Too cheap to be true?

[Fluffenzepupple]

I have no security on my van at present and I'm always paranoid it's going to be pilfered, especially after seeing the amazing magical mystery bus thread, I've been looking into alarms / immobilisers and I found a Thatcham cat 1 one on eBay which fits in my area.

It's a very good price, but as we all know if something seems too good to be true it probably is! So I thought to myself, why not run it past the lovely knowledgable people of club 80-90

So here's the details:

Hornet Maxx 1 alarm/immobiliser
Fitted by Westcountry car alarms (who are based in Plymouth)
Fitted price £220

I'm in North Bristol, so that's roughly 120 miles for him to travel just to fit. I've seen the alarm only on Amazon for £130, so that's around £90 profit before fuel costs, which doesn't seem much to me for the time and effort it'll take. The same alarm is offered on Clifford.co.uk with a fitted price of £330.

What do you think people, should I be cynical of this offer?

I thank you

[Mickyfin]

£234.77 here

http://www.caraudio4less.co.uk/hornet-m ... -1588.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

No experience personally of this alarm, but Thatcham 1 is supposed to be eligible for some insurances in certain post codes.

[faggie]

fit a good quality wheel clamp then you can fit it yourself no one takes any notice of a alarm going of anyway , i have a clifford on my van and if not used for 2 weeks it will flatten the battery so now i just use a battery cut of switch and the wheel clamp

[kevtherev]

indeed, have to agree..... immobilizing the darn thing is better than a noisy alarm

[Fluffenzepupple]

Yeah must admit it was more the immobiliser feature I was interested in than the alarm, but it's usually the combined ones that get you an insurance discount so thought I'd go for a cat 1, my insurance company didn't recommend any particular one just as long as its Thatcham approved so maybe I could save some pennies and just get an immobiliser.

In terms of draining the battery that shouldn't be a problem as the van is my daily drive, a wheel clamps not a bad idea although with it being in daily use I think I'd get hacked off having to fit it every time I park, I'm a lazy cow at the best of times

[CovKid]

Sent you a PM.

[California Dreamin]

I was checking out the same alarm...it all looks good and as a Thatcham CAT 1 it has a built in immobiliser....in the end I had mine fitted by an ex colleage of mine who now runs his own alarm fitting business. He fitted a CAT 1 for £200 plus knock sensors chucked in for free (so if it gets banged/lifted the alarm goes off as well)
Obviously this is not the only device/deterent I use...enough said. As with all things: each addition is an extra barrier and deterent against the would be thief.

Martin

[Plasticman]

I like radio pagers ,combined with other things of course, that way I get personal notification..
mm

[Doogs]

Also a useful link

http://www.in-car-stuff.com/shop/securi ... ec9ef8fc0d" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Regards

Doug

[Fluffenzepupple]

Great thanks for the advice all, you've been most helpful as always

[California Dreamin]

I have no security on my van at present and I'm always paranoid it's going to be pilfered, especially after seeing the amazing magical mystery bus thread, I've been looking into alarms / immobilisers and I found a Thatcham cat 1 one on eBay which fits in my area.

It's a very good price, but as we all know if something seems too good to be true it probably is! So I thought to myself, why not run it past the lovely knowledgable people of club 80-90

So here's the details:

Hornet Maxx 1 alarm/immobiliser
Fitted by Westcountry car alarms (who are based in Plymouth)
Fitted price £220

I'm in North Bristol, so that's roughly 120 miles for him to travel just to fit. I've seen the alarm only on Amazon for £130, so that's around £90 profit before fuel costs, which doesn't seem much to me for the time and effort it'll take. The same alarm is offered on Clifford.co.uk with a fitted price of £330.

What do you think people, should I be cynical of this offer?

I thank you

I was going to add.....often these mobile alarm fitting companies run a franchise of independant fitters to cover most areas so often you will find the head office hundreds of miles away but the actual fitter 20 miles down the road from where you live...makes sense.

Martin

[Plasticman]

pager every time,
mm

[StuM]

A few years back I had a Clifford Concept 300 fitted to a Honda CRX. I got the approved fitter through the Clifford website and it was fitted with all certificates etc. Now, to cut a long story short, I had loads of issues with false alarms etc - ending finally with the siren shorting out and ringing out uncontrollably outside my girlfriend's house at 3am. Tried to get fitter to sort it but they had gone out of business leaving a trail of similar stories behind. Clifford accepted no responsibility and refused to sort it. I had to get another shop to fix it at high cost.

Now... Clifford had a good reputation at the time so I thought I was safe. The product was good BUT the fitters were awful and that ruined it. Nothing worse than a false alarm - irritates people and creates 'little boy that cried wolf' effect.

I guess that the short version is... make sure the fitter is decent. Ask for references and check out previous work if possible.

The whole thing made me vow to never touch Clifford again, but that is another story..

Cheers,
Stu