FAQ "What's a good alarm?"
02-23-2007, 12:33 AM
#1
Honda-Tech Member
Thread Starter
FAQ "What's a good car alarm?"
A good car alarm is an alarm that helps to prevent your car from being stolen.
Pretty much any $100-150 alarm is going to be the same in terms of how well it will protect your car. All alarms have a siren, a remote, a door trigger, a shock sensor, and a start kill. It's not so much the alarm itself as the installation that determines how safe your car will be. Even so, all alarm shops install alarms in the same location; under the driver's-side dash. They do this because customers and profitability requires that the alarm install be quick, cheap, and accessible to repair and adjustments. For better security, it's up to you to either pay for a custom install, or DIY.
When you pay more for an alarm, or when you purchase a name brand, what you are getting is better quality, longer reliability, a warranty, availability of replacement remotes, customer support, and better instructions. Where you choose to get your alarm done is going to mean the difference on how clean the install will be, how reliable the wiring connections are going to be, whether you get a warranty on the parts and labor, and whether you can trust the installer not to program his own remote to your car and come steal it a few days later. Your best and safest bet in most cases is to go with a chain store. But if you have a local mom-and-pop organization with a good reputation that is offering all of the above mentioned benefits, by all means, follow your heart. In truth it all comes down to the installer, not the store. Unfortunately you don't usually get to choose your installer.
Cost of install may seem high, but that's because you only see cost from a short-term, budget minded customer's point of view. An alarm install is a 2.5-6 hour job, with very high liability. It's skilled labor. Compared to the price of a satellite radio or ipod accessory install, alarm labor is quite cheap. The cost of getting your car stolen is not easily measured, but it's much higher than investing in an alarm and getting it installed properly.
Among a certain brand's models, the price increase corresponds to an increase in convenience features, not security. Some features; like long range 2 way paging and gps tracking, have a legitimate security benefit. But remote start and 5+ additional channel outputs can double the cost of the alarm without making your car any more secure.
"Ever heard of brand ____ alarm?" Anyone running brand ____ in their car?"
9/10 times someone asks this question, brand _____ is actually the best and most well known alarm. Ever heard of AEM? Anyone running a DC header? Are Ferrari's any good? I wont ask you to SEARCH. Cuz you've already proven inept at that. So let me break it down for you.
DEI, AKA DIRECTED BRAND ALARMS
Viper
Python
Clifford
Hornet
All made/owned/bought by Directed. Many models in each line have an equivalent model in a different line with different packaging and a different colored remote. For instance, the Viper 791XV = the Python 881XP = the Clifford Matrix RSX3.5. It's the exact same alarm, but the Viper has a blue remote, the Python black, and the Clifford has carbon fiber style. All of the above mentioned alarms are great quality and come with great instructions for the DIYer. Installing an alarm is a serious undertaking however. If you're not already comfortable with locating/verifying/connecting wires, you should pay a professional to install it for you.
Of them all, the Clifford line has some exclusive models with advanced features. The Viper brand is the most popular and widely known because it has had stronger marketing over the years. Best Buy carries Viper, Circuit City carries Python. But there is no functional difference between them. Hornet is a good choice if you don't care for keyless entry and you want to save some cash.
There are precious few non-DEI brands of respectable quality on the market. The reason for this is because DEI is a big monster that buys up all it's competition. That's why they have so many lines of products with different logos. Each of those lines used to be an independant company until the big monster came and swallowed them up. Yay, capitalism!
NON-DEI, GOOD QUALITY BRANDS
This is where I pass this discussion off to my colleagues. I will never be 100% satisfied with DEI's alarms, but I have yet to come across another brand that I would consider putting in my own car. Here are some honorable mentions. I'll tear them down and if someone else wants to defend them, feel free.
Compustar
Good quality, good features. For a long time, this brand held superiority in range. But recently DEI has caught up in that department. My beefs with Compustar are the following: The instructions were written by some elementary school dropout that was tutored by a sweat shop worker recently immigrated here from Thailand. To understand these instructions, you have to eat some draino, stick a fork in your left eye, and smack your forehead on something solid several times. Compounding this problem is the fact that Compustar alarms in my experience are not very forgiving to the first time installer. Hook up a wire wrong, and that function in the alarm is now dead. But when installed correctly, this alarm is great from the customer's point of view. Here's someone else's opinions/experiences with Compustar brand alarms
https://honda-tech.com/zero...34324
Autopage
Decent quality. Some history of not being reliable. Great instructions. The main advantage to getting an Autopage alarm would be that they're cheaper than their competitors. Unfortunately, this is not the case. So why would you buy this brand? I don't know.
And that's about it. There really aren't that many good brands left. Thanks DEI!
Modified by suspendedHatch at 1:44 AM 2/23/2007
Pretty much any $100-150 alarm is going to be the same in terms of how well it will protect your car. All alarms have a siren, a remote, a door trigger, a shock sensor, and a start kill. It's not so much the alarm itself as the installation that determines how safe your car will be. Even so, all alarm shops install alarms in the same location; under the driver's-side dash. They do this because customers and profitability requires that the alarm install be quick, cheap, and accessible to repair and adjustments. For better security, it's up to you to either pay for a custom install, or DIY.
