I'm going through the painful process of renewing my insurance at the moment.

I was wondering if any of you guys had any experience of the differences made, if any, by fitting better security devices.

Is it worth considering?

I'm absolutely NO expert concerning alarms, but I did consider buying a Sigma unit (

I'm absolutely NO expert concerning alarms, but I did consider buying a Sigma unit (

Got an additional alarm/imobiliser fitted to mine, so even if the potential thief got hold of the keys the car aint going nowhere until they disable the other imobiliser.

I am not a fan of trackers, because I would not want my car back if it was TWOC'd, however I am thinking about a cheapie alarm though.

Clifford Black Jax might be something worth while though.....sure Geoff will pipe up about this later.

Had this on the Scooby - insurance companies didn't give a reduction in premium for it and it was such a PITA we ended up turning it off (you have to enter the PIN every time a door is opened)..... luckily we live in a nice area so never needed to test it

Also had a tracker as Tesco don't insure Gp 17 cars without one - never used it and at 99 quid a year, subscription wasn't cheap.

If you want a decent alarm, go with the Clifford Concept 500 and that way you have the option of BlakJack if you want it...., but don't expect a saving on your premium unless you find a nice insurance company

Chris

I dont rate trackers either, A few weeks ago there was a prog on the tv about car theives and in that some uk police officers went to an african country where they believed a lot of stolen cars where ending up. They equipped a helicopter with the UK tracker gear and took off, in a few minutes they were bombarded with positive ID's from loads of stolen UK cars being driven around with all there trackers activated. There were so many they were unable to act because it would mean stopping so many cars. I think this was the Tracker stuff, rather than the GPS tracker like navtrack and rac trackstar.

I am in the process of finding a car to replace the vRS later this year, and getting quotes on insurance it seems more companies are wanting trackers now before they will insure you.

Blackjax.

Generally mine is turned off, but it's always there if i'm likely to be in a dodgy area

I'd say a Disclock, combined with a Clifford or Toad alarm is about as secure as you'll get

I can't comment on trackers as i don't have one, but if anyone gets past a Cat 1 alarm, 2 immobilisers and a Disclock, then good luck to them However, anything GPS based is useless once the car is crated up..

That said, if they really want the car, they'll lift it and work on it elsewhere.

I use an Autolock 2000 which has supposedly been tested to destruction at Thatcham. Some of the plastic bits can get damaged over time but it doesn't need a key to lock it.

I keep forgetting to mention it to the insurance company so I don't know if they'll do anything for it, but Thatcham grading usually helps.

You'll be lucky to get a discount for a Cat3 (i.e. Mechanical) "immobiliser", as the insurance company will not accept that you always fit it.