Good alarm fitted in Warwickshire

Hi all,

My defender is slowly looking more attractive as I do things to it so it's about time to get an alarm fitted. Looking at the Toad Ai606 or some sort of Viper alarm. Does anyone have any recommendations on good fitters around the Warwickshire/Midland area?

Also thinking about fitting myself but depends on how much money I might save I guess. Does anyone know if they come with good instructions on fitting?

Thanks

With stuff like that it may make sense to have it fitted professionally by a Thatcham registered firm so you get the Thatcham registration which may save you money on your insurance. I can't recommend a firm personally, but if I were you I'd go for a large outfit, because (as I've discovered) sole traders are apt to go out of business and can't be found if there is a fault.

I've yet to find a company in this country capable of fitting an after market alarm/immobiliser to any acceptable standard. This includes the Thatcham approved company's.

After market immobilisers fitted by approved company's are the most amusing, which any monkey could bypass given 5 minutes of peace.

Thanks,

Yes, I understand they are just a layer of deterent rather than a complete solution. Anyway, looks like I will just have to try and find someone on Google..

Rather than let some monkey chop about your Landrover wiring, how about some mechanical locking deterrents. This keeps things standard and reliable, and is far more of a visible deterrent than an alarm.

A good alarm system, will always be a good choice. it's a deterrent, slows down the bandits even if they try, warns others around and warns you within a mile radius if you chose the long range two way remote type. Also the added benefits like door locking and power window features makes it a good choice.

I just bought the VIPER 5706 which has a load of features including a built in immobilizer, power locks out put and aux channels for trunk or in landys case back door release. I have the door actuators for mine already and I will have power windows in mine controlled by the alarm too.

I have a Viper alarm which I personally installed over 18 years ago still working in one of my BMWs

Dirt cheap too for what it does, read the features.

Amazon.com : Viper 5706V 2-way Security System w/Remote : Vehicle Security Complete Systems : Car Electronics

Look at the reviews too in that link.

Was just thinking, sometimes it hurts my brains, you could also use one of the out put when armed to disable the engine cut out relay, this way even if they were able to bridge the immobilizer wires the Landy won't start.

Don't be fooled, if an alarm is installed by a good shop, it will be very, very difficult to steal the Landy. A good shop will make the wires tough to reach, install fake wires or two sets for connections, install more than one sirens, so if they were able to clip one, the other will keep going off etc.

The viper also has head light flashing when triggered and you can use the aux channels for many other features including security and luxury.

For features like auto windows and remote start is possibly a useful thing to have. Insurance companies will not recognise it as a anti-theft device unless it's installed by an approved installer. These approved installers are at best lacking, believe me I've seen the work from a lot of these.

The only immobiliser worth having is the one the manufacturer built into the ECU, anything else is just a gimmick, and most likely to cause issues in the future. It doesn't matter what you do, or how you hide the wires, they all go back to the control module / modules, and a quick google gets you a wiring diagram and colour code.

It really is a false sense of security, mechanical locking is much more visible and noisy to remove in a hurry.

The only electronic device I'd consider is a tracker, that gives no indication to the thief that it's there but calls your mobile to give details of it's whereabouts. I know a friend who got a vehicle back because of a system like this.

Murtle said:

For features like auto windows and remote start is possibly a useful thing to have. Insurance companies will not recognise it as a anti-theft device unless it's installed by an approved installer. These approved installers are at best lacking, believe me I've seen the work from a lot of these.

The only immobiliser worth having is the one the manufacturer built into the ECU, anything else is just a gimmick, and most likely to cause issues in the future. It doesn't matter what you do, or how you hide the wires, they all go back to the control module / modules, and a quick google gets you a wiring diagram and colour code.

It really is a false sense of security, mechanical locking is much more visible and noisy to remove in a hurry.

The only electronic device I'd consider is a tracker, that gives no indication to the thief that it's there but calls your mobile to give details of it's whereabouts. I know a friend who got a vehicle back because of a system like this.

Click to expand...

Saying that the alarm gives a false sense of security is a very broad statement including your statement that the immobilizer is a gimmick. If that was the case I don't think companies would have still been in business and people wont be installing them.

Yes, an ECU with an immobilizer is better with the key-fob having a chip for ignition/starter initialization, but older Landys did not come with this.

Yes the alarm module is the weak link, but what happens to the sirens while the thieves are looking for the module? Are the sirens are not even a lot nosier than a 18V portable Sazall tool which cuts through steel in seconds?

What I do to curb access to the module is make a stainless steel case for the module. I use one way security screws for the cover which screws into the sides and place the module in an area where you have to remove quite a bit of stuff to get to.

Secondly as I wrote in my post, if you get the 1 mile transponder/keyfob, you will be alerted when the alarm is triggered.....what more can you ask for?

I am not an alarm sales rep nor an installation service provider, just laying out the facts of the benefits of good alarm package.

Cheers.

Agreed, if you have gone to those lengths to install your alarm and mobiliser then yes it is going to slow someone down a lot.

Sadly though it's not accepted by the insurance companys as you're not an approved installer, however by the sounds of it you have more than done a better job than any commercial installer.

I have seen insurance company approved installs where at best the loom is just cut and soldered then heat shrunk, and at worst cut and scotch locked, always with no attempt to separate the wires, so anyone can just re-connect the original loom (just match the colours back up) and drive off. All of this usually just tucked behind the steering column with easy access.

This sort of set-up does not fill me with much confidence, what you are saying you have done is the way these things should be installed, but just isn't possible with the usual £50 to £100 install charge from most installers. Or beyond their capability to fully disassemble a vehicle wiring loom and separate the wires.


Here is an Opel Omega wiring loom I was digging through a while back, actually to remove the factory fitted alarm and mobiliser for an engine swap project.