Car Security

[h3llfir3]

What is the best security package to get for a car? i heard about viper and clifford and some others, tell me the names of some good ones, and also can someone please explain to me what the number of channels in a car security does? (eg. i heard some systems have 2 channels and some 4 ,etc.. what does this mean?)

[curtis73]

The best security system is the one that has the features you want at the price you can afford. I suggest you steer clear of the super cheapy versions; clifford and viper are good names.

The number of channels describes the basic number of functions. Most one-channel remotes will arm and disarm along with controlling power locks. Additional channels can be used for things like trunk openers, panic mode, power windows, etc.

In my little opinion (having lived everywhere from a farm in PA to downtown L.A.) is that alarms are more about prevention than actually alerting danger. When was the last time you called the police because you heard a car alarm go off? Nobody pays attention to them anymore. What seems to work best is the flashing LED on the dashboard and the sticker on the window. This has been demonstrated twice specifically to me. My chevy with a stock cassette stereo (that even has an anti-theft code) has drawn theives twice. Both times they busted the window to get a worthless stereo so they could sell it for $10 and buy a rock of crack, but they passed over my Mercedes with a $600 stereo in the dash because there was a flashing light and a pretty good factory alarm on the car. Most theives aren't the savvy, stereo-knowledgeable folks you see in the movies, they're 2-bit homeless tweakers looking for their next fix. They don't want to masterfully steal an alarm-protected $600 stereo and sell it on the internet, they want a quick-fix. They go for the easy score. Having a flashing light on your dashboard usually means they will just move on to the next car.

[h3llfir3]

Originally Posted by curtis73

The best security system is the one that has the features you want at the price you can afford. I suggest you steer clear of the super cheapy versions; clifford and viper are good names.

The number of channels describes the basic number of functions. Most one-channel remotes will arm and disarm along with controlling power locks. Additional channels can be used for things like trunk openers, panic mode, power windows, etc.

In my little opinion (having lived everywhere from a farm in PA to downtown L.A.) is that alarms are more about prevention than actually alerting danger. When was the last time you called the police because you heard a car alarm go off? Nobody pays attention to them anymore. What seems to work best is the flashing LED on the dashboard and the sticker on the window. This has been demonstrated twice specifically to me. My chevy with a stock cassette stereo (that even has an anti-theft code) has drawn theives twice. Both times they busted the window to get a worthless stereo so they could sell it for $10 and buy a rock of crack, but they passed over my Mercedes with a $600 stereo in the dash because there was a flashing light and a pretty good factory alarm on the car. Most theives aren't the savvy, stereo-knowledgeable folks you see in the movies, they're 2-bit homeless tweakers looking for their next fix. They don't want to masterfully steal an alarm-protected $600 stereo and sell it on the internet, they want a quick-fix. They go for the easy score. Having a flashing light on your dashboard usually means they will just move on to the next car.

well i have a really nice car and i am planning to install rims, body kit, stereo with two sub woofers and a nice deck and speakers, more later, so i really need the best security.. anyways what security do you recommend and how many channels should it have and what should each channel do, i am willing to spend as much as i need to, so no price limit

[curtis73]

Get a Clifford or Viper security system and a LoJack. LoJack is a GPS-based, police-monitored vehicle theft recovery system. You can even set it up to alert you if your car moves while you're not there and monitor your vehicle's position on the globe if your kids take it for a joyride. If its stolen, one call to police lets them monitor its location via GPS and find it. Police have even used LoJack on planted vehicles as bait. They leave a car with LoJack, let it get stolen, and follow it to the chop shop and they're able to make multiple arrests.

As far as how many channels you want, that's up to you. If you just want it to arm/disarm, get a 1 or 2 channel. If you want it to control other things like remote start, power windows, trunk release, etc, get a multi-channel model. I've had all of the above and I found that the only feature I used was the arm/disarm function which I also wired to unlock the doors. I prefer manual transmissions, so the remote start isn't really a viable option for me on most of my cars. Remote start is nice if you want to warm up or cool down a car before you get there, but I can never remember to leave the climate control in the position I anticipate the temperature to be when I next plan to use the vehicle. Half the time I ended up leaving the heat on after a morning drive, then used remote start after work only to find my car baking in the afternoon after work because I left the heat on.

Personal preference. The basic security guts are the same. More channels means more options, so its up to you.

[h3llfir3]

Originally Posted by curtis73

Get a Clifford or Viper security system and a LoJack. LoJack is a GPS-based, police-monitored vehicle theft recovery system. You can even set it up to alert you if your car moves while you're not there and monitor your vehicle's position on the globe if your kids take it for a joyride. If its stolen, one call to police lets them monitor its location via GPS and find it.

As far as how many channels you want, that's up to you. If you just want it to arm/disarm, get a 1 or 2 channel. If you want it to control other things like remote start, power windows, trunk release, etc, get a multi-channel model. I've had all of the above and I found that the only feature I used was the arm/disarm function which I also wired to unlock the doors. I prefer manual transmissions, so the remote start isn't really a viable option for me on most of my cars. Remote start is nice if you want to warm up or cool down a car before you get there, but I can never remember to leave the climate control in the position I anticipate the temperature to be when I next plan to use the vehicle. Half the time I ended up leaving the heat on after a morning drive, then used remote start after work only to find my car baking in the afternoon after work because I left the heat on.

Personal preference. The basic security guts are the same. More channels means more options, so its up to you.

oh i think i understand so clifford is definitely good? i kno that viper and clifford are both made by directed electronics and there is more that they make such as hornet.. and i also heard about compu star, are these any good? oh and one more i heard of is something starting with a p, im not exactly sure what it was but it had sort of a french name i think, it was like protege or prestige or something like that, i dont remember

[curtis73]

You're thinking of Prestige. Also a very good system. I had one that had some faulty soldering on the board of the control box, but they made it right. Don't know about compustar

[h3llfir3]

Originally Posted by curtis73

You're thinking of Prestige. Also a very good system. I had one that had some faulty soldering on the board of the control box, but they made it right. Don't know about compustar

so out of alllll the directed electronics security, which is the best ?? :P http://www.directed.com/Products/Security/Default.aspx