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Alarm shock sensor upgrade - worth it?

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Old 04-27-2006 | 09:05 AM
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Alarm shock sensor upgrade - worth it?

Don't know too much about alarms. It doesn't seem like an expensive option to upgrade, but is it useful/worth it?

If installed, the alarm would go off if someone tried lifting the car to tow it or remove the wheels. Kind of extreme...
Old 04-27-2006 | 09:27 AM
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Originally Posted by falcon
Don't know too much about alarms. It doesn't seem like an expensive option to upgrade, but is it useful/worth it?

If installed, the alarm would go off if someone tried lifting the car to tow it or remove the wheels. Kind of extreme...

Yes ans Yes. Othewise if someone breaks a window or messes with the car, there will be no alarm/ siren going off. I got the upgrade and it will a simple install.
Old 04-27-2006 | 09:35 AM
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Did you do the intall yourself? Easy? Not sure how much the dealer charges for labour, but the upgrade is $58CAD or so.
Old 04-27-2006 | 09:40 AM
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I had a friend do the install, BUT only because I didn't have the time. He did it in about 20 min.
Old 04-27-2006 | 09:54 AM
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Nope....

Not worth it, piece of junk.

I've had it over two years.

Set it sensitive, every Harley and truck gets an alarm, set it towards insensitive and nearby carbombs are ignored - there seems to be no happy medium.

S
Old 04-27-2006 | 09:59 AM
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Originally Posted by momo
Yes ans Yes. Othewise if someone breaks a window or messes with the car, there will be no alarm/ siren going off. I got the upgrade and it will a simple install.
i don't have the alarm sensor, and i set my car's alarm off the other night (scared the **** out of me). went into the garage to get something out of the car, and the door was locked, but the window was down. so i reached in and unlocked it and the alarm went off. not thinking i had an alarm, i didn't bring my keys with me, so i had to go upstares and find my keys so i could go shut the thing up. my fiancee thought it was hysterical.
Old 04-27-2006 | 10:39 AM
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Thunder sets my alarm off. In Seattle my mom and I were walking back to the car and I said something like "There's Bella," which is what we named my car. Well, there were several birds around my car. No sooner did I say that then the alarm started going off because a bird landed on the roof!! At least it scared all the birds away from her. Of course, I was too far away for the remote to shut it off anyway so everyone is looking.
Old 04-27-2006 | 11:05 AM
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Hmmm, so it looks like it is a hit and miss.

Thanks everyone.
Old 04-27-2006 | 11:32 AM
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Hmm...I have one unopened that I haven't installed yet--I wonder if I should go ahead and do it?
Old 04-27-2006 | 11:48 AM
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Originally Posted by Cool-Blue-Dad
That's the problem I have with mine. Can't park it on a street where big trucks rumble past - they set off the alarm every 5 minutes. I actually worry more about someone vandalizing the car because of the alarm than worry about real tampering.
There is a doctor at the hospital where I work that parks in the parking garge just across the narrow street from my office window. Well, everytime the street car stops or starts there, the alarm in his new Mercedes goes off. Everything another vehicle drives past his in the parking garage the alarm goes off. Lately there have tons of motorcycles out since the weather is getting warm. Litereally every five minutes the alarm would go off for about 20 seconds. I was getting so pissed one day that on my break I went to track down the office car so I could tell security or something to please notify the owner of the issue if they had an employee parking pass, since all vehicles with license plates are registered. Well, I went over there and a car drove by and the alarm starting going off again. A new black Mercedes in the reserved physician parking, no plates. I complained to the security lady that stops by our office every night. Since then the guy either fixed the alarm, parks elsewhere, or went on vacation because I haven't heard it since.

I just hope mine isn't THAT sensitive!!!!
Old 04-27-2006 | 11:53 AM
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Originally Posted by StealthTL
Not worth it, piece of junk.

I've had it over two years.

Set it sensitive, every Harley and truck gets an alarm, set it towards insensitive and nearby carbombs are ignored - there seems to be no happy medium.

S

Amen to that. I had it put in when I got the car new. Everytime a harley or big truck drove by, it would go off. Then you adjust it to less sensitivity, and it seems useless, because I don't think even shattering window would set it off on that mode. Either way, It's cheap enough I suppose to not be a big deal, and probably is worth it if you are worried about what's inside car.

Last edited by VikingDJ; 04-27-2006 at 11:55 AM.
Old 04-27-2006 | 01:50 PM
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Its junk IMHO, seems to have two settings:

1. off
2. way too sensitive

Mine was going off from birds, cats, and of course trucks going by. Turned it down to what I though was a good level and was washing my car, it went off three times from the hose touching the tire, and once while I was drying the passenger side mirror. Fidgeted with it for a long while. Perhaps mounting is the problem, I have seen earlier threads that mention the idea of moving the sensor to more firm mounting place. The standard install seems to be tied to a bundle of wires which is itself easily shaken. Personally I would have bought the car without it so I just leave it off.
Old 04-27-2006 | 02:20 PM
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From: Vegas Baby!
Lightbulb

Originally Posted by falcon
Don't know too much about alarms. It doesn't seem like an expensive option to upgrade, but is it useful/worth it?

If installed, the alarm would go off if someone tried lifting the car to tow it or remove the wheels. Kind of extreme...
I have seen this befor. But I'm going with the Viper that has a image of a car on its screen. It will beep and wiggle like a pager if someone is messing with your car.
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