JDMegCoupe

I'm in need of a alarm soon after I sell of my '93 coupe and I need it for my '95 coupe which is just better in shape/body wise and etc. but yeah I was thinking a Viper alarm from Best Buy? What you guy's think of them or the alarm? Or should I turn to a alarm place? or are they pretty crappy at intsalling it and etc? Or any other alarm that's to trust. I plan to pay only as much as $400 max I guess so yeah...well let me know what you guys have and what is good and what is not thanks for all your inputs

pumatec8

search please. it will answer all the questions that you have and will have in the future.

JDMegCoupe

yeah I know search search but eh if I typed in something I wanted to search for it anit gona match up "match" is the key unless the topic is the same as my word of search...sometimes even shiet I don't need to waste time...sorry I'm no freak/addict at this site starting to feel like it just login on

Just want everyone's input as to what they have and if it works for them or not

94hatchling

i have a DEI alarm, same company that makes Viper, and various other names. i had a friend help install mine in a hidden location.

most likely best buy will just zip tie/screw it onto the bottom of the steering column, so when you look under the dash, then there it is. easy for a theif to just cut wires and take off. not much use for an alarm then. in other words, i wouldnt take my car to get an alarm installed at best buy, but then again, i am capable of installing one myself.

rmcdaniels

Best Buy sucks, the techs at both Best Buy's that I've been to coundn't find their *** with both hands and a map. I took my car to a custom audio shop, paid decent $ for the install, and it got done right.

ZipTieGUy

whatever you do when you fill out the address form at the installers put a fake address..

lazybrown187

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ZipTieGuy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">whatever you do when you fill out the address form at the installers put a fake address..</TD></TR></TABLE>WHAT THIS GUY SAID I LOVE MY VIPER 790

ccjustin

he's not gonna get a 790 with 400 bucks, definatley get a DEI alarm, viper, python, clifford, they make others but stick to those. definatley get a back up battery ~$50 and tell the install place to hide the brain well, Tell them you're going to look for it afterward, and tell them not to ground it in the drivers kick panel. as far as where to get it put in just be picky with the install, maybe tip the installer first and try to get a day of the week when they're not busy, a 95 civic is cake in the alarm install world make sure not to get a noob practising on your car, ask for an experienced person to work on it.
that's all i can think right now, good luck

vexx7001

I have a Compustar I love this alarm. It has the longest range that I know of pertty close to a mile or more. Now it does cost more than $400.00 but it is worth every penny. My 93' hatch has almost been stolen a **** load of times but thanks to the wonderful paging alarm system they have not gotten it.

cxSHOE

1. use only your first name, no real need to put your last name, address or even a phone number.
2. who ever you choose to do the install, remove the under dash area to speed things up for them
3. then tell them to not cut the alarm wires, you want to have the alarm wires as long as possible (ill tell you why later) and just tell them to get the alarm to work and to cover the connections with black eletrical tape.
4. what you should be left with is a working alarm and it should be hanging from under your dash and on the floor board
5. once you go home, get a piece of paper, and a pen, and a camera.
6. remove each wire one by one and take a photo and write down the color codes of each wire that are connected.
7. the brain will still be charged with the memory so removing it from the positive and negative should not be a problem.
8. now put the brain and the alarm in a better hidden place(hence why you dont want any of the alarm wires to be cut)
9. and since you know the wire connections, you also know how to install this alarm in your car.
10 its time consuming, but its your car so im sure you can spend the time in protecting it.

this is what i did, and now my alarm brain and wires etc are impossible to reach unless you remove the dash. as it should be

JDMegCoupe

Now that's what I was looking for own experience! thanks guys...anyways okay so "best buy" sucks *** is the picture....so then Viper is good right...now okay instead of a Viper...haven't gotten anything yet but I went to "Circut City" and I believe they have a "Python" alarm now the guy there told me whatever price I want it's there I could do it where there's a device that will make it sensative enough to how I want it for extra and etc. etc. BUT thing is he said to install the alarm I forget which I think like the $400+ one takes "FOUR" hours to install now is that a good thing or bad thing? How are those guys (circut city)? Or should I just turn to a custom/alarm place? Thanks once again to all of you for your own experience/opionion and etc.

riceburnerryan

you can get a compustar for about 400 bucks ... it wont have as long a range as the other model, but still has like ... almost a mile which isnt bad at all i have the super long one and it cost me 514 out the door, and that was with a hood pin, and i believe a battery backup

