Need a decent alarm...

[AvRS]

Hi,

My bro's Octavia Mk1 Elegance got broken into the other day and his sub and amp got taken from his boot. This has opened my eyes to how crap the standard fitted alarm is, as his never even went off after them smashing 3 windows and getting in the car. His however wasn't the only one as around 7 have been done on the estate in the last month.

I need to know what is the best alarm to get, or which have people had experiences with that work well. I was thinking about going with the Clifford Intelliguard 950 as it's got pretty much everything covered but am holding back as I need to be assured it's worth the

[cheezemonkhai]

Erm...

What standard alarm??

There is no alarm on the oty elegance only an imobiliser.

I would personally suggest clifford G5 system, (The 950 is one of these) and if it is still legal the clear security film on the windows of the car.

Regarding the alarm that one is supposed to be very very good, however if you wish to spend a little less cash they do a lower model that has many of the features of that one which is cat1 certified.

Unfortuanately, no matter what you do if some b**tard wants it enough they will get it one way or the other. :(

[Goochie]

Correct - Octavia MK1 Elegance has no alarm as standard.

Someone I know had film on his wondows and it just made it easier for the scum to remove the whole thing.

[cheezemonkhai]

I saw a volvo with it on and the after effects of them smashing the windows. It was the only one in the hotel car park the didn't get into. Saying that that was a few years ago, but it does stop the oppertunist.

Unfortuantely as i said if they want to get in they will.

I also had that film save me from a nasty shower of glass when my car got side shunted.

It's my feeling that it is about bl**dy time car manufacturers stoped scrimping on price and offered laminated glass in the side windows of cars, at least as a factory fit option.

I just got quoted £450 for that alarm fitted so you sound like you got a good price there

[Goochie]

Laminated side windows are great until you or someone else needs to break a window in an emergency.

having said that they could detonate with the air bags

[cheezemonkhai]

Doesn't take the fire brigade long to get throught it trust me

And yes, sure it's more of a pain, but then again toughened safety glass (required on side windows) makes a thieves life easier cause it breaks into nice cubes rather than sharp shards.

Anyway there should certainly be a way designed to bolow them in an accident, possibly an explosive charge much like a pretensioner that forces the windows into the open (eg down) position or something like that.

Saying that citroen c4 now can have laminated side glass - well i never

[Goochie]

Apparently, the New Jag XK saloon rolls down the windows in a crash - this is because the volume of air displaced by the air bags in such a small cabin would compress the air inside so much it'd blow your eardrums!

[iain]

I had a clifford concept 300 on my last car. It was great and the only time it caused me any problems was when i managed to drop and break the remote. then ended up getting in and having to de activate it using the deactivation pad

this was a combination of pressing on the 2 pads to de activate

I would have no hesitations to reccomend one.

the only thing with cliffords is you need a very good installer becuase if it is not put in correctly then it is more trouble than it is worth. this goes for any alarm though.

[150HP&counting]

Clifford concept 650 here with proximty, so the thieving bar stewards cant get too close in the first place... works a treat and no false alarms of the proximty, unless something big like a bus goes past at speed whilst parked on a road or something.

But walk upto car or alongside and a loud beep will be heard (this is good for me as its parked on the drive under my bedrrom window!)

HTH

Oh and far better than a sigma alarm i had on another car

[AvRS]

I was trying to weigh up the differences that I'll benefit from with going for the 950 over 650, but if you don't mind me asking how much did you pay for the 650 fitted.

Cheers for all the help so far.

[cheezemonkhai]

wasn't the concept 650 a G4 model not G5?

My father had a g4 concept 650 on his car

[Tech1e]

Personally i wouldnt bother with an after market alarm.

The standard one makes enough noise if its broken into and who listens to them anyway.

As said the Octavia doesnt have an alarm.

[gtjunior]

The 650 is a Clifford G5 Concept Cat 1 alarm. The 650 alarm isnt able to have all the options its only able to take one of cliffords options where as the 950 has these as standard Hence the cost differance. (this is what ive been told today

Iam looking at the clifford 950 for my Fabia VRS I agree that a car alarm going off people ignore but its peace of mind. And with the blackjax thing they shouldnt be able to move it an inch. Iam looking at adding some other posh stuff like the turbo timer (which i was told if added it still keeps it CAT 1)

[ChilledBud]

I have the Clifford 650 ( definate G5 not 4 ) and it's a superb bit of kit, for £225 I had the whole package from www.motorguarduk.co.uk . I cant recommend the alarm and the fitter enough, everything is first class. I also like the Blackjax anti hijack as it's a extra piece of mind. Proximity sensor being nifty too!

