FireFromTheGods

I got a Clifford Matrix alarm system installed in my car and it BLOWS. The other night someone managed to cut the mesh grill, open the hood and cut the siren wire. Luckily I have no engine upgrades yet and they didn't take anything. I took it back to the dealer and they said it's too late for a refund and offered to repair what was damaged of the alarm. Direct Electronics told me they could only replace the alarm system under my warranty. So I just had it repaird by the dealer (Fry's Electronics) and had them maximize the sensitivity in which the installer added "if a cat jumped on the hood it would go off."

I sat in my parking lot to our apartment for a good 15 minutes trying to simulate what the last theif did and could not get the alarm to go off, just a few warning chirps. I even started banging on the hood and slapping random spots of the car. Just more warning chirps. I even opened the door, set the alarm, and popped the hood from inside and again, just chirps. It took actually opening the door to get the alarm siren to sound, which is completely unsatisfactory.

I'm out the 200 bucks it cost for this p.o.s. alarm system , but have a lesson learned. Get a GOOD alarm system.

Who here has an awesome alarm system on their 7th gen civic that would like to inform me on what to do. There are so many thieves it's disgusting. I want to upgrade the engine and what not but fear the worst.

technick03

I have the code alarm ca-145, with lcd pager. At first I didn't like it because it would go off for no reason at all, a big pain in the ***. I had the dealer adjust the sensitivity many times, finally they replaced the brain of the alarm, now it seems to work fine, no too sensitive but just right. Alarms will only go off through the frame of the car, so to adjust sensetivity, don't hit the door, hit the frame between the windshield and the door or anywhere else that is in direct contact with the frame. The alarm will also trigger through the dome light, so when the door is open, that's what causes the alarm to go off. You can also get the hood or trunk pins where if either are opened, alarm will sound. There's alot of add-ons you can get that I'm sure your aware of. Where did they install your siren, if the grill was popped off, I dont even think you could get to my alarm. Move it closer to your firewall. Hope that helped you a little bit. My alarm was about $320 installed with lifetime warranty. I also needed the smaller siren so it would fit, which was $15, but they forgot to charge me for that.

Mr.Modify

iTrader: (3)

Viper 791Vx

2K1Civic17"Gabe

iTrader: (9)

WASP! BEST OUT THERE!!! j/p, it was a cheap alarm, like 125 bucks installed, and it has worked very well for over 3 years, not too sensitive, but definately a lot more sensitive than a lot of peoples. It goes off whenever a loud car, or system drives by, and when you barely touch certain parts of the car (like the frame thing). It is a cheap alarm, so I dont know how long it will last, but suprisingly it works AWESOME

WhiteCastle

iTrader: (1)

Best alarm system to get. Hood and trunk sensors, steal braided alarm wires and a back up alarm.
dont here the alarm nothing to keep thieves out sorry....
thats why I would make a setup up that insures that alarm will screem someone messes with my baby

gearbox

iTrader: (95)

All alarms do the same thing. It doesn't matter because thieves can still open the hood and cut the siren wire. Best thing you could get is a pager system so at least you know when it triggers.

exclusive_vtec

agreed... thats exactly what im gettin a 2-way pager

FireFromTheGods

But shouldn't it go off BEFORE they open the hood. My car is fairly close to my window so as soon as I would hear it go off they would atleast be scared off as to all the attention it draws.

I'm gonna research some of these alarms you all have brought up, I'm also going to see about maybe upgrading it somewhere else. I just can't sleep at night because of all the incidents I've been enduring (people trying to steal my rims, engine parts, stereo) it's absolutely rediculous. I can imagine once or twice but this has become a once a week thing. The cops do nothign even though I provided a license plate number of someone running off after unscrewing ALL my lugs. Luckily, no has been successful. I bought locking lugs and this sub-par alarm system but I'm doing some major upgrades soon and I just won't be able to let my car out of my site with the scum running around.

