Are Car Alarms More Trouble Than They're Worth?

18 Comments

  • apps for moms - 11 years ago

    One time, I parked my car in a supermarket parking lot, away from the store enough that nobody would suspect I parked there when I go to work. So, this particular time, I suspected that my car's alarm had been going off and on, because at the end of the work day, as I approached my car, I noticed that the driver's side of the window seemed open. The closer I got to it, I realized that someone bashed the window.
    I therefore concluded that someone/people had had enough of the darn alarm and decided to send a message of annoyance and irritation. By attacking the car. Luckily, the window was all they destroyed.

  • Emily - 11 years ago

    I used to live in New York City. The very place that needs those car alarms. Unfortunately, car alarms have a tendency to be 'over-eager' and will go off a the slightest wind; a bird pooing on it, whatever.
    One time, I parked my car in a supermarket parking lot, away from the store enough that nobody would suspect I parked there when I go to work. So, this particular time, I suspected that my car's alarm had been going off and on, because at the end of the work day, as I approached my car, I noticed that the driver's side of the window seemed open. The closer I got to it, I realized that someone bashed the window.
    I therefore concluded that someone/people had had enough of the darn alarm and decided to send a message of annoyance and irritation. By attacking the car. Luckily, the window was all they destroyed.

    Apps for moms

  • handbags - 14 years ago

    But the booting time has increased quite a lot...but I dont mind that since rest of the functionalities are almost perfect.

  • Inverter - 14 years ago

    I love it. The final is considerably faster than the Betas or Alphas. My biggest (and probably only) complaint at this point is that, due to the new stupid Volume Controls, I can't unmute the output for Line-In or Mic inputs on my computer. This is important because I use that input for when I play video games using my Xbox360 connected to my monitor.

  • sellers low price - 14 years ago

    I try not to leave my laptop or camera in the car overnight. My alarm opens the doors, rolls the windows up when armed and locks the doors. Also, the sunroof closes. I can remotely open the trunk, windows, and sunroof. The alarm has an auto start that I would hate to be without. It pages me if anyone looks inside or hangs around too close. All the sensors are adjustable, that is, unless you aren't very bright. The pager works without the siren. Very handy.

  • Security Chick - 15 years ago

    I believe so. I was so annoyed with my sensitive car alarm that I had it disconnected. It just drove me up the wall.

  • Alarme - 15 years ago

    The problem is when the car is in fire, alarme does nothing...:(

  • carcdplayer - 15 years ago

    What's worse is I wouldn't be able to identify my own alarm when awakened in the middle of the night. It turns out, for some reason my alarm kept going off in the middle of night (no signs of intrusion), but it did piss off somebody unfortunate to be within earshot of it.

  • Oyama Naku - 15 years ago

    I used to live in New York City. The very place that needs those car alarms. Unfortunately, car alarms have a tendency to be 'over-eager' and will go off a the slightest wind; a bird pooing on it, whatever.
    One time, I parked my car in a supermarket parking lot, away from the store enough that nobody would suspect I parked there when I go to work. So, this particular time, I suspected that my car's alarm had been going off and on, because at the end of the work day, as I approached my car, I noticed that the driver's side of the window seemed open. The closer I got to it, I realized that someone bashed the window.
    I therefore concluded that someone/people had had enough of the darn alarm and decided to send a message of annoyance and irritation. By attacking the car. Luckily, the window was all they destroyed.
    That did it. We disabled the alarm. We had trouble with it the moment we had the car equipped with it anyway. These were the days when car alarms were just starting to be popular and so were not so streamlined yet.

  • Michael Mason - 15 years ago

    Aftermarket alarms are obnoxious. They'll go off even if you look at the car wrong. What's even worse (and humorous) is people who set them off and can't figure out how to turn them off. I agree with lumbermanSVO. The factory one's aren't so bad but it's those 7 tone siren's I can't stand. I Would like to wire one of those speakers to a police siren though. IN my Trailblazer I keep two magnetic red emergency flares that can mount to the car and be seen two miles away. I also have an hand cranked battery free flashlight. Nothing too special.