When you pay more for an alarm, or when you purchase a name brand, what you are getting is better quality, longer reliability, a warranty, availability of replacement remotes, customer support, and better instructions. Where you choose to get your alarm done is going to mean the difference on how clean the install will be, how reliable the wiring connections are going to be, whether you get a warranty on the parts and labor, and whether you can trust the installer not to program his own remote to your car and come steal it a few days later. Your best and safest bet in most cases is to go with a chain store. But if you have a local mom-and-pop organization with a good reputation that is offering all of the above mentioned benefits, by all means, follow your heart. In truth it all comes down to the installer, not the store. Unfortunately you don't usually get to choose your installer.
Cost of install may seem high, but that's because you only see cost from a short-term, budget minded customer's point of view. An alarm install is a 2.5-6 hour job, with very high liability. It's skilled labor. Compared to the price of a satellite radio or ipod accessory install, alarm labor is quite cheap. The cost of getting your car stolen is not easily measured, but it's much higher than investing in an alarm and getting it installed properly.
Among a certain brand's models, the price increase corresponds to an increase in convenience features, not security. Some features; like long range 2 way paging and gps tracking, have a legitimate security benefit. But remote start and 5+ additional channel outputs can double the cost of the alarm without making your car any more secure.
"Ever heard of brand ____ alarm?" Anyone running brand ____ in their car?"
9/10 times someone asks this question, brand _____ is actually the best and most well known alarm. Ever heard of AEM? Anyone running a DC header? Are Ferrari's any good? I wont ask you to SEARCH. Cuz you've already proven inept at that. So let me break it down for you.
DEI, AKA DIRECTED BRAND ALARMS
Viper
Python
Clifford
Hornet
All made/owned/bought by Directed. Many models in each line have an equivalent model in a different line with different packaging and a different colored remote. For instance, the Viper 791XV = the Python 881XP = the Clifford Matrix RSX3.5. It's the exact same alarm, but the Viper has a blue remote, the Python black, and the Clifford has carbon fiber style. All of the above mentioned alarms are great quality and come with great instructions for the DIYer. Installing an alarm is a serious undertaking however. If you're not already comfortable with locating/verifying/connecting wires, you should pay a professional to install it for you.
Of them all, the Clifford line has some exclusive models with advanced features. The Viper brand is the most popular and widely known because it has had stronger marketing over the years. Best Buy carries Viper, Circuit City carries Python. But there is no functional difference between them. Hornet is a good choice if you don't care for keyless entry and you want to save some cash.
There are precious few non-DEI brands of respectable quality on the market. The reason for this is because DEI is a big monster that buys up all it's competition. That's why they have so many lines of products with different logos. Each of those lines used to be an independant company until the big monster came and swallowed them up. Yay, capitalism!
NON-DEI, GOOD QUALITY BRANDS
This is where I pass this discussion off to my colleagues. I will never be 100% satisfied with DEI's alarms, but I have yet to come across another brand that I would consider putting in my own car. Here are some honorable mentions. I'll tear them down and if someone else wants to defend them, feel free.
Compustar
Good quality, good features. For a long time, this brand held superiority in range. But recently DEI has caught up in that department. My beefs with Compustar are the following: The instructions were written by some elementary school dropout that was tutored by a sweat shop worker recently immigrated here from Thailand. To understand these instructions, you have to eat some draino, stick a fork in your left eye, and smack your forehead on something solid several times. Compounding this problem is the fact that Compustar alarms in my experience are not very forgiving to the first time installer. Hook up a wire wrong, and that function in the alarm is now dead. But when installed correctly, this alarm is great from the customer's point of view. Here's someone else's opinions/experiences with Compustar brand alarms
https://honda-tech.com/zero...34324
Autopage
Decent quality. Some history of not being reliable. Great instructions. The main advantage to getting an Autopage alarm would be that they're cheaper than their competitors. Unfortunately, this is not the case. So why would you buy this brand? I don't know.
And that's about it. There really aren't that many good brands left. Thanks DEI!
Modified by suspendedHatch at 1:44 AM 2/23/2007
02-25-2007, 01:41 PM
#2
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Location: 99 probs but a stolen car aint 1, ca, cerritos/fullerton
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Re: FAQ "What's a good car alarm?" (suspendedHatch)
ttt, Hell you did it again with anthor good thread. 
I was thinking about doing the same.
I was thinking about doing the same.
02-25-2007, 09:32 PM
#4
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Thread Starter
Re: FAQ "What's a good car alarm?" (94_DC4)
No worries. I incorporated it into the massive sticky.
Chill with that "once again he fulfilled the prophecy" crap. There are other guys in this forum capable of putting together better, more informative write-ups than me. They just choose not to.
Chill with that "once again he fulfilled the prophecy" crap. There are other guys in this forum capable of putting together better, more informative write-ups than me. They just choose not to.
02-26-2007, 04:14 AM
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Re: FAQ "What's a good car alarm?" (suspendedHatch)
^^^^^^^^ lol. I would do one but by the time I was to write it up we would be all old and gray. 
03-04-2007, 10:01 AM
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Re: FAQ "What's a good car alarm?" (wrx-killer-Sti eater)
I noticed the Crime Guard (mainly 745i4) wasn't on your of decent alarms. I was looking to pick one up soon, for my wife's car, based on your previous take on the system. Do you no longer recommend them?
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