Aftermarket alarm systems

[Hazza]

Has anyone fitted one themselves before? How easy is it to fit?

I wanna buy one but on a tight budget to fit to my car. I seen like a £25 on eBay, i know that's beyond cheap, but just want something that works.

Any help would be great thanks.

 

[Rob]

Tried this, knew not enough, failed hard, ended up having it done professinally, now I'm 99% sure I could fit one myself, VERY easily, typical eh?

I have one you could buy in the loft if you want it?

 

[cat171]

Cat1 fitted at most places for £300 or so. Toad, cobra etc.

I had a 'sparkrite' one on a car about eleven years ago, it actually worked ! Tbh though Haz, on your car i'd probs go for a better one than a £25 job (I know you said funds etc)

 

[Rob]

Just to let you know, only wanted to fit mine as the centra locking had packed up and this seemed an easy way to remedy this.

I had mine fitted, not thatcham approved IIRC, but its a nice cobra system, for 200£ (cash )

 

[colossuss]

Cobra seem a good way to go. My uni mate had one on his Polo, funny that his keys kept beeping at him during lectures

 

[Hazza]

Cat1 fitted at most places for £300 or so. Toad, cobra etc.

I had a 'sparkrite' one on a car about eleven years ago, it actually worked ! Tbh though Haz, on your car i'd probs go for a better one than a £25 job (I know you said funds etc)

Yeah, i dont wanna spend a lot on an alarm system, i know that sounds silly, coz it could save me a whole deal if my car gets nicked. (touch wood)

But £300 sounds a lot.. what other options do i have?

 

[murcod]

I did mine, but I'm an electronics tech by trade and have done about six or more car alarms in the past. I wouldn't classify it as easy to do- unless you're planning on doing a system with a new remote and not integrating it to work with the factory remote?

 

[cat171]

Yeah, i dont wanna spend a lot on an alarm system, i know that sounds silly, coz it could save me a whole deal if my car gets nicked. (touch wood)

But £300 sounds a lot.. what other options do i have?

Imo it's worth it for peace of mind. Some places will do you a cat1 for £250 Other than that you could just get an immobiliser if your worried about it going walkabout. Cat2 immobs are cheap.

 

[Hazza]

Car does have a factory immobilser already... so should that be enough for some peace of mind?

 

[cat171]

It'll be fine, tbh though (same for all cars) if they want it they'll get it !

 

[Vish]

My mate and I fitted an alarm in my 1st car, I would never do it again. Thank god he had a bit of a clue of what we were doing. It doesn't sound hard, you need to get the cables through, attach bits to the correct wires, drill holes and secure the alarm in the engine bay. But it's a lot of work and it depends how much you like doing things yourself and how good you are at things like that. Took us all day I think.

What about a cat2-1 upgrade instead, look around and can find them for £200-250 inc. fitting IIRC.

I had this http://abacuscaralarms.co.uk/alarmshop/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=14 fitted to my 172 just over a year ago and its been great. Only bad thing I can find about it is that if I press the door lock button on the dash with the ignition off, it alarms the car. Not an issue at all though TBH.

 

[cgw1788]

cheap but ok alarm is falcon do few on ebay diy fit if you can read a wiring diagram also on ebay

 

[Nick_P]

I got a toad something off ebay for a fiver brand new, fitted it to my car with average ball ache, with aid of a handy father. g

 

[JonniP]

lol fitting alarms is a ballache, i think it depends on what thatcham cat it is though. i fitted a clifford and intellistart to mine, easy enough if you are that way inclined.

 

[jaysjetski]

just remember if you fit it yourself it will make no changes to your insurance.

also if you do buy one they dont allways come with fitting instructions(some do others dont)

and if it doesnt come with any i doubt you will be able to get some as alarms fitters dont like to give out instructions.

also how good are you at soldering as you will need to be really good or the immobilser system will give you loads of problems.

hope this helps

 

[murcod]

Only bad thing I can find about it is that if I press the door lock button on the dash with the ignition off, it alarms the car. Not an issue at all though TBH.

You can fix that. It happens because the alarm uses signals from the factory wiring to arm and pushing that button triggers the right signals. BTW, have you checked that it doesn't disarm by pushing it again?

I got around it by hooking up a relay that interrupts the arm signal going to the alarm whenever that switch is pushed. The switch now operates that relay (instead of going to the central locking) and then the relay contacts throw which first opens the arm signal to the alarm and then the normally open contacts close and that sends the signal to the central locking for it to operate.

 

[Vish]

You can fix that. It happens because the alarm uses signals from the factory wiring to arm and pushing that button triggers the right signals. BTW, have you checked that it doesn't disarm by pushing it again?

I got around it by hooking up a relay that interrupts the arm signal going to the alarm whenever that switch is pushed. The switch now operates that relay (instead of going to the central locking) and then the relay contacts throw which first opens the arm signal to the alarm and then the normally open contacts close and that sends the signal to the central locking for it to operate.

Yeah, pushing it again disarms the alarm. I might look into that relay but TBH I never use it. I only found out it did it because I was waiting in my car in a dodgy looking area lol took me a little while to figure out it was my alarm going off!