). Then they wonder why their car goes walkies when some dayglow wearing, backward baseball capped, greasy spider fringe pikey decides he wants a "joy"ride.

Add the old self defeating stupidity of "if they really want it, they'll take it" brigade and it's no wonder cars get stolen so easily. The truth is you can make your car very very difficult to steal, even if they nick your keys. Add a start kill switch(s) on both the ignition and fuel pump, hide them well and even with the alarm off and the keys it slows them down further. Add an anti hijack module(blackjax from clifford is pricey but good, there are other standalone ones out there) and even if they have the keys and they've managed to bypass the kill switches the car will grind to a halt half a mile up the road. Add a tracker and then you can find out exactly where the car is when the pikeys make a run for it. that lot will probably set you back the guts of 800+ quid though(less the tracker). Compare and contrast to the average security on 99% of cars out there. That's why most of the time alarms don't "work".

Doubtless you'll hear the stories about eastern european lads nicking cars to order. Yes it happens, but mostly it's some oven chips fed, scaldy ratboy doing the stealing. Even with the "professionals" those layers will slow them down and by having those layers chances are very high they will go on to another easier target. It's not worth their while, precisely because they're professionals.

Some of the installs I've seen on mates cars you wouldn't believe. Big name alarms too. All to easy to bypass and I'm no electrician. One of the classics is that they'll bypass a modern cars built in immobiliser by gluing the chip from the spare key to the steering column. Unreal and very very stupid as it's one of the best security features you could have, yet they bypass it(usually for a silly feature like remote start). I've seen this on very expensive clifford installs. Insane. They also almost always put the alarm brain under the dash beside the steering column where stevie fúckin wonder could find it with no problems. You find the alarm and you can bypass the immobiliser, which is usually in the same place on the same models of cars. The scum know this. One píss easy hotwire later and they have your car. Cue gnashing of teeth, taking the bus(or God forbid cycling) and your insurance company hmmming and hawing about how much your car is worth after they find its burnt out husk in the mountains.

As well as the stuff above, add a tilt switch sensor(ebay again). If they try to jack the car for the wheels it'll go off. If they try to tow it or push it off your driveway it'll go off. Much much better than the standard shock sensor most are fitted with. Proximity sensor is a better bet anyway.

I researched this years ago when a car of mine got stolen. Really píssed me off. They bypassed the alarm in a matter of minutes. Looking back I'm not surprised. It would have taken me an hour to do it and I'm clueless about car sparky bits. I did a bit of research and with the help of an ex car thief I met (long story) who had given up that crap(really turned his life around. Nice guy. Proved people can change)and came to the above conclusions. When I was finished he reckoned it would be very very hard to steal the car in anything like a "safe" time and he knew where everything was. that's the trick. Make them spend too much time. Layer the security. One layer slows them down a little, 3 or 4 layers really slows them down. They may screw up your car, but it'll be still sitting outside your house.

Here's a simple one.When you park your car at night in the driveway. Turn the steering wheel all the way right or left. It does two things, one it makes it harder to get leverage to break the steering lock and two it makes it a lot harder to push the car out of your driveway. Handbrake on and in gear is obvious of course.

Your original request? Sadly the car electrician that installed mine buggered off to countries and pastures new, so sadly I can't help you there. Typical, all this typing and your still in the dark on that point. Sorry. Hope the rest helped though. Cue end of rant. I need to lie down now...........:D

Doodee

Post of the month tbh!

Wibbs

Doodee, if it was the 26th of the month and not the 6th that would be a bigger compliment.:D Cheers anyway. It was a big rant. There's some left in me too. I'm just waiting for the usual "if they really want it they'll take it" mob to chime in.

franksm

Great info there, Wibbs

I installed a Clifford G5 system in my car a couple of years ago - has a couple of extras incl. the wireless immobiliser. I was kind of dismayed/pi$$ed off when I went to remove the "professionally installed" system in my car when I went to put the G5 in - the wires had just been cut & twisted together, and the alarm "brain" was suspended behind the dash on a net of its own wires :-O

Never false-alarmed but I can't believe I paid money for someone to do that.

BTW I'm buying a Clifford Matrix 70.5x for my "new" car - can't wait to see that (Ebay from the US, and self-fit)

Wibbs

yep I've seen that more than once. then you get the bleating "but my car had an alaaaarm!!". I hope you put the clifford brain somewhere less obvious.;)

BTW check out the viper range too. I dunno, but you may find it's exact equivalent to the clifford model at a lot less money. Not likely if it's top end clifford, but the mid range are sold under the viper/python(and a couple of others. Same company) name at a lot less cash. With the money you save throw in a tlt switch and backup alarm battery and the scum can go elsewhere. A bit of a google throws up that the Viper 7900/Python 1090 are the same as the 70.5x clifford. Just a thought. Clifford is only a name unless you're going for the real top end. In any case you should be the only one to know what alarm you have.

maidhc

I have a dog that bites.

blastman

Yeah, but can he put out fires, bud? *sniff*

iblis

Doodee wrote:

Hey There,

Basically Im looking for a decent place to install a car alarm in Dublin.

I've been told that the person who installs the alarm can sometimes be more important than the alarm itself.
Now i've rang a few places (while i was in galway mind you) and they all wanted me to buy the alarm off them and have it installed.
Sicne I already have a Falcon Evo Predator 4 alarm from not so long ago I was looking for someone to install that instead.


Anyone know of anyone good and what kinda prices am I looking at.
I've budgetted from 300 - 350e as i realise it will be an all day job to wire up a remote starter alarm but anythiung more than this and I'd feel like being taken for a ride.

Reccomendations please!

This guy: http://www.funkymotors.ie/ installed my Evo 4+ and he did a grand job, with window closure module and boot release also. It wasn't cheap, but
it was a brand new system at the time (nearly 3 years ago now) and I bought the alarm from him (which was more than it would have cost from a non-fitter's website).

Wibbs

Forgot about them. Actually I've heard good things about them from a mate who had nothing but trouble from other alarms/installs. They do a good solid job and a lot cheaper than some of the big name jokers. Given Doodee has an alarm that they fit all the time and you're not up to the job of fitting the thing yourself, then it's not such a bad plan. Get them to put a backup battery siren(and ideally a full backup battery for the alarm brain if the predator can take one) and a tilt sensor and you wouldn't do too badly.