  • LumbermanSVO - 15 years ago

    I used to work in stereo shops and installing alarms was my specialty. The problem with most alarms isn't the alarm, it's the install. A properly installed alarm wont go off when a car with a loud exhaust goes by but it will when you bang on the door (like a screwdriver going into the keyhole).

    Personally, I feel that most people don't need anything more than what the factory offers anyway, unless they want more functions. There are some alarms that will call your phone when they are triggered, these are much more usefull than your ordinary $250(installed!) alarm.

    These day I drive a truck and I have an iPhone, Laptop, inverter, fridge, CB radio, Aftermarket CD player and speakers in the truck.

  • Bob Barker - 15 years ago

    In my daily driver ('04 BMW 330Ci) there's a iPod photo docked into the stereo with nothing to "protect it" other than the ignition lock-out. On my classic cars (which predate fancy electronics like keyless entry), I just have a battery switch in the bay which disconnects the battery from everything but the clocks. Car alarms go off with such frequency that with so many false alarms, even if someone were stealing a car with an alarm, we'd all just ignore it.

  • Jeff Wahlund - 15 years ago

    I try not to leave my laptop or camera in the car overnight. My alarm opens the doors, rolls the windows up when armed and locks the doors. Also, the sunroof closes. I can remotely open the trunk, windows, and sunroof. The alarm has an auto start that I would hate to be without. It pages me if anyone looks inside or hangs around too close. All the sensors are adjustable, that is, unless you aren't very bright. The pager works without the siren. Very handy.

  • pity - 15 years ago

    car alarms are useless precisely because they are almost always false alarms. people ignore your car alarm, and when my neighbors have car alarms that go off in the night, I openly wish that their car is at that moment being stolen, and if i saw it i would do nothing to stop it. When most people see someone messing around in a car with an alarm going off, they will ssume that it is just the owner trying to deal with a faulty alarm rather than put themselves in harm's way or risk calling 911 for no reason. Many criminals that are capable of hot-wiring your car are also intelligent enough to disable your alarm after a few minutes at most. If they are trying to steal your stereo, they will succeed long before anyone investigates. The only benefit to having a car alarm is if you are at home and immediately check on your car when you hear the alarm, phone or firearm in hand, prepared to defend your vehicle. More often, though, people are so accustomed to false alarms that they just deactivate their own alarm without getting out of bed.

    get a lo-jack, make sure your insurance coverage is comprehensive, and stop being a terrible human being by sacrificing the peace and quiet of your neighborhood to eliminate the inconvenience of having to wait a few days to collect your insurance money and replace your stupid, ugly car.

  • Gradr - 15 years ago

    What's worse is I wouldn't be able to identify my own alarm when awakened in the middle of the night. Luckily, my apt is far enough, so I wouldn't hear it to begin with. It turns out, for some reason my alarm kept going off in the middle of night (no signs of intrusion), but it did piss off somebody unfortunate to be within earshot of it.
    So, they in a carefully handcrafted note, threatened to do violence to my car and me (not necessarily in that order) if I didn't do something about it. So, I disconnected the siren, such that the alarm is still on. This might discourage the casual retardo-thief, who gets mesmerized by blinking lights or something. A real pro-thief would probably be able take the damn thing from under me and have me thank him for it. And in general, I leave nothing valuable in my car overnight.

  • Shane - 15 years ago

    In my (our) car (cars):

    Currently: inverters

    When in the car: iphone, ipod

    Old stuff: ham radio, umpc

    Car radio: has ipod/iphone jack

  • Worthless Keyfob - 15 years ago

    purchased used 05 Mustang GT conv. with preinstalled aftermarket alarm and no manual. Found manual online, but that didn't help much. The alarm goes off when disabled. Thank god I figured out how to disable the proximity alarm. Also stopped working completely (even dash light went out) then started working again for no apparent reason a few days later. During the outage, somebody dinged the driver door. Had the alarm been working I coud have at least caught the offending churl.

    I keep an FM modulator, radar detector and childs booster seat in the car...and sunscreen.

  • MrkyMrk - 15 years ago

    My car alarm goes off when the wind blows too hard, you touch the gas cap when the car is off, or you press the lock button twice from the inside. Great car.

    Items:
    1. iPod
    2. Cell phone
    3. Laptop (stays in the trunk)
    4. TomTom always rides in the glove box when not in use

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