SovXietday

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JDMegCoupe &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Now that's what I was looking for own experience! thanks guys...anyways okay so "best buy" sucks *** is the picture....so then Viper is good right...now okay instead of a Viper...haven't gotten anything yet but I went to "Circut City" and I believe they have a "Python" alarm now the guy there told me whatever price I want it's there I could do it where there's a device that will make it sensative enough to how I want it for extra and etc. etc. BUT thing is he said to install the alarm I forget which I think like the $400+ one takes "FOUR" hours to install now is that a good thing or bad thing? How are those guys (circut city)? Or should I just turn to a custom/alarm place? Thanks once again to all of you for your own experience/opionion and etc.</TD></TR></TABLE>
I work at CC and I know the guys at my store are pretty compitent. I can't talk for every store though. Any install time, whether it's CC or your local Honda dealer, generally adds almost double the time that it should take to do the install into what you should expect, just in case something happens to go wrong during the install etc. So if they say 4, chances are it'll get done in 2-3, but they have that hour or two of cushion in case they need it.

JDMegCoupe

So that's a good thing then eh? So Circut City would be a better chioce then Best Buy right? Unless I find a decent alarm place? But the "python" is good at Circut City then right? and I think the top of the line is like $500+ with the pager etc. well hit me back up guys...oh and again thanks for all the response

rmcdaniels

Circuit City can suck too. Any place where they do high volume, low-price installs will tend to give you a quick and generic install. My local Circuit City fucked up a remote starter install in my wife's car and a stereo install in my car. Especially avoid any place where they install something for free if you buy it there.

Syndacate

I agree with soviet, IMO circuit city ownz best buy when it comes to their install service O.O

I had my first stereo system installed there (yes, I bought it from there, and had it installed there) and they did a fine job -- which anybody can say "yeah well a stereo system isn't as complex as an alarm" but never-the-less I was very happy with the service and would def. take my car out there to get stereo systems or alarm systems installed if I didn't do the work myself

keemosaki

i used to work at CC and install radios and alarms. Yeah we do good work but can you really "trust" an almost minimum wage employee to protect your car from thieves? Learn to do it yourself or go to a specialized alarm shop that will go the distance and install it like they are installing on their own car.

I treated the cars like it was mine when i installed in them. but when it came to alarms, it was the standard under steering column, E-tape all wires so they are uncolored and blended with the undash, and the brain was not completely hidden but zip tied up and around and behind plastic panels.

As much as i love alarms, i dont think its the best way to keep a car from being stolen. I have my alarm for many reasons. unlock and lock, remote start, the chirp. etc. If you dont want your car to be STOLEN, get the shoe! install your own kill switch! take your ECU like the one dude said. That would prevent your car from being stolen.

Syndacate

iono, I have a very simple stance on alarms

It goes like this...

how many times have u heard an alarm go off in a parking lot, nobody does anything, everybody just goes on with their everyday lives

so does it actually matter?

THe best kind would be a silent one that trips a GPS system...but that's major $$ :-\

as gay as it may sound to some people I have more faith in kill switch type features b4 I have ones in alarms...

Yeah alarms are good, but they're just not efficient, I mean my friend locked his keys in his lincoln and alarm tripped (had no title so we couldn't take it to a shop), so we had to break the window, pop the hood, and d/c the battery, took a total of 15 seconds, and everybody just passed by, nobody even looked in our direction...

I guess my opinions would be different if thefts actually occured where I lived, but we only have burglaries here, don't even remember the last car jacking in this area :-\

SlayANT

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Syndacate &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yeah alarms are good, but they're just not efficient, I mean my friend locked his keys in his lincoln and alarm tripped (had no title so we couldn't take it to a shop), so we had to break the window, pop the hood, and d/c the battery, took a total of 15 seconds, and everybody just passed by, nobody even looked in our direction...</TD></TR></TABLE>

Alarms aren't meant to stop the quick smash and grab or a professional that is bent on taking the car. If you ask car security experts, they will recommend a layer approach. Multiple security devices to let the thief know that taking this car will mean a good amount of effort and time, the two things that thieves do not want.

Alarm & Accessories:
I'd recommend a two way paging unit, this way if someone is messing with your car, you'll be alerted (unless you are out of range). Accessories that I would use in an alarm installation:

-Tilt sensor - Alerts if someone raises/ tows your car.
-Shock Sensor- Alerts if someone/something comes in contact with your car with enough force to trigger the sensor.
-Hood pin trigger - Alerts if someone pops your hood (most likely to cut the siren OR disconnect the battery).
-Glass Breakage Sensor - Its namesake says it all.

