I've been thinking about getting a decent alarm fitted to the car, and I want one that works off the standard key. However, I don't want to pay main dealer prices. Anyone got any recommendations? Is it really worth getting an alarm fitted, or is a Tracker a better investment? What sort of prices am I looking at?

Just my 10p worth:

alarms don't make any difference to your insurance (not to mine anyway) and you can pay a lot for a good one.

Trackers do make a difference to your premium but the saving made isstill much less than the cost of the device (again in my experience).

If a professional thief wants your car he'll get it. With a Trakcer at least there's the possibility of getting it back. How many people now take notice of a car alarm? Not many I would guess; as a casual thief deterrent I'm not sure they work that much now.

As such I got myself a Disklok and saved myself at least

I have an aftermarket cat1 jobbie on my RS, what adrian said about alarms is mostly true but at least You will know if something is happening to your car.

If you go down cat1 route, you will also have as a result a 2nd imobiliser meaning the thief now has 2 to bypass. Mine also shuts any windows that have been left down.

You could also get a cat2 (Which the vw imob is) to cat1 upgrade then you can use the key to arm/disarm as required. Still only 1 imob though.

Maybe a lot of people would ignore a car alarm, but thats not the point of them. They come into their own if someone has a go at your motor outside your house, or on your drive etc. Even if you're not around, any decent neighbour will take a look, as long as you have a decent system which doesnt false alarm every 5 minutes.

I would personally recomend Clifford systems, i've had them on my last 3 cars, and there's a Concept 500 on the RS now. They ARE expensive, but you get what you pay for, and i always use the same installer cos i know he does a first class job.

Also, i'l echo what was said about the Disklok, it is without doubt the best visual deterrent you can have.

Clifford was the name I meant......doh! Eagle was a particular Clifford model I think.

Originally posted by SkodiRS in this post

Clifford was the name I meant......doh! Eagle was a particular Clifford model I think.

Yep, correct, i had a Clifford Eagle on my Cav GSi about 5 years ago. Damn good alarms, but not cheap.