I'm thinking about getting an alarm since my car was keyed and I didnt find out until I went outside to leave, and no one was around or aware that it was going on. I was looking at the viper 1000 or the viper 800esp (w/ the add-on voice recorder feature and 8 zones). The voice feature is not important though, I just thought it was be cool to have a PA. What can someone tell me about alarms. Good?? Bad?? any suggestions??

 

Viper is a good alarm, always rated very high in testing

 

I don't know if you want an alarm that's sensitive enough to detect keying. I mean, do you want to be the ***** in the apartment complex whose alarm is always going off whenever someone walks by your car? Last guy I saw who had an overly sensitive alarm got a brick through his windshield for it.

 

No, I dont want it to go off all the time , but if it gets keyed again I want it to go off so at least someone can see who did it. Plus, the one I'm looking at is supposed to not give very false alarms, I dont know how true that is but thats what the reviews say.

 

I can't think of an alarm that would be sensitive enough to detect keying without going off for exhaust vibrations, big trucks, accidental bumps, etc. All the alarms I've ever heard of have glass/door/trunk/hood sensors, maybe coupled with proximity sensors in the higher-end models. Perhaps I'm just inexperienced, though. In any event, even a 2-way alarm won't give you enough time to stop someone from keying your car or from catching them after the fact unless you're close enough to see them anyway.

 

even if there was a alarm made to detect keying, you wouldnt be fast enough to catch him anyway. just makes you more paranoid everytime it goes off.

 

No, I dont want an alarm that sensitive. I just want an alarm b/c every car should have one and I just want a good one. The one I'm looking at will detect any metal objects put by the glass, so in that respect, yes it will detect keying. A proximity sensor will also help out with it. I dont want an alarm just for keying, but it wont hurt if it can help out.