Hey, i need help deciding whether or not I need an aftermarket alarm. Im going to college soon and im not sure how safe it is for my car. I am very anal about something happening to my car, and was wondering if the buying the Viper 5000 alarm is a good buy for college? Please help me i need help ASAP cuz i only have a couple of hours to decide. Thanks a lot guys.

 

It's up to your and it depends on how safe you'd feel if you have it.

They work, but IMO, only with a 2-way pager system.

Regular alarms just amke noise and are easily defeatable, and nobody seems to look if one is blaring anyhow. W/ the pager alarms, YOU are alerted and YOU can do something about the thief... rather than relying on passersby to do so.

 

I sell alarms in my store, and developed them as a product at Directed for years.

An alarm does not keep someone from effing with your car, vandal-wise.

It doesn't keep someone from keying it or dinging it. If you try to make it so sensitive that it reacts to these things, it is a living hell to live near, it goes off all the time, you get a ticket, and probably stop using it.

The immobilizer on the TSX makes it impossible to steal without the key or a tow truck, and anyone with either of those is probably getting past your alarm anyway.

HOWEVER, if you have aftermarket gear - wheels, performance parts, etc, and you are worried about them, THEN I'd get an alarm - an alarm with a backup battery, a tilt sensor, and a glass break mike. The lowest-end Viper or Clifford you can get with those things, if you're on a budget.

As far as the two-way stuff - unless you're a martial artist, you might not want to meet some meth-frazzled felon full of adrenaline as he's breaking into your car. Just a thought.

And before you ask, I do not have an alarm on our TSX at present. We are looking at putting wheels on it and at that point we probably will.

 

Thanks for the advice, i think im gonna go with teh Viper 5000, but im still gonna put a little more thought into it before throwing down 400 dollars. I got wheel locks so im not too worried about that, but i am worried about the glass bein broken into and stuff, so il wiat and think about it. Thanks a lot

 

keep current alarm. get lo jack, we reover lots of lo jacked euqipped car everyday. no matter what alaarm u get. if a car is gone its gone. lo jack can get it back to u fast, often times the same day. cause if ur car is stolen. and report to police. once we enter your license/vin number into our computer, lo jack is activated immediately~

 

we we we? I didn't know we had a pi......erm.... police officer in our presence

 

hey now!!! what were you gonna type after pi?.. nevermind i dont wanna know
so i suggest lo jack.....my rational is if you have alarm system if its taken its gone. and by the tmie you find your car sitting on a pile of brick, you dont want the car. but u have to wait to see if insurance company will total the car.; if fix it. but nobody want to fix it once its stripped. but with lo jack. almost every police use it... and we often get car back same or next day with minimal damage.. most often times just the gas suspect used to joy ride.. so stick with factory alarm and get lo jack is what i would do...

 

lol just kidding

I wanted to be a cop for the longest time but I'm colorblind and the police won't take me.

 

sorry to hear that bro... but i see that doesnt prohibit you from picking a nice color of tsx

 

haha

that's the worst part about it... its so minimal its not like it really affects my daily life. But I can't pass those stupid dot tests

 

Got lo jack installed on mine the first day i got my car. I hope i never get to use it though.

 

shit.. dont mention that dot test... that stupid DOT test got me wondering if i am seeing shit or there were really dots there.. somehow i passed. then they messed with me with this damn hearing test .. whatever you are doing. im sure you are doing better than if u were to become a cop... not the most liked job out there right now... ha!

 

I have an aftermarket alarm with battery backup, glass break mic, and internal Piezo siren.
Those extra pieces make a big difference and don't cost much if you can put it in yourself.

DEI Battery backup $40
DEI Mini Piezo Siren $18

I have the alarm primarily to protect my car stereo stuff. I have a pretty big audio/video setup, so my main concern is someone breaking in and getting the parts. If you don't plan on having valuable aftermarket parts in your car, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

mm.. if they steal it I dont want it back!!! Id get a 2-way alarm. My car got hit in a parking lot. $6,800 damage. no witnesses. If I had the 2-way I would have been outside in a second and knew some drunk just ran it over with his pickup truck. P.S.- I hadda pay $1,000 deductible. If I had the 2-way at least there would have been a chance that I caught it!! My 2 cents

 

Yea, I really want it because i have some valuable shit in my car sometimes, and stuff that if it gets stolen, no way in hell i can get another one. My system is another thing im worried about. I dont know how college is going to be saftey wise so i just want one just incase. "better to be safe than sorry"? right?

 

In addition to getting an aftermarket alarm:

Don't drive around cranking your system in the campus parking lot or around campus because you are just telling everyone you have a system in your trunk.

Also don't leave any valuables in site when you leave your car. Keep everything in the trunk or glove box. The less temptation there is to break your window the better.

Try parking near campus security or see if they have surveillance cameras.

 

Yea that makes sense, all i know is i might run into some asshole that just feels like breaking my window. Jealousy sucks huh? Anyone here go to University of Rhode Island that can help me out with the safety issue?