Number one rule in the alarm game is it's only as good as the fitter, and motorguarduk ARE the best. Travelled all of 5hr to get my alarm and 5hr back.

[mannyo]

Had a Sigma fitted to my old vRS, seemed ok but needed a separate fob. The alarm was configured to unlock/lock the car and also had total closure configured. This means that when the car was locked all the windows would close automatically. The alarm also had an imobiliser lockout that you entered onto a keypad, this meant that even if the car was unlocked by the fob or key the car wouldnt start.

As said already, no MK1 octavia had an alarm as standard. The flashing LED by the locking pin just indicates whether the deadlocks are active or not.

[cheezemonkhai]

If you add the turbo timer circuit to the clifford it looses it's CAT1, told this by a fitter and clifford confirmed.

Bloke in the shop said who would know, but I wouldn't do it as a lot of insurers won't insure you with a turbo timer, so not only would you possibly invalidate your insurance for saying you had a cat 1 when you didn't, but they would almost certainly say no insurance due to the turbo timer.

[ChilledBud]

If you add the turbo timer circuit to the clifford it looses it's CAT1' date=' told this by a fitter and clifford confirmed.

Bloke in the shop said who would know, but I wouldn't do it as a lot of insurers won't insure you with a turbo timer, so not only would you possibly invalidate your insurance for saying you had a cat 1 when you didn't, but they would almost certainly say no insurance due to the turbo timer.[/quote']

I've had the told the exact oppisite from Clifford and 5+ insurance companies as I asked regarding Blackjax, turbo timer and remote start.

The Blackjax does NOT invalidate insurance, it simply does not have a Thatcham approval stamp to it name, the rest of the alarms integrity is still that of a Cat 1 and thats what V-S-I-B offical line is, if the insurance company has a problem just log the complaint with VSIB and the insurance watchdogs.

The turbo timer/remote start was, if in fact the car is stolen when the turbo timer/remore start was activated and the car left still running it would be a insurance nightmare some companies would and some companies would not insure you. ( also you can get done by the police for leaving a running vechile unattended ).

So it's the wording when claming really.

[Schern]

Remote start invalidates the Cat 1. Can't see any reason why the blackjax would though. Blackjax is good because it allows them to drive off a bit and then stops them. So they can't just threaten to kick the crap out of you to get the code.

I have a Toad AI606 with glass break sensor and proximity sensing. The glass break sensor is awesome. Just a gentle tap with something metallic triggers the alarm. If you thump the window nothing happens, but i'm guessing that if the glass cracks it would set if off. Obviously i've never tested it that far though. The proximity sensor never sets the alarm off, it just chirps at people if they walk close by. It can chirp all night long if it rains though, so I sometimes have to disable the proximity sensor. Will definitely consider getting the same system fitted to the Furby when it arrives.

[cheezemonkhai]

Black Jaxx is the anti hijacking part though not the turbo timer so I can't see why that would invalidate anything (infact i know for a fact it doesn't with my insurance)

Anything which allows the engine to run without the keys in the ignition invalidates the CAT I, so if your insurances says you have a CAT I and the device is no longer CAT I approved due to this thing, then your insurance is invalid. Also some insurance comapanies will refuse to insure you.

I worked at an insurance company before and i know they got out of paying a few claims this way.

[gtjunior]

Just had a big shock with my insureance, i thought putting the clifford G5 950 alarm on with all its toys etc, that it would lower my insureance to a good price but it only lowers it by 5 POUND. Does this mean the standard alarm etc on the furby VRS is a top notch one??

[cheezemonkhai]

My insurance company offers zero discount for an alarm.

Basically what do you do if you hear a car alarm going off, you probably think 'i wish that thing would shut up'.

The reason to have an alarm is that it allerts you to it if somebody has a go at your car while it is outside your house or similar.

[Schern]

Yeah, same here. I work in Insurance as well. An alarm makes no difference at all to the premium, but some vehicles we require to have fitted with one. We won't cover the vehicle for theft until a minimum of a Cat 2 is fitted and we receive proof of fitment.

[MotorGuard]

Clifford Concept 650 is a G5 model. It comes standard with BlackJax (anti hi-jack system). With Clifford Blackjax you have to enter your unique code on a small key pad, if this code is not entered the car will shut down a minute down the road.

The main dfference with the c650 and 950 is that 950 comes with the tilt and motion, glass break, and proximity sensor where the 650 only comes a prox sensor.

[Traff2003]

If you are looking at lowering insurance then why not see how much your insurance co. would knock off for having a tracker / trackstar system fitted?

If it comes to more than £5 then the choice is obvious ..... go with the tracker.

[ScoobyChris]

If it comes to more than