Page 1 of New Car Security Advice Please :D

I wonder if any of you Guru`s can offer some advice on car security. Basically I have opted out of the company scheme and bought a nippy Renault Megane. It comes with Thatcham Cat 1 Alarm and "Insurance Approved" Immobiliser.

Since I`m a bit more protective of me new "baby" :D than my old company rep mobiles, is it worth investing in a chunky crook lock or something too? Or is the alarm system so good that it basically can`t be nicked short of stealing my keycard or physically hoisting it onto a flat bed and driving off??

apparently cars are increasingly `jacked` as opposed to nicked these days.

with this in mind I keep a very, very, very, very angry owl in my passenger seat at all times. F***ing hell. he`s a scratchy pecking c***. and if he asks me to stop at McDonalds one more time, I will f***ing kill him.

Still. I haven`t had any other problems.

as someone who had his small peugeot broken into 4 times with nothing being taken before getting an alarm - and since that day have had no issues (touch wood) i think its fair to assume that break ins are more likely to be people looking for cd players, phones and wallets which can get them quick money and enough to feed a habbit or something
as opposed to actually wanting to steal the car.

On that basis id say your alarm shoudl suffice. That said for the sake of 20 or 30 quid i dont suppose the lock can do much harm



Chris

A.C.C. Member
LFC
YNWA

if you are particularly protective, make sure you hide everything in sight and even ensure there are no marks from the sucker used with gps/radar detector devices.

of course, you could always invest in a tracker... that would lower ur insurance premium too.

T¦M3CH4S3R

"I am worst at what I do the best, for this gift I feel blessed. I found it hard... it was hard to find. Oh well, Whatever! NEVERMIND"

Cool, thanks guys. Yeah - working in IT I am well used to hiding my goodies away and realise nothing is going to stop some scrote lobbing a brick through the window!

I was more concerned about the whole car going walkies, but have been assured that it`s most likely I`ll get bashed over the head and have the keys nicked than someone managing to "hot wire" it. Lovely world we live in :/

I never had anything on show in my car but it didnt stop them breaking in on the off chance i had. Seeing as unless they get caught in the act the cops won`t/can`t do a thing they are at no risk in taking a chance on finding the radio front in the glove box so they can nick the whole unit for example

Given the car you are getting I dont think you have this issue. My Peugeot was very easy to break into without much noise and hence it didnt matter if they found nothing and it just cost me a opacket to fix it all

if you have an alarm they are immediately put off because they arent going to raise an alarm on the off chance of finding something when they can find "easier and safer" targets further up the road


Chris

A.C.C. Member
LFC
YNWA

Unfortunately you cant stop anyone smashing your windows and grabbing anything thats on view, it takes less time to do that and get away than it does for the alarm to go off, so as advised by others, just never leave anything on show in the car :D

I had a new shape megane for a few years, you will find the keycard system very cool, if u have whats called the comfort pack installed as well its pretty much secured, just keep the key in ur pocket and it will take care of itself, doors unlock just by putting ur hand under the door handle! u dont even have to put it in the slot to start the car - it comes with a reasonable cat1 immobiliser on the engine management system and alarm on all doors, boot and bonnet and utrasonic sensors inside which can be isolated if required - wouldnt waste ur time on a mechanical deterrents such as crooklocks etc iv`e seen most of them removed in under 45 seconds by some tame security experts!

nice car what model u getting?

Well, I didn`t want to show off and I have enough "hairdresser" comments from the guys at work, but I have the CC 1.9DCi. :D I wanted the open top experience my brother has (an Audi TT) but need something a bit more practical for long drives and cold winters!

its just jealousy i tell you! ;) the diesel is well pokey thats what i had, loads of punch and used to cruise all day at 70 at ridiculously low revs in 6th gear - enoy it lol

As it is the convertable I would get a microwave sensor for it.

Ultrasonics (very cheap sensor) work on air pressure changes and hot spots so having the roof down will cause it to false alarm, that is why you have the option to disable them, same as car alarms going off because the sunroof/windows have been left open and false alarms on windy days because the wind is blowing through the car vents, it is the ultrasonics thinking that a window has been left open or broken.

A microwave sensor works on movement and mass, it is not affected by air pressure or heat so it will work perfectly with the roof up or down, if properly programmed it wont false alarm if a leaf falls in the car or something gets blown in, but the alarm will sound if somebody reaches or leans into the car, or if a cat decides to jump in there.

You could also add a MRS (Magnetic Resonance) sensor, this screws securely to your car chasis and detects knocks and vibrations, again if set up correctly it will not go off by lorries/buses driving past rocking your car but will go off if somebody bumps your car while parking or if somebody attempts to break a window or force a lock. The idea being the alarm sounds before they break in, not after they have got in.

Both of these sensors are available in single and dual zone versions, single zone will just activate the alarm if they pick anything up, dual zone has 2 settings on it, if the lower setting picks something up it will chirp the alarm and flash the indicators to scare people off, if it is set off again within 20 minutes it will sound the full alarm. The higher setting sounds the alarm as soon as it has been triggered. You set the higher setting to cover the inside of the car so it will go off if somebody reaches in. And set the lower setting to roughly 6 inches around the car so it will give the warning chirp if somebody leans on your car or looks in through a window.

I would go and have a word with a local car alarm specialist (not halfords ;) ), I used to fit Clifford, Code, Sigma and Cobra alarms, all very good and very reliable, they may suggest an add on alarm, not much point as you already have a Cat 1 alarm, but might be handy as you can then add extra sirens for more volume or unique siren tones and have other add ons like being able to close the roof/windows with the alarm remote.

The better alarms will also have an auto lock feature to prevent car jacking, this works by the alarm locking the car doors as you begin to drive, it will then unlock the doors when you turn the ignition off. You can even get an add on module where your car will text you to say the alarm has gone off and which sensor was activated, handy if you`ve parked in a city centre.

All the best

Gerald.

This item was edited on Friday, 13th April 2007, 15:29