Which CAT I Alarm???

[Mahmood]

I am considering an alarm for a cabriolet.

Does anybody have any experience of these?

CAT 1

Clifford Concept 650 £400 - £500 fitted by a VSIB approved installer.

Toad Ai606 £275.00 fitted by a VSIB approved installer.

Recommendations welcome.

[Dan318-is]

Iv read from the e30 god himself ian haynes that cliffords are crap unless fitted absolutely perfectly; and allegedly there are only about 5 or 6 people in the country that can do it "correctly"

However i have only myself had first hand experience with toad; i have the Ai600, the model before the 606, and i have to say its spot on.

[orangecurry]

I have had a Laserline 213 put on a car recently - 330 GBP (from memory) and fitted by a VSIB approved. It's very good and the remote works from miles away through buildings.

http://www.laserlinedirect.com/public/c ... 01/604/613

Make sure you get a 213 and they don't try and give you a 996v3 - the 213 is new and was approved by Thatcham in May 2006, therefore it will be a LONG time before it slips off the insurance companies 'current' Cat 1 listings. The 996v3 was first approved in Nov 2000 and so will fall off the list a lot sooner.

[Templ8e30]

Toad Ai606 is the dogs bollox, brilliant alarm/immobiliser.

Cheers,

Iain T

[DanThe]

Ive got a Toad Ai606, bought for £120 with a cert for the insurance, fitted it myself and it is fantastic. Never had any problems or niggles.

Lazerline are also a good make IMO, fitted one to a mates car not too long ago

[d6dph]

I have had a clifford concept 300 with window control and remote start on one of my old cars, Absolute wast of money imo. Great gimmick but shite alarm (or fitter, you decide)

Have had a toad on my first car and have one on the e30 without any drama's what so ever.

We sell both brands at the store I work in, I always ask if the customer wants a good reliable alarm with no gimmicks or if they want a feature packed alarm that they can add onto at a later date. 9/10 say relaible and I sell the AI606.

hth

[maxfield]

Brianmoores method is much better of anti theft device if you ask me

[Jhonno]

Sigma S30 here - made in the same factory as the Toad alarms supposedly. Approved n all the gubbins, never had a false alarm or been locked out

[E30BeemerLad]

Toad Ai606 vote here too. Was installed on my beemer and had been on there for 3 years before I got it, none of us ever had any bother with it, except locking ourselves out the car by shutting the driver door with the engine running

[DanThe]

Toad Ai606 vote here too. Was installed on my beemer and had been on there for 3 years before I got it, none of us ever had any bother with it, except locking ourselves out the car by shutting the driver door with the engine running

That was the first feature I disabled

Brianmoores method is much better of anti theft device if you ask me

Whats that Max? Wiring the body to the mains?

[Mahmood]

Cheers all, looks good for the Toad except for that damned 'lock yourself out feature'.

[d6dph]

It's an optional feature, get the installer to turn it off fella.

[Alwyn]

OK, you guys seem to know about this sh1t, so if anyone could help me, it would be appreciated.

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... ic&t=54401

For a start, I don't really know how I would go about finding out if there is a power problem as I have never noticed where the alarm is fitted... I guess that sets my standards on the subject.

[E30BeemerLad]

I thought the self locking system was part of the Cat 1 certification, or does cat 1 just mean it is both alarm & immobaliser in one package?

[Dan318-is]

My old toad also does this; it doesnt lock you out as such on mine; it locks after 30 seconds so if you shut the door within that time its good night; also reactivates the 30 second time limit after you switch the ignition off and on again; i like the feature to be honest just gota learn to leave a window down or door ajar when you stop/are working on it.

[maxfield]

Whats that Max? Wiring the body to the mains?

No playing about with relays to cut the fuel pump

not a bad idea tho

[ajm-e30]

iv got a clifford g650 fitted to mine and its the best alarm iv had so far, didnt cost £500 tho!! thats a bit ott on price

[DanThe]

Whats that Max? Wiring the body to the mains?

No playing about with relays to cut the fuel pump

not a bad idea tho

Yep that is good. I did similar with the ignition feed wire on an old E30 of mine, only thing is its not a visual deterent and some scum ragged the lock out with a screwdriver

[orangecurry]

I thought the self locking system was part of the Cat 1 certification, or does cat 1 just mean it is both alarm & immobaliser in one package?

yes - Cat 2 is immobiliser only.

I had a Sigma - it just died on us one day, no way of resetting, nothing wrong with the remotes or the battery; just *gone*

The only positive thing that day was that it took an expert alarm installer over an hour to get the car started so a very good anti-theft device..... just not very good if you want a car that moves.

That's what we replaced with the Laserline.

[ian332isport]

I thought the self locking system was part of the Cat 1 certification, or does cat 1 just mean it is both alarm & immobaliser in one package?

Cat 1 alarms are combined alarms and immobilisers. Cat 2 are just immobilisers.

The Thatcham requirement is that the immobiliser kicks in automatically (not user selectable), it doesn't have to lock/arm as well. This is certainly an option on Cliffords, but can be disabled by the user.

Clifford are fine if (and it's a big if):

a. They are fitted and setup properly (very rare )
b. The end user knows how to use it.

I've had Clifford alarms since 1995, and never had a single problem.

Ian.

[kam325itouring]

yo i got a cobra on mine no probs at all very reliable, ive been fitting alarms for years!!.......i can do a cobra with micowave which is what you will need for a convertable for 300 with certificate for insurance.

[eko]

My old toad also does this; it doesnt lock you out as such on mine; it locks after 30 seconds so if you shut the door within that time its good night; also reactivates the 30 second time limit after you switch the ignition off and on again; i like the feature to be honest just gota learn to leave a window down or door ajar when you stop/are working on it.

Ive got an ancient Toad(A200+ i think?) that does this-PITA if you ask me!
Anyone know of a way of turning this feature off?
Ive looked in the user manual about valet button settings but it doesnt give much info!

got to say though,for the age of the alarm(fitted 2002) it still works very well.
Doesnt give false alarms and is total closure too
Testament to Toad quality and good fitting I suppose.

[dark_sounds]

Viper alarms, good price for what you get, 350 supplied and fitted, pager alarm and immobiliser pages you whats happening to your car. with a picture of the car itself.

smart eh? this is what i will be using on my car

[kam325itouring]

the viper 480xv very good alarm they got a new one the 500v they have got a colour screen!!!!!

[Dan318-is]

My old toad also does this; it doesnt lock you out as such on mine; it locks after 30 seconds so if you shut the door within that time its good night; also reactivates the 30 second time limit after you switch the ignition off and on again; i like the feature to be honest just gota learn to leave a window down or door ajar when you stop/are working on it.

Ive got an ancient Toad(A200+ i think?) that does this-PITA if you ask me!
Anyone know of a way of turning this feature off?
Ive looked in the user manual about valet button settings but it doesnt give much info!

got to say though,for the age of the alarm(fitted 2002) it still works very well.
Doesnt give false alarms and is total closure too
Testament to Toad quality and good fitting I suppose.

Remember the time on the side of the m25 sliproad tony? Prime example! It hasnt happened since then.

[eko]

Remember the time on the side of the m25 sliproad tony? Prime example! It hasnt happened since then.

Yes,but cant remember what we did?

[Dan318-is]

My car locked itself; and you "broke in" to it ?

[eko]

Ah i remember now!

[Dan318-is]