-Starter Kill Relay - If the alarm is armed, the starter can not be engaged.
-Fuel Pump Relay - Can be a manual switch or via the alarm. Disables the fuel pump.

-Backup *HIDDEN* external siren - If the first one is cut, the back up will still be blaring.
-Backup rechargeable battery - Self explanatory. Get something that has some useable power, not one of those mini power packs.
-Small piezo sirens - hidden inside your cabin. Once the alarm is tripped, they'll be ringing.

Installation
I'm not going to bash BB or CC. For the time constraint and the amount of money they receive for the install, they do a decent job. The truth is, they aren't paid to do a 10 hour installation, they're paid for a 2-3 hour tops. 99% of the customers don't appreciate the effort needed to do a stealth install. All they care about is if the alarm has been installed, and if it was done in a reasonable amount of time.

My recommendation to you would be to learn how to install the alarm yourself. Or find a reputable shop to install the unit. The latter will cost you more $$ but you will have the benefit of warranty by the manufacturer since most companies only cover units that are sold and installed by their authorized dealers. Make sure to double check the work not matter who did the install. Tie up loose wires, hide relays, do whatever it takes to make hard for a thief to trace the wires back to the brain.

rmcdaniels

^^^^^^^^^^^^^ What he said ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I have all of those things and more, but the installation labor cost me hundreds of dollars and took two days for a professional custom audio/alarm shop to do. If anyone messes with my car, then I am notified and can see what they are doing to it, be that getting too close to it, popping the hood, or breaking a window. I consulted with the installer about the details of the installation and he helped me out with some good information on best practices. No piece of my alarm can be accessed without disassembling some part of my car (not kick panels). All wiring is run in OEM Honda wire loom that they ordered from the Honda dealer, plus it is run in the same cable runs with the other wires in the car, so if you look under my dash the only thing that looks out of place are the wires for the oil pressure guage that I installed. It has multiple sirens, inside and out, multiple backup batteries, and multiple kill relays to kill several major functions of the car. My alarm has no bypass switch. The alarm works flawlessly, it is a top-of-the-line system that was installed expertly by a well-paid professional.

It does not make the car immune to theft, but it does make it more difficult for the casual thief/joyrider and if anything major goes down with it, then I will be there in a few seconds. It doesn't have GPS, maybe I'll do that next, but I think that it is an effective deterrent.

Unfortunately that setup costs way more than $400, so I don't know if it's any help to you. The good quality setups that I see cost at least $700 (parts+labor) if done professionally.

GarageAlchemist

don't have best buy or whoever install your alarm. An alarm install can take an afternoon but will be a front line to an assault on your car. Followed by kill switches with a backup of layers protecting the entire system. It's all about layers and common sense.

First learn how a theif works, BREAK INTO YOUR CAR... break into a friends car(let him know of course) etc... research etc, i almost luagh when i see these kids post, stolen car, san diago or something, and they have a alarm in there engine bay picture in plain sight, ohh boy.. how hard is it to pull a cable and cut a wire.

having your car stolen and not stolen is your choice.

keemosaki

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by GarageAlchemist &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i almost luagh when i see these kids post, stolen car, san diago or something

having your car stolen and not stolen is your choice.</TD></TR></TABLE>

i disagree what you have to say. It is not your choice sometimes. There are good theives that will steal any car if they know what they are doing. and laugh? thats fucked up. ill laugh at You when your car is stolen.

JDMegCoupe

I got to say all these are good answers and replys to what I want to hear I mean people get alarms for many different reason...I don't know everything on alarm or even to install it, just got into this scence...but i know there are other ways to keep you car from being jack/broken into, but my reason is to only ALERT me when I have it park by the house so that I know it's beeing broekn into (I repeat broken into)rather than find it out when parts and etc. are missing when I go to the car-that way the F***er is running soon as the alarm goes otherwise my a** will be beating the guys brain out if still/drop him then and there. Basically I hate thieves, people work for a reason and the replys seems to shows that alarms sometimes don't do much however everyone's situation is different and so forth etc. etc. but yeah thanks though for all the info./replys hopefully it should be good enough for me to decide on what i should do and not do....so once again thanks guys and if any more info/comments post it and lastly I think this ones pretty good in response so if someone know how to post it up to the search please do cuz some of the other post on alarm sucks! I found this one more helpful then the ones I SEARCH. But of course it's just me! but yeah post it up if you guys can. thanks guys