Steve Hartland

Has anyone got any recomendations for alarms / imobilisers for an early WRX. I've just order mine, and I don't want to loose it!!

Cheers Steve.

Ian Cook

Tricky

Make sure its Thatcham Class 1, and you should be OK, the UK cars are fitted with Sigma alarms, Cobra, Clifford etc are all names that seem to be ok.

brooks

Consider the Clifford 300 and 600. The Sigma M30 is also supposed to be good. The CRITICAL bit is that it is installed well - research thoroughly your local installers.

Adam M

Where do you live for a start as it helps to organise a good dealer through the benfit of collective experience.

I would advise against clifford these days. They are fantastic for gadgets and gismos but the new generation of alarms are so complicated that there is much more to go wrong. They are now set up on a laptop and are microprocessor controlled. Although it sounds great in the environment provided by a car, I would expect this to equate to unreliability.

Sigma is the first make of alarm that I have never had a problem with. Fitted as standard and fully approved. No gadgets but no problems.

Jake

I had a Cobra cat 1 fitted to my early WRX and in two years I have never had a false alarm not one.

steve McCulloch

I agree entirely with Adam M

Have a Clifford Concept 50x on my Astra - no end of bother with it. Does not work in areas of North Bristol as the RAC mast blocks the signal from my hand held thingy so I have to disable manually, and the ultra sonics - nightmare

Its got a remote starter which is fun, but not when it decides to start itself up!

Got a Sigma on my Scoob - absolutely no problems at all - well done Western Car Audio in Bristol!

Would never ever pick a Clifford again- and I understand from friends with Cliffords that that is there opinion as well - they are crap - but partly dependant on the people fitting it I guess

brooks

There have been threads in the past Cliffords are crap/ cliffords are great. The conclusion was that correct installation was key as Cliffords seem more sensitive than others.

DocJock

Steve,

I've had a Sigma 34 fitted by Phillip Chapman in Southampton.(023 80333222)

Superb workmanship and totally reliable alarm.

Regards, John



[This message has been edited by DocJock (edited 11-04-2000).]

Mossman

Hmmm.. read this all before. My Concept 50x was pants, green flared variety! Falses, mind of it's own and two total breakdowns!

However, Clifford have just come up with the goods and have replaced it free of charge for their new Concept 500 which (touch wood) is so much better!
I haven't had any trouble as yet and the features are very good indeed!

Adam M

According to the rules of most clifford accounts, the price including installation should be constant. If this is not the case then someopne is bending the rules. I absolutely agree regarding installation but believe I have found acompany who are among the best in the country.

They refuse to endorse clifford due to their unrlieability and they know how to fit them believe me. They dont like people to complain and so refuse to fit clifford unless the customer expressly desires it. Even in these circumstances the customer is always warned of the potential unreliability.

Incidentally the makes that they recommend highly are sigma and clarion. I have no knowledge of clarion products but I would trust these people if they say they are good. Unfortunately they are up north so helping steve out is gonna be a problem.

The other steve mentioned problems with disarming and unltra sonics on a 50X. I dont understand this as I was certain that the 50 followed by the 50X were the only thatcham approved alarms that had microwave sensors instead of ultra sonics. Someone coprrect me if I am wrong please.


Incvdentally, this company that I trust so much have a trick method for fitting alarms to subarus but I am not about to reveal it on a public access forum, cos if theives find out it aint as effective. If anyone is about to have an alarm fitted and wants to have their dealer do this let me know. But only if you trust the dealer not to tell any scum.

Steve Hartland

Thanks for all this, sounds like there is alot of debate about Clifford. I'm in the West Sussex / Gatwick area, if anyone has any experience of good installers in this area I'd appreciate it. What would you expect to pay for a top notch installition?

JasonHook

just an aside have you tried asking your insurers if they give a discount for one manufacturer over another....

Stupot

Steve,
I live in Horsham and had my STi alarm fitted by Alexander Wright and Young when I bought the car. Its an AutoWatch full closure system and its been brill. You can contact them on 01306 611111 and ask who fits their alarms. The quality of the install was excellent and I have had no problems. What do u drive by the way?

Stu

soutm

I spent some considerable time with a 98 model asing questions of dealers etc,(98 model being thatcham 2) all the dealers I asked were not going to profit from any purchase I made.
I finally settled for Scorpion.
having said that Sigma is fitted to my 99 as standard, I doubt if Subaru have made a mistake.

Jo Peters

Steve

Have had a Toad AI600 Cat. 1 alarm/immobiliser fitted to my MY95 WRX and have had no problems at all. It was fitted by Auto Elite who come out to your home or workplace to fit it which saved me having to deliver the car to a garage for the whole day. The cost was £299 plus £35 to allow remote locking to work on the passengers door as well as the drivers door. The guy who came to fit it was very professional. Give them a call on 0976 662168 or 01543 677752 (as advertised in REVS).
I'm not a rep. just a satisfied customer!

Jo

Silver MY95 WRX

Steve Hartland

Thanks again for all this info, I'll have a look around all the local installers and dealers and see which ones seem the most professional. Stupot, I'm awaiting delivery of a MY 96 dark metalic blue standard WRX, it's still about 6 weeks wait. I've ordered through the Japanese Import Centre, they've been very good up to now, anybody else used them? By the way, they also recommended the Sigma alarm, but I thought I'd just check it out with you guys, plus I wanted to check installation cost as a comparision.

Cheers Steve.

IAN LOVETT

I too have a Toad Ai600 Cat’ 1 alarm on my 96 UK 5 door and apart from the occasional false alarm (which I now suspect the battery which failed yesterday may have been responsible for) I’ve had no problems. The only thing I would say is that according to Toad only authorised dealers can change the set up, i.e. switching off the beep on arm / disarm or adjusting the sensitivity. Unless any body out there can tell me how to do it…..?

Stupot

Steve,
nice choice hope to see you at some of the Sussex/Surrey meets in the future. Welcome to the club.
Stu

Jo Peters

Ian

The day the guy installed my AI600 I decided which options I would go for and I thought I'd go for the automatic door lock after 30 seconds (or whatever it was - can't remember now. When the guy left I decided it wasn't such a good idea, and so I called Auto Elite who fitted it and the guy told me over the phone which buttons to press to disarm this option.