...

Edited 11 March, 201115 yr by xa0sx

£200 - £300 or more depending on features and brand. There are shops that specialise in fitting alarms and also often do car audio etc too. It's probably a good idea if you read about car alarms on the net to see the sort of things they can do and what features you might like to have. For example you can have a tilt sensor fitted which triggers the alarm if the car is jacked (for example to try steal wheels if you have expensive alloys).

The Toad AI606 is a good basic system and has Thatcham cat 1 for insurance purposes, or for something a little more swish you might look at something like this http://www.dynamicsounds.co.uk/viper-480xv-thatcham-category-alarm-system-includes-installation-p-1175.html If Thatcham xat 1 doesn't make your insurance any cheaper I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about if the alarm has it or not, but it does have one or two clever features to annoy professional car thieves.

Edited 10 November, 201015 yr by anewman

Why would a vRS need an aftermarket alarm?

The one fitted as standard is rated as Thatcham category 1 so far as I know. Seems to work pretty well for me.....

Paul.

Why would a vRS need an aftermarket alarm?

(I didn't like to ask... )

Didn't know VRS had alarm as standard. Guess its a case of it being so good and not false alarming you'd never know it had one? There can be some benefits moving to an aftermarket alarm from an OE one, but you need to be clear on what benefits you'll get to see if it's worth the cost.

I was it had an emobilise and not an alarm? You can shake the car as much as possible and it does nothing, you can jack it up without anything happening, etc. I've actually never seen my mates alarm go off on his vRS in over 2 years?

Try locking it while you're inside - then moving after a while (30 seconds) ...

And please try reading the manual ! (For info it appears not to have a movement sensor)

The advantages of the factory fit alarm appear to be a] it's reliable (I've not had any fault alarms in six years of ownership); and b] you merely have to declare factory fitted alarm when insuring it and not submit pieces of paper to prove it, nor have an annual check-up which some insurance companies require ~(having previously owned an Impreza Turbo).

You should not be leaving ipods and satnavs in the car no matter how good the alarm, they'll just smash the window and run. If they want to pinch your car they will regardless of the alarm. Invest in a tracker if you are really worried, that way you'll get it back.

Toad Ai606 is a winner for me, stay away from clifford they will just give you endless problems !

As already said though the vrs doesn't need an aftermarket alarm anyways as the standard one is sufficient, if your worried about getting your wheels nicked get a couple of locking nuts on each wheel !

I thought that my vRS didn't have one...

My girlfriend was waiting in the car, I locked it out of habit then quickly unlocked it.

Came back 5 mins later to a very embarrased girlfriend

Clifford gets my vote for aftermarket alarms.

I've had several over the years (before the vRS) and they've never given any problems at all so it's down to the quality of the installer.

Clifford gets my vote for aftermarket alarms.

I've had several over the years (before the vRS) and they've never given any problems at all so it's down to the quality of the installer.

TBH Clifford is overpriced. Viper, part of the same umbrella company DEI, are cheaper and tend to have more features versus price. Clifford is probably the ultimate if price is no concern and you go for the top of the range.

I guess most problems with Clifford alarms are the cheap shock sensor which will go off every time Mr Chav with his noisy exhaust drives past, solution either stick this sensor in bin or turn sensitivity down lots. Some people also seem to have problems with proximity sensors, either warning away when nothing is near the car or in the rain etc. This is IMO down to installation and setting up. It should really be installed under the roof lining (not under the centre console) and set up so that it full alarms when a head and arm intrude through a window into the passenger compartment (not just an arm itself) and warn away should be set so it warns away when someone sticks their face up against the glass as if looking for a stereo to nick. There are some things to remember about the proximity sensors. Firstly the DEI one goes into a hyper sensitive mode after a certain amount of time (so should be left armed for this time before testing or the sensitivity turned down slightly if testing earlier). Also weather conditions (perhaps air pressure and humidity) seems to expand and contract the field somewhat making it more and less sensitive. Even if set relatively light they can still warn away when a big bus drives past, presumably due to the mass breaking the electronic field up Another issue that comes to mind is glass break sensors can false when windows are open and some types of noise are detected from outside the car. TBH a good installer with plenty of experience would know all of this and more, and be able to install a system that rarely if ever falses, and protects your car from theft and to some extend vandalism etc.

Advise using 'Tracker' system and still use normal on board anti-theft devices.

At least that way your car can be tracked by the police to the vehicle location, and with luck apprehend the culprits.

How often have you heard an alarm go off on a car and not even turn round to see whose car has flashing indicators??

Advise using 'Tracker' system and still use normal on board anti-theft devices.

At least that way your car can be tracked by the police to the vehicle location, and with luck apprehend the culprits.

How often have you heard an alarm go off on a car and not even turn round to see whose car has flashing indicators??

There are systems like as follows that help prevent theft, even with keys and keyfob.

Viper Vehicle Recovery System (they call it VRS - maybe Skoda will sue them, lol). What this does if set is makes the alarm go off while the car is being driven. Presumably a thief would not want to drive with the alarm blaring, and then the system prevents the car starting again once the engine is turned off. The downside to this is it needs to be actively enabled and actively disabled by the driver, and once it starts activating (if accidentally activated) you have no choice but to pull over and stop the engine to disable it.

Clifford Blackjax - this is somewhat like the Viper system but more advanced and user friendly IMO. It makes the alarm go off and then kills the engine. It automatically activates every time the engine is turned off and if the driver's door is opened (in for example a car jacking). It is disabled by entering a pin code on a two button interface.

Another thing that can be installed is something like a Clifford Callguard or Toad Text Alert. These send a text message to your phone when the alarm is activated. They can also receive messages you send to control things in the car. This could include a relay to remotely kill the fuel pump in the event of a theft. As it is mobile phone based it could also be used in conjunction with a service like http://www.childlocate.co.uk/ to tell you the location of your car. You must first put the sim in a mobile phone and reply to allow it to be tracked. You can do this without any cost and PAYG if you ever need to track it. I believe the newest Callguard has onboard GPS and texts you back with coordinates if requested.

IMO the tracker things are expensive because they usually require a paid subscription. Probably not worth it on a standard Fabia VRS.

Edited 11 November, 201015 yr by anewman

I thought that my vRS didn't have one...

My girlfriend was waiting in the car, I locked it out of habit then quickly unlocked it.

Came back 5 mins later to a very embarrased girlfriend

haha i've done the same before!

I was it had an emobilise and not an alarm? You can shake the car as much as possible and it does nothing, you can jack it up without anything happening, etc. I've actually never seen my mates alarm go off on his vRS in over 2 years?

Mine goes off if I wash the car, I walk past the car with a window open, people parrlell park next to it, buses go past, pretty much anything. I've only skim read it, but surely a tracker will give bigger insurance discounts? (Although you have to pay for them yearly I think.)

What I have noticed, is I can walk up to my car at uni or whevever, stick my hand in the window to grab a bag of the back seat and set the alarm off and no one even looks. Not sure it'll nessesarily be worth the outlay.

Mine goes off if I wash the car, I walk past the car with a window open, people parrlell park next to it, buses go past, pretty much anything.

What I have noticed, is I can walk up to my car at uni or whevever, stick my hand in the window to grab a bag of the back seat and set the alarm off and no one even looks. Not sure it'll necessarily be worth the outlay.

This is the alarm you want.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxRMTtR5I2E

Edited 11 November, 201015 yr by Jim H