Which one should I go for?
Toad ~ £250 but I haven't found a local dealer's price yet.
Scorpion = £300 from the local guy but I dunno if he's any good.
Clifford = £700 from Max in Leeds, a fair way to travel but worth it if his reputation on here is anything to go by.

What do you guys reckon then? I'd probably want to add the outside sensors to the Toad or Scorpion, standard on the Clifford. What other modules are available for them?

Cheers,
Scoobyster

 

You get Black Jax anti hijack on the 600 also tilt/motion sensor plus FACT (false alarm thing) and proximity sensor
It does cost more but you can sleep soundly at night knowing that your car has this on it (plus go for the turbo timer as an option )

Tony

 

Definately go for the clifford, can't fault the alarms, its the third clifford I've had and Max is a wizard at fitting them and securing your car in the best way possible.

Richard (one of many of Max's happy customers !)

 

No question - go for the Clifford. You get all the usual sensors, plus BlackJax - which is invaluable in itself. And, Max is definitely the guy to install it. He's unbelievably thorough and, let's face it, the installation is just as important as the specification!

Cheers, HB.

 

Installation is MORE important than features. A ****e alarm well installed will be much more effective than a tip-top alarm installed by a monkey. A bloke's scoob caught fire due to a badly installed alarm...

So, a tip-top alarm with the best installer I know would be the best option plus allow you to sleep best at nights.

Mine was installed by Max too.

 

Never skimp on security, if you dont fancy the 600 try the 300 for the same price as the cobra, its a better system to start with and worth the cash and you can sleep at night too

Tony

 

As Tony says, security is one of the most important things on your car. After all, what's the point in all the other accessories, if the car isn't there in the morning.....

Go for the Clifford - I can assure you it's worth it. And ring Max - he's no more expensive than the rest, but he knows our cars inside out. And each installation is individually plannes - unlike the majority, who put the alarms & sensors in the same position for each model....

 

You could go for the Clifford 300, or 500, if you want to save money. Don't save money on the install though!

 

Out of interest, has anyone had their car nicked, or know of anyone whose car's been nicked, and if so, what alarm did they have fitted? Replies might help the decision making process.

 

Unfortunately I can fault Clifford as I've just had to spend £305 getting a new Cobra alarm fitted. My old Clifford gave up the ghost and as I found out the lifetime guarentee is non transferrable between owners.

I am very happy with the Cobra and spent ages comparing the alarms through last months "MaxPower". It came out on top over the Toad but doesn't have as many fancy features as the expensive Clifford. To give yourself an idea pick your five nearest Installer places and ask them which are the most realiable, I did and Cobra came out top.

Good Luck M8
PP

 

i paid £600 inc vat and labour for my clifford 600 in wentworth audio and security, shop around,£700 is a bit steep.

Rich

 

Thanks for the ongoing advice everyone, really is appreciated.

PP - My local Cobra installer has been recommended to me, so that who I'd go for except that the Clifford Concepts seem to be getting such good reviews from the majority in this post. Also, as I'm the current owner I'll have the warranty as long as I have the car, so I wouldnt experience your problems. I do feel for you having to shell out for a whole new system.
How did the Clifford systems do in the Max Power reviews? What did they say was better about the Cobra? Presumably the issue wont be for sale anymore if it was last months, I cant find the article on their website.

Rich - I'm not certain £700 is the price Max charges, I'm just quoting from memory. Anyone know the exact prices for the Clifford 500 and 600? Either way it seems to be the concensus (sp?) on here that he is the man to do the install. Also Leeds isn't too bad a journey for me.

Cheers,
Scoobyster

 

Clifford systems are THE highest rated systems you can get for your car the only down side is that some installation is rather poor as some people who sell them cant fit them properly [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img] but never had that problem myself (thus the reason some installers slate cliffords cos they aint good enough to put one in right )
But people like Max on here would do you a grand job of fitting even though i didnt have mine fitted by him (a mate of mine did it whos been fitting cliffords for over 10yrs now ) so i know it was a good install
These are an excellent system and in the 2 yrs of scoob ownership, no one has ever attempted to break into my scoob (which is good as i live in a high risk area) so i can vouch for em (second clifford alarm, better than the scorpion cr@p fitted to my van)

Tony

 

The cliffords did do well but they were not in my price range and all i wanted was an alarm that didn't pack up and stopped it getting nicked. I wasn't interested in boot openers etc ( that's what the wifes for, ooops ouch!)

No seriously if you look on the forum there are several questions asking about problems with Cliffords and I have not seen the same about Cobras.

