mikesta21

theres a guy ive heard good stuff about offering to install the best audiovox security system with the 2-way remote with the car part identifying screen on it. he wants 300 for it w/o remote start as i have a standard and between bypassing the clutch and parking in neutral, im not doing it.
what do you know about audiovox-ive heard great stuff about the shop and the installer, and also he has sworn by audiovox for 12 years in his shop.

totalimmortal

Don't waste your time with their POS alarms. Get a Viper, DEI has proven time and again to be some of the best alarms out there.

mikesta21

what do they do different? it seems to just be a preference by everyone to swear by the most expensive... isnt it the installer that makes the difference?
i just want some evidence/facts to take my business elsewhere.. .this guy has a good reputation and he swears by these "piece of shit alarms"

b00gers

An installer can swear by a certain brand for a few reasons. The brand could be top notch. He personally just likes it. He has a lot of those alarms in stock and he needs to get rid of them. :dunno: Thats the business. I wouldnt soley take a word of a business...they have motives behind their words and its not always in your favor.

When I hear of alarms, I hear DEI. I personally have not heard of Audiovox alarms enough to give feedback on them. But everyone loves DEI. And yes, the installer makes the difference. A $1000 alarm isnt going to do jack if the installer didnt take his time to do everything correctly.

What features are you looking for in an alarm?

mikesta21

umm, the ability to not be bypassed, are most of them powered by something that can be easily disabled or cut off?
i really want the 2way-warns you when its being jacked- remote.
thats really important to me, not that i could do that much to stop them lol.
an immobiliser is pretty important, but id say i should be more afraid of my future sound system being stolen than my 93 prelude.

b00gers

What exactly is the ability to not be bypassed? Finding the brain and snipping some wires? In this case, installer makes the difference.

mikesta21

exactly. from this prospective, it seems that as long as he is a talented installer, things should be fine. what makes these alarms so bad? what do they lack? i want to know what they are missing. it seems that there isnt much that they dont have, at least from what ive found out.

ewood87

Audiovox is fine, its 90% installer. I work at best buy and i can tell you that we are 'supposed' to reccomend viper and in return they give us special accomodations (same w/ tons of other brands that give us special accomodations for recomending there products or saying "oh yeah, i have this and it works great" etc). That said, i personally do prefer dei because they seem to have a bit more support.
Just remember, when it comes down to it, if someone wants it bad enough an alarm is only a slow-down. Remember to get stuff like a backup battery (to prevent wire-snips or fender/battery drilling).

mikesta21

well, i just went to another place today and he does a clifford system for 400 installed. he claims to only have lost one car in 17 years of alarm installing by actual alarm disabling(not towing). Ive heard good things about him too, and he said the audiovox can be disabled quicker than the clifford, and that he sets it up so if you open the car with the key and no remote(i.e. you lost the remote), its set up to "stop the car from cranking" after 5 seconds, alarm ringing from when you open the door.
i dont know they both seem trustworthy, and they both would do my system also. audiovox for 300, clifford for 4?
(both the 2 way systems)

VPUPPY

Ok, the Clifford alarm is good. Its a DEI product. DEI is usually the way to go because they warranty the alarm for its life as long as a professional installer installed it. Now, for either being disabled quicker, that's bs. Its up to the installer to make the alarm difficult to disable. Both alarms require the same wires to be tapped so I don't see how one can be easier to be disable.

As for Audiovox, I don't like them. I have installed a number of them and even put one in my parents SUV. As with their alarm and many others I have installed and seen, they often have little quirks with them. They usually randomly go off(not being set off by a trigger like the doors or shock sensor - have seen this on my parents car and many others have told me this) and they have poor remotes. They often break or don't work at times. They seem to be heat sensitive also, so if your car heats up, they act strange. And to adjust settings using the valet switch is easier with a DEI product than a Audiovox product. In other words, the menus are easier to navigate on a DEI than an Audiovox.

I have had no problems with any DEI product I have installed. Its your call, but I would go with a DEI product. They seem to put out more quality products when it comes to automotive alarms.