Hi people, Before I do anything else to my car I would like to get an alarm fitted, Year ago my stepdad was a alarm fitter but stopped so doesnt know whats good or bad anymore, When he was a fitter Toad Alarms were one of the best. Is this still the same? If so what do people think of this one If thats rubbish can someone recommend me a good alarm
I don't really know much about alarms but the new Max power has some cracking Thacham 1's. Theres one that acts as a bluetooth/gps receiver so if someone goes near your car too often, the bloody thing texts your mobile. Quality
Toad never really were the best, I suppose at the price level they were. However, a few years ago you would have bought a Clifford if you wanted the best and it's still almost true. The alarm you linked to isn't really worth fitting, as even i could pull that out and drive your car away in seconds. There's no real point getting an alarm fitted if you don't get a Cat 1, not only does it give you slightly cheaper insurance, it helps for the piece of mind that your car probably wont get taken without a lot of effort. For a very good Cat1, you are looking at 300-350, now if you dont have much money which is why you are looking at the Toads, then your insurance excess is probably 250 anyway (I used to up the excess to bring down the quote). If your car got stolen, driven away and then burnt out, then a genie appeared and offered to reverse time and make it not happen for 350, you'd take that offer wouldnt you. At the moment the two best reasonably priced alarms seem to be made by the same company, Directed Audio. They are the Clifford 650: http://www.clifford.com/uk/products/concept650.asp This is CAT1, Ultrasonic sensors and has BlackJax anti hijack. I personally would pay slightly more (325) and get the dual zone proximity sensor, this means if someone even comes near your car, the alarm chirps as a warn away siren. I find this to be the biggest detterent as thieves would rather move on as even coming near your car gives them an indication it wont be easy to steal. The other option, and the only I personally have is the Viper 480XV: http://www.directed.com/security/viper/default.asp It has an LCD keyfob which confirms commands sent to the car, and also provides instant feedback when and where an alarmed point has been triggered and also if the warn away sensor has been activated. This is 350 fitted with the dual zone proximity detector. I personally got this one as i cannot always hear my alarm inside the house but i can always have my car keys near enough to be able to hear if anyone is messing with my car. My car has been the victim of three attempted thefts (by the same gang) now and without this alarm i have no doubt i would not have my car. I can VERY highly reccomend the following supplier/fitter for any alarm work: http://www.motorguarduk.co.uk/
didnt realise alarms were so expensive, Ive just been looking at a Clifford Arrow 5. But I guess its not a Cat1 which is why its so cheap
5 years ago, the same thing would have cost you 1000, I was over the moon when I found out the price of current Cat1 Alarms!!
Clifford were regarded as one of the best but have suffered recently they are now owned by some one else Toad i rate as good as any on the market especially the AI606 Cat 1 alarm And dont forget they are only as good as they are fitted ! Clifford fitted badly are as good as any alarm fitted badly And for a Toad AI606 your looking at 235 Fitted not 300 or more sure prices have come down but they have for most mass produced items Go with you instinct if you Stepdad fitted them ages ago and they are still here then that speaks volumes Ian
we disagree. We are authorised dealers for both Clifford and Toad. Clifford have always been owned by Directed Electronics and have never gone down in quality. If anything they have gone up in demand in recent years. I agree with Mr Toad Install that the toad Ai606 is a very good stanadard Cat 1 Alarm but Clifford is a lot more popular because of the amount you can do with them. Clifford gets a bad name as there is so many fitters that fit clifford that are not authorised fitters and do bad fits that then give clifford a bad name.
i had a cobra on my saxo it was pretty good, was very happy with it tbh with clifford u pay for the carbon fiber extras from what ive heard......toad are the 'cheaper' version.
Sigma! I like to look at alarms like stereos, on one hand you've got things like Kenwood, sony etc, which have lots of pretty colours, flippy faces etc and are ok at what they do. On the other hand you've got things like Becker, Nakamichi etc which are dedicated to supperior sound quality, which is essentually what a stereo should be like. I had a Sigma in my last car for 4years and it didn't play up once. Years ago when Subaru had problems with their security systems they turned to sigma which is why all modern Imprezas have sigma alarms.
Interesting Sigma are now owned by Toad You can listen to all these comments and all have good and bad I have no problem with any GOOD branded alarm as long as they are fitted to industry standards. As i say go with your instinct or recommendation from the people that visit this and other sites Regards Ian
Ah ha, interesting. I did notice they have a new range including the option for remote start and things like that which they didn't have before. The one i had fitted was about 4/5 years ago so i hope they've only got better .
