mtxbass1

A good friend of mine has been installing car audio/alarms for around 10 years or so and is going to install an alarm on my car. He's got a spare Viper 771 with remote start and all that jazz. I know this takes quite a bit of time to do. Can anyone tell me how much I should offer to pay him for his time? I obviously want the total price to come out cheaper than if I'm buying everything in a store, but I want to give him a fair offer as well.

Suggestions?

mtxbass1

mods, lock this up. I'm going to post it in the general audio forum. I didn't see I was in this one. Thanks!

frenchnew

This is only my personal opinion, so take it for what it's worth

There are more botched up jobs on alarm install being done at some march merchant (BestBuy, Circuit City, etc).

Your idea of saving money on an alarm install is not the way to go in my personal opinion.

A good quality installation will mandate that all connections be soldered and neatly insulated, the wires well hidden into the existing wiring as to prevent a quick disconnect by a would be thief.

The siren should be hard to get at from under the car and under the hood.

If you wire into the parking lights, a fused should be installed to prevent the possibility of a thief shorting out the circuit and rendering the alarm inoperative.

With the use of Remote Start, a modules need to be used to bypass the built-in theft prevention of the TL (Has a chip in the key). These modules comes in different models (One that need one of your keys to be permanently installed inside the box, and the other that will register the the chip id in the key).

Those bypass modules will need to be hidden otherwise it creates a weak point for a knowledgeable thief to used it to start your car with just a properly duplicated key blank without the chip.

If the installer uses "Scotchlocks" (A peice of plastic that you install over a wire with a small metal bridge that you press onto the wires) don't walk, run away from him with your car!

The last thing you want is to have a big bundle of wires dangling underneath you dash.

My best advice to you is to talk to your friend and negotiate a price directly with him since you already have choosen your installer and you are in a situation where you could end up loosing your friend if you cheap him out.

Good friends are invaluable.

Best regards from Montreal, Canada

frenchnew