Anyone using an alarm?, or should I even bother? Options

[CptTripps]

I was considering getting an alarm for my teener...but I'm wondering if it'd be worth the effort?

Normally, I'd do it in a car so I can remote-unlock, but in this case, I'd just be doing it to make noise if someone was in the car and not suppossed to be.

Anyone else using one? What kind?

[SLITS]

I ignore them when I go thru a parking lot anymore. Barking dogs, sirens, computer voices.

Now, if they would invent one that would throw about 10 bazillion volts at a cuple hundret amps.....that would be an alarm (and funny too).

[skline]

No alarm, just leave the top off, windows down and nothing inside that is worth stealing. I pull the face off the radio and lock it in the front trunk. That way they just walk on by and dont even bother with it. In anycase, I would leave the doors unlocked so they dont break a window. I would rather replace the radio than the glass. Install an ignition kill if you are worried about the car being stolen. I can tell you how to wire one of those up in about 15 minutes.

[Rand]

(IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/agree.gif)
I leave the doors unlocked and lock valuables in the trunk. I installed a hidden switch to disable the ignition. I don't use it all that often, but can easily disable the car if I feel the need to.

[CptTripps]

That's about what I was thinking...don't leave anything in there, and leave it unlocked with an ignition kill.

Funny Story:

For a science project back in high-school, I made a door handle that had the electrodes of a stun-gun in it. When you pulled on it, if it wasn't dis-armed, you'd get one hell of a shock. My science teacher had me put it in his car (I worked at a car audio shop back then) and he used it for about 6mos before he had me take it back out. I guess his wife got sick of 'forgetting' that it was there and got zapped all the time. This was IDEAL to me because his wife was my math teacher!

I got an A in Science that year...and a D in math. Hmmm.....

[#1RAGE]

I leave my teener unlocked (except the front trunk). I would lock the rear trunk if I had a key for it (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/sad.gif)

The previous owner told me to leave it unlocked. He believed someone would either break a window or wreck the top trying to get into it. I agree.

EDIT

Oh ya... the shift knob used to be really loose. He used to take it off because he thought if a crook tried to steal it, he/she might not realize the different gear layout... Not sure if that would actually be a good thing or not... might put it in reverse thinking it was 1st and smash into something (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/unsure.gif)

[double-a]

i detest alarms, hate them. never a more useless piece of junk on a car. does anyone ever go rushing over to the sound of a car alarm to see what's going on? when we lived down south the thunderstorms were so bad they made all the car alarms in the parking lot go off at once. silly.

i don't even lock the thing. forget the alarm and go with a keyless entry, much more useful imho.

~a

[CptTripps]

I had an 86 Saab that I had to press on a piece of carpet that had a switch behind it when I went to start the car. THAT was pretty usefull, but a pain in the ass at the same time.

Maybe a kill switch would do the trick...

[Brando]

Maybe just a disabling alarm would be fine.

But then again, I leave nothing of value in view in the car... usually that goes in the glovebox and gets locked. Front and rear trunks get locked. I'd like an alarm that lets a lot of voltage through the car. That'd disable whomever was trying to steal it.

[smooth_eddy]

I agree. Alarms are a pain. I am going to have mine removed this Spring. They are more trouble than what they are worth. I leave the windows up, doors locked and the top stored in the unlocked rear trunk. That keeps the honest people out and provides easy access for the slime bags without breaking glass or prying open a door. Eddy

[xitspd]

Better than an alarm!

[TheCabinetmaker]

I love car alarms. I can drive thru a parking garge and set off most of them. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/laugh.gif)

[redshift]

Until you get pulled over (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smile.gif)

I leave my doors unlocked, key in the igniton, a note about some of the quirks, and a $20 bill, used just leave a $10, but gas is high these days. I park out front, with the windows down.

I really do leave it unlocked. I can't remember the last time I locked a teener, and the worst to happen in about $100 in stollen tools over the years, and someone screwed up my lower dash once, kicking?



M

[TheCabinetmaker]

Pulled over for what?

[bondo]

I think the best benefit to pain in the ass ratio is a blinking LED. If they ever get to the point of setting an alarm off, you're probably too late. The LED has the same deterrent effect as an alarm, but it never goes off at the wrong time (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smile.gif) That plus leaving it unlocked and free of valuables will probably keep it pretty safe.

[VegasRacer]

I've took out the Alpine alarm system the PO put in my car. (model 8030B)
Anybody who wants it can have it for a $20 donation to the Brad Legal Aid Fund.

[Dr Evil]

You just can't beat the club, though. It is a very visual deterant.

[jd74914]

I have an excallibur alarm (PO mod). It sorta works, I need to get directions for it. But, it is wicked loud, and sounds exactly like a police siren; the best part. I've heard you can get a module to allow it to play a voice recording. Thats what I want.

[in my best Richard Simmons voice] Step away from the car, and step, and step . . .

[airsix]

I want a car alarm that sounds like machine-gun fire. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/ar15.gif) That would work, and the perp would leave a pudle of evidence in the driveway.

-Ben M.

[ChrisReale]

I hire bums, give them a bottle of booze and let them sleep in the passenger seat. Helps to roll them up in a tarp first....

Seriously, you can just unplug the coil wire and it wont start, just remember that you did that. I forgot a few times, took me a minute to realize what was up