I'm not over-obsessive it just seems everytime I turn my back someones trying to rip me off. You all know what an expensive hobby this is, so forking out three or four hundred bones on a alarm could save thousands or even the car in it's entirity especially in a very populated city.

If you have a nice car, DON'T move to Phoenix.

kornsined

iTrader: (7)

No problems with my compustar starter/alarm.

wogz

my friend just got the best alarm system the store has to offer. the clifford matrix? It has a whole bunch of options u can get. with all the options the main stuff it has is movement senors (i forget what they are called, but he didn't get it cuz itll set ur alarm off every minute, like if u have ur windows down and someone puts their hand inside ur car itll go off. It has tilt senor.. and a whole bunch of other stuff. However, even with all that stuff, ur car can still be flatbedded and stolen. but he got GPS, so if it does get stolen,e ven with the alarm system, the police will locate it in seconds. He also has a backup alarm battery, incase the theives cut his battery! And he has a siren for his subs and amps in his truck that will blow ur ears out if someone tries to steal it! Considering that ur car can still be stolen even with all the senors ect... i say get a decent alarm system WITH GPS. that way ur car can always be located (if ur car means that much to u). O and anytime ur alarm gives a warning chirp or goes off, itll page ur phone and tell u what went off.. ect

4Saris

As many have preached here before, it's all about the install. You can have the best alarm, but with a sorry installer, it will be worthless for you. The pager is a great idea though.

xam

iTrader: (10)

i got the clifford matrix rsx 3.5 alarm and i cant be happier. the alarm goes off and tells me if someone dings the side of my car, but not as sensitive as if a cat jumped on the hood. the pager distance is far too. it slike 1500 feet. like i work like 45 steps away from my car and it works fine from there. w00t w00t i love it. next thing i am gonna do is get 3 blow horns in the engine bay area hidden wires and also a siren thats just inside the drivers compartment so that if a theif wants to take my sounds or my car they have to have there ears bleed to get it. plus its good to have a bat near the garage and a bat near your door, so when u go outside u have something to scare them off. hehe

J187

2 way with good range, more than one exterior siren, interior firing siren. It'll do more to detur a thief than a regular 1-siren alarm will.

Revmaster

I got Clifford Matrix 2. It works fine. It even goes off during loud thunders and its not even at high sensitivity, just a quarter on the adjustment pin. At armed mode and when someone tries to open the door it chirps and goes off. Maybe you have a defective Matrix unit.

bzrollin

iTrader: (1)

Dude, really. You are expecting total protection with basic sensors. If you want the alarm to go off if the hood is popped, get a hood pin installed. if you want your alarm to go off if the car is jacked up, get a tilt sensor. if you want your alarm to go off if someone gets near it, get a motion sensor (or prox or microwave whatever you want to call it). A shock sensor is only supposed to detect shock, like someone trying to break out your window, its not to sense if your hood is popped. And the door triggers only set the alarm off after someone has already got your door open. Any of these sensors (and im sure you can find quite a few more) can be added to ANY alarm system.

My ideal system would include hood/trunk pins, a piezo siren inside the car, and battery backup for the whole system.

And 4Saris is right, its all about the install.

GreatWhite02

My Python is great! It's got the LCD screen on the remote so it tells me when an alarm or warning is activated! I got mine professionally installed at Tweeter in Texas! They stashed the "brains of the alarm behind the gauges so it is pretty much not worth the time to try and disarm it plus i got a backup battery installed! It comes with a shock sensor and I added the glass sensor to it. Another great feature is the tilt sensor which actually measures the anlge of your car and if someone sticks jacks under it to take your wheels it will set off the alarm! I haven't had a single problem with it! Kind of expensive but well worth it!

jmaz

how much greatwhite02

AggressiveAdam

iTrader: (4)

I got a clifford RSX 3.5 with 2 way remote and yeah 2 ways are great, but theres a chance your not in the area, and also a theif will smash your window and cut your attena wire so fast, dont think you'll be able to communicate with your car for long. Theres also a chance you brush it off as a false alarm.


