OK, here goes - and apologies for the length of reply
are you likely to to do so for a car that that costs not much more? (maybe not the car in question) As you said in the beginning re a Ferrari, if they want it ...... they'll take it, irrespective of any alarm fitted.
To have upgraded the security on my old Ferrari, would have cost over four figures - and in my mind it was not worth spending the money, for exactly the same reasons you have said. If they want it, they`ll take it. but lets be clear about this bit, its not the pro`s that you are protecting yourself against, its the opportunists that simply want to rag around the streets and reckoning that they can drive better than plod who are undoubtedly following them.
I also strongly agree that there is a point where an alarm upgrade is fast approaching the cost of some of the cars on here, but thats not to say you have to spend out a lot of money to be better protected - as I`ll explain in a moment.
If it's possible to be fitted, then I'm sure it'd be easy to remove ..... GM & others) colour code their wiring to make originalty fairly easy
Yes, but not whilst the alarm is currently activating ! You do not want any alarm that is so quick to disable and silence that the thief has time to spend in your car. But an alarm that is correctly fitted may also have a loom of exactly the same colour wires and be fitted in such a way that even if traced back, it would not be simple to see where the original wires were cut and broken into. That is the skills you pay for from a professional alarm fitter, and because of that I would NEVER suggest to self fit an alarm, no matter how good you think you are, as a badly fitted alarm is no more secure than no alarm at all.
OK, so what can you do to improve the Omega security then?
The Omega has a transponder chip inside the key fob that operates the immobilser circuits, and if truth be told, technology has not really progressed enough since it was introduced to warrant the expense of extra immobilisation circuits - they do work fairly well. The Cat 2 immobiliser or the immobiliser on a Cat 1 alarm will not in reality offer anything above what is fitted as standard, so unless your car is something special and a little more desireable than the others, you can forget about this aspect of security.
The alarm side of things though is abysmall - the basic fit alarm is very poor and too easily bypassed for my liking. (but thats not the alarm make I am criticising, just the trimmed down version that they supplied to Vauxhall to make the price competitive) But if you actually wanted to spend out on a new alarm, I would look for a Cat 2>1 upgrade which is usually a good few quid cheaper than a full Cat 1 as it does not have any immobiliser circuits, yet will still give you Cat 1 status for the insurance when used in conjunction with your exisiting OEM immobiliser. But its still not really a cheap option at around £250 ~ £350.
One of the best forms of security I have ever seen, still remains the big yellow clamp that completely encases the steering wheel, and because it spins instead of allowing the wheel to be turned whilst fitted, its almost impossible to wrench off the steering lock. Many of these are insurance approved, but do not confuse them with any form of security bar that goes through the wheel, leaving a nice big "lever" to play with. They also act as a nice visual deterrent - but like everything, there is a downside to them, and that is that drivers get lazy, and cannot be bothered to spend a few minutes fitting them when needed. kingycos2, my advice to you would be to spend out between £60~£80 on one of these Disklok`s if leaving your car in the car park. But look for a bright yellow one, not the dull grey thing from Argos as you want it to be seen from a distance.
And whilst talking about visual deterrants, we all know the obvious advice about bags and laptops on view, but there are others also. Never put an alarm sticker in the window with the make of the security system fitted - why would you want to give the thief a "heads up" as to what he is up against? Also, if you are a sat nav user, clean those messy rings on the window, as that is usually a green light to an opportunist that you may have a nav system in the glovebox or under the seat.
But by far, the best visual deterrant is a 12V £1.99 flashing red LED, availble from Maplins, ebay or similar. Fit it into a switch blank near the stereo or instrument cluster, as that is where the pros stick them for the alarm, and connect it in the following way. Connect the Red (+ve) wire to a permanent 12V supply, and connect the Black (-ve) wire to an ignition fed positive supply. Now some of you are going to say that with both wires connected to positive, that is incorrect - well, no, not in this instance, as when the ignition key is removed, the ignition supply will give enough of a drain to allow the LED to start flashing, as it would if it were an alarm, and will go out as soon as the keys are put in. To the opportunist, this looks like an aftermarket alarm, and if he decides that he does not know what make it is, nor how to get around it, then he may well break into the car next to you instead.
And if that ever happens, then your security has worked and paid for itself ten times over.
Author
Topic: After market alarm (Read 2492 times)