The problem with my Clifford was the actual alarm had broke and the censors didn't function anymore, nothing to do with installation.

It depends what you want and how much really, I am well happy with the cobras simple features and peace of mind it gives me.

If you live in the Hampshire area "Pulse" did mine.

PP

 

here is a fact for you guys that dont know .
CLIFFORD CATERGORY 1 ALARMS ARE NOT ! AS SECURE AS
CATERGORY 1 COBRA ALARMS !
Please correct me if im wrong.
but only if you know what you are talking about..
I like and fit both makes, but cobra cat 1 alarms are the most secure!

by the way .. full history ,several carefull owners,8 years experience and no time waisters please.

 

Well ive never heard of any car with a clifford alarm system being stolen, ive known of a few that have had the keys taken but the anti hijack kicked in and the car wasnt going anywhere but i do know of a few cobra/scorpion/sigma alarmed cars being nicked

Tony

 

Ant,
which alarm u have fitted and also if they had the keys or spare set you could be in trouble there

Tony

 

Just to add my bit, ive had a Clifford 50x and a Toad on seperate cars and find them both top alarms but I would go for the clifford just because you can mess with it and the toad is a basic but good alarm, both alarms wont stop people breaking in your car but will stop them taking it so at the end of the day if its money then go for the toad.
I had my Scoob broke into with a clifford and they nicked the siren (which should have still been going off) and stereo, they attempted to take the car but thanks to the clifford it was immobilised.

 

Looks like the Clifford is winning then
Had a local installer "highly recommended" to me who says he'd do a Cobra (not sure of the model, will find out tomorrow) Cat1 for £320.
That's a whole lot less than £700 (especially as a student!), otherwise I'd be going straight for the Clifford. It's a non-turbo Impreza by the way, so perhaps so much security is overkill, but the peace of mind would be nice.
Any further opinions then? Particularly on how good Cobra systems are please.
Cheers

[Edited by scoobyster - 6/7/2002 6:56:24 PM]

 

Thinking of getting the Toad Ai606, can get it fitted for £250, is this any good its for a mk5 polo TDI 3 door.

had a clifford years ago, but they just seem to charge what they like rather then having any real cost to reducing your insurance, and now down alarms don't seem to reduce insurance premiums.
Thanks

 

Personally I swear by Toad alarms... I know Clifford have all the bells and whistles/turbo timers etc etc but that's just me...ok

Had Ai606 on last two cars...they're great

 

http://216.33.236.250:80/cgi-bin/linkrd?_lang=EN&lah=10d39c5eaa2c4863f33ac715d6daa1 58&lat=1026351488&hm___action=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2es coobynet%2eco%2euk%2fbbs%2fthread%2easp%3fThreadID %3d101532%26ForumName%3dSecurity%26ForumID%3d16

 

Finally decided on a Clifford 600 from Maximum Impact and have been having it fitted today and yesterday.

Got to recommend the service from Max after he went to a lot of trouble to get my remote headlights working (Subaru headlights are incompatable - until he gets near em No driving lights to use instead on my GL). And he obviously takes pride in doing a good job, not just taking the minimum time and effort route that's easiest for him - but doing what will achieve the best quality install. Wouldn't question making the 220 mile round trip again if I'm ever in need of another alarm. Cheers Max

As for the alarm I'm pleased so far - though there's a lot to take in with all the features etc. Need to read the manual a few times methinks!

Ben

 

Yup the headlights are a pain, something to do with 2 relays per unit instead of one and i didnt need em anyway but the boot release and turbo timer both come in very handy

Tony

 

Oh also, a quick thanks to everyone on here who has advised me on what alarm system to get - much appreciated.

Am getting to grips with the system now, it's just a matter of remembering things really - once it's in my head it'll be very simple. The sooner I start remembering to disarm the blackjax the better - have forgotten at least 4 times since Thursday, and it always seems to time it when there's a crowd of people around! Have been using with the Cliffnet Wizard quite a bit, not actually doing much - just playing with my new toy! The neighbours must think (or know!) I'm such a geek :P

Cheers,
Ben

 

I just had a Toad fitted to my car, Clffords are very good but Toad cheaper. I had a sigma on my car before and I didnt like it, too basic.

MJT

 

Thanks for your help guys. Will be going for a Clifford 500 or 600 almost certainly.
But, found out from my insurance co that I get no discount at all for a Cat1 being fitted. Is this the norm? Surely they should account for the fact their risk of payout is reduced .

Thanks for that suggestion SlowBoy, anyone had a theft of a car fitted with one of these alarms then?

Cheers.

[Edited by scoobyster - 6/10/2002 10:29:08 PM]