Hi there i have this Mk2 golf . im hopefully going to be going to uni this year in september in Birmingham... and was wondering what kind of security mods could i do to my car to help it beeing bullied by chavs and jelous idiots... it hasn't got central locking. all suggestions/comments welcome.! thanks
Maplins do a decent electric central locking kit for 20. If you have a remote alarm fob, the kit can be mated into it to allow remote central locking from your existing fob. If your budget allows, then you could get a local auto-electrician to fit a full Cat 1 alarm/immobiliser. It would typically cost you 300+, but your insurance company would love you, and, lower your premium.
35 immobiliser off ebay and 2 hours wiring it in tidily. Oh, keep yer glovebox empty and open, same goes for yer boot and parcel shelf. If they can see it's empty they won't need to break in t' find out.
STOP polishing it, jealous little sods will scratch a highly polished car and put steel wheels on it or get good locknuts
You can get a non Thatcham approved alarm for as little as 150 fitted. So long as it has something fitted thats going to make a lot of noise when someone tries to break in. As mentioned, definitely get some armoured door plates on. I have a pair for sale if your interested?
Get one of them disc lock thingies - arguably the best visible deterrant for the drive-away thief. As Nordoff said, leave car empty and glovebox open to let the world know there's nothing worth nicking. Most inner-city-uni's are pretty tight on campus parking- esp for freshers (which uni you going to?) -an alarm may be of negligible use if you can't hear it going off..
if you cant afford an alarm you could always rig up a couple of flashing leds on the dash or door cappings, and a few alarm stickers off ebay in the windows good call on the open glove box...and always take the headunit panel with you i have a disclok , theyre pretty beefy and would make some noise to get off in a hurry
The hidden switch idea is a good one so you can turn of the ignition feed and/or the fuel pump. My dad once fitted a rear wiper switch from a Maestro into his Montego Turbo for killing the fuel pump. In the Montego it was just a blanking plate, but what greasy oik is going to notice a rear wiper switch on a car that has no rear wiper at 1am in the morning? You could do something similar with one of the blanking plates in the mk2 dash.
First of all Nice car mate, Pager alarm system if your funds allow it they're not that expensive from ebay and a worth while investment, that along with disk lock armour plates and cut off switch what everyone else has suggested, your car aint going no where, only thing you cant really defend it from is vandalism short or riggin one of those electroshock alrms what other contrys have but they're highly illegal in this contry hope this helps
at the moment i have an immobiliser fitted as you can se its just above the headliight switch on the right of the steering wheel...! thanks for all of your suggestions. i think leaving the glove box open is a good idea.. i am going to Birmingham City Uni also known as UCE...! my dad wants me to sell the car but its my first car and i dont think i have it in me to sell it...! just turned 18 and cant really live without it... i've spent quite a bit on the car since i'v had it german plates crystal clear headlights (angel eye) crystal clear indicators (front/side) crystal clear/red rear lights (replacing horrible blue ones) ICE everywhere and some other little things just bougt some crystal clear fog lights which i hav'nt fitted yet also if anyone could give me a rough idea on the following that would be nice: how much would it rougly cost if i was to shave the door handles how much would it roughly cost for audi handles beeing fitted plus how much more harder is it to break in if the handles are shaven or if audi handles are installed...? thanks
still be fairly easy to get in with audi/flush handles and it would cost alot cant you leave it at home and get a cheapie mk2 polo to stink around in at uni?
wana take it with me.. what about a clifford concept650...? are they any good and what sort of prices would i be looking at...?
The immobiliser will probably deter your average joy-rider, but I think your greatest risks would be: a) Vandalism b) theft of ICE Alas there's no cure for vandalism apart from secure parking, which is well beyond the means of most brum students. There's only a few things you can do about stopping folks nicking your ICE. 1. fit security film to all your glass (not the illegal tinted stuff)- that'll stop the smash n grab approach they can smash but the window won't shatter. However I recall reading that they don't recommend fitting the film to heated window, so you can either live with the fact that your car is vulnerable there (and hope your scrotey-car-ICE-thief doesn't try getting in that way) or do away with the heated rear window - maybe try peeling the elements off or something. I'd talk to a professional window film fitter first though, the decent stuff isn't a DIY job. 2. de-locking your front door handles may discourage the less knowledgeable - as will armour door plates - however physically tearing the handle off will get around this. Having had one of my handles (and then the whole car) removed in such a way, the only advice I can give is the following: a. Make sure you've got Genuine OE door handles - not the cheap-ass Chinese copies - the genuine ones are a lot sturdier. b. If you weaken (a shallow cut) the door handle towards the front, a pry-bar will (hopefully) snap the plastic there, before it snaps the metal casting towards the back - I've not tested this, but I feel this could stall that approach a bit - it will leave you with a scratched door and a shagged handle, but the door will still be secure, as the rear will still be attached, and the prybar approach will be a lot harder again as the front of the handle is now flapping in the breeze. 3. An alarm - something that'll howl when your car is being ransacked - it doesn't need to be particularly sophisticated as your typical ICE thief will prolly just grab what they can rather than messing around trying to shut up an alarm, saying that though, I'd consider something with an option for a secondary siren (or horn beep as well) Some brute force and a bucket of water will shut up even the most persistent of alarms. (4. I reckon there might be a way to render vdub doors a lot more resistant to the pry-in approach, but I've yet to test it - if someone in the bristol area can donate a door, handle and lock mech for destructive testing then it'd be most helpful.. )
thanks alot skyrocketeer...!!! appreciated... was wondering if i saved up for an alarm what would b an ideal 1... out of the clifford conept 650 and viper 480xv cat1 pager which alarm is better... if niether then is there any other good ones... thanks
For solid reliability folks who aren't impressed by the gagetry of the clifford go for the Toad Ai606 (it's still got plenty of gadget potential though) -I've got one, and it was excellent, saying that, a pager alarm may well be useful to you if you're car park is quite far from your digs. Look carefully at the range of the pager -there are alarms now that have a SIM card and will use the local mobile network to send you a text - no idea how good these are though..
mhmmmm how much do you want for you armour door plates t'mill...?? im going to get a boot solonoid kit and delock the plinth..!! alos get central locking and save up for an alarm later on.. i have changed my Uni choice from birmingham to northampton..!!!! last sec decison..how is the are up there....????