best thing to do is get good accesorys

mainly

a back up siren they cost 40 bucks and go off when the battery is disconnected, powered by a 9v battery and hidden under your hood it will not shut off til you put a key in

as many peizo interal sirens as you can afford, there $20 and make it HELL to be inside your car. External sirens attract external attention this thing makes it unbearable to be in a car when the alarms going off.
mount under steering collum, and in air conditioning vents

J187

internal firing sirens are litterly the best defense you can get. Unless he knows exactly what he's stealing and its worth a ton, no thief will sit in a car with two sirens blaring in his face. I used to know a kid that jacked radios like it was his Job (I said I knew him, not I liked him). Anyway, he would always say, screw interior sirens. I wan't no part of that, I'll just run and move on to the next one. Especially those powered by seperate batteries.

GreatWhite02

It was 500 installed but believe me, a quality professional installation is the key to a flawless alarm system! You can have all the lastest code hopping and 2 way technology but if it is poorly installed then you just kissed your car or anything inside of it goodbye!

AggressiveAdam

iTrader: (4)

yeah thats true, but the fact of the matter is 99% of the time your dealing with vandels and kids. proper installation is important but again your usually delaing with smash and grab bull ****.

Go out and get some interal sirens, that will really ward off theives.

the one thing our car could really use is a locking glove compartment

silverem2

iTrader: (4)

compustar is the best imo

catalin

Do you remember the sales associate offering you an optional hood pin for an additional cost??? Most places will charge extra for the extra work and most customers decide not to spend the extra $30 or so for it. They don't realize the importance of it until sometimes actually happens.

Get it added to the alarm you have, get a back up siren also and you should be fine. Get two way FM, like the Compustar and you'll be much better.

SiG

iTrader: (12)

Compustars are the best IMO.

Internal sirens help, but if someone wants sthg bad enough, theyll break in and take it, and if they cant for whatever reason, they'll leave you some evidence that they tried. (broken glass, marks on interior panels showing crowbar marks from trying to pry sthg open, breaking random **** cuz they are mad, etc)

catalin

Compustars are great but I think they have one major flaw... I don't think I should post it but I will say that it would be much better if it actually came with a valet switch.

LudlamTheory

sirs, you forget the most fun tool of all
http://www.directed.com/security/access/siren.asp
second item down, the siren.

If you cut the siren cable, the alarm goes off, because the backup battery is IN the siren. only way to turn it off is with a special key that the alarm comes with.

SiG

iTrader: (12)

There is valet mode on the compustar, but you need to press the appropriate buttons to activate it.
Dunno what the major flaw is, can you kindly pm me with it? thanks

catalin

Yes.. and you can actually put it in valet through the ignition by cycling the key. The flaw is just that in 'my' opinion, it's tooo easy to cycle the ignition.

bzrollin

iTrader: (1)

Lud, i dont really care for the backup siren and here's why. MECP standards are to put the siren in an area that is not easily accessible. If you do that, wires wont be able to be cut. If you have to be able to put the key into the siren to disable it when you are disconnecting the battery, for example, you have to be able to get at it. It makes it a pain in the butt for you too. Maybe as an additional siren, but thats all i would even consider using it for. A backup battery system inside the car will still allow your alarm to go off if power is disconnected too. I guess the backup siren is kinda cool in that even if the thief ripped it out and say, threw it, it would still be going off.

And if you are looking for a 2 way, the only ones worth buying are the Compustars because they have a great range, the others IMHO are pretty useless if you go into the mall or the grocery store because they lose contact with the car pretty quickly.

SiG

iTrader: (12)

Yeah, compustars for the most part are 5000 ft in clear conditions. It will never get you no 5000 feet though. Only in a clear desert would you get sthg like that!

At university, i get around 1000 feet which is pretty good considering i go to a highly populated university (around 50,000 people)

At the movies, grocery stores, home, work, and anywhere else i need it, i get more than enough contact with my car.