Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

Hi all,
I am in need of a recommendation. I need to fit an updated alarm and immobiliser (the very nice, very cheap insurance man says so) to my 92MY 944 S2. The internet seems to be full of unhappy people, mainly unhappy with the installers rather than the alarms themselves.
I would like to fit something that will do away with the original immobiliser, or something that can be added to it. Any (sensible) advice will be gratefully received!
I am Oxon/Warks based.
Thanks

I had a Toad Ai606 Thatcham Category 1 security Alarm/Immobiliser fitted in Jan 2007 when I took ownership of my 944 Turbo.
It was recommended, supplied and Fitted at JMG with ALL remnants of the old system(s) being removed.
I have had absolutely NO PROBLEMS with this since .
I can certainly recommend this Alarm/Immobiliser but more importantly as you suggest is getting the old system fully removed and the new one installed.
(I guess JMG is about 100 miles from you, suggest you might give them a ring. I can certainly recommend their skill/knowledge from my experiences with them over the last 6+ years).
HTH
Clive
(Perhaps also a Club Discount )
Saw a nice little demo on u-tube http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j& ... 8065,d.ZWU

I am forever removing Sigma, Clifford and original UK dealer fitment Hamilton and palmer alarms and fitting Toad systems.

The Cliffords are often overly fully of gimmicks and their complexity seems to be their undoing. Battery drain and false alarms are usually the cause of the removal or replacement.

The Sigmas tend to have remotes which fall apart or also suffer from battery drain issues, which typically cause their owners to want them to be replaced.

It is however worth saying that it is no wonder the internet is full of people unhappy with installers, as some of the installations we have seen have been appalling.

At this point it is worth saying that for an alarm to be installed for an insurance company to be happy, the alarm needs to be installed to Thatchum standards, as well as the security system being graded by Thatchum to the level of protection that your insurance have requested, such as category-1 (Automatic arming alarm with an immobiliser) or a category 2 which is just an immobiliser)... But the key thing is thatchum standards, where crimped or piggbacked wiring is not good enough, the alarm needs to be securely fitted, and it needs to immobilise the correct circuits.

Installation problems we have seen in the past have included halfords crimpts being used, bad soldering of joints, the alarm just thown into the dashboard without it being secured and in particular, unusual things immobilised, rather than the usual ECU wires, starter wires and/or engine or fuel pump wiring.

The funniest poor install we have ever seen was a car which had a Sigma alarm installed for over 10 years, and it turned out the only circuit it immobilised was the windscreen washers... Obviously an installer who just followed a database for the colours of the wires to intercept for the alarm.

The problem with a poor install is that it will invalidate your insurance if the insurance company specify catergory 1 (for example) yet the alarm is not installed to thatchum or the manufacturers standards. In the event of even an accident rather than theft, an insurance "loss adjuster" or engineer as they prefer to be called, has a job to look for ANY reason to invalidate the insurance, in particular something like the alarm not being correctly installed, can give one a good reason to claim the car was not insured at the time of the claim.

I am going to need one fitted at some point,although my insurance hasnt asked for one.
The car has had an alarm fitted at some point,and has been removed but the wires are still in there.

What sort of price would a clean install removing all the old wiring and fitting a Toad 606 cost? Roughly

You can obviously buy the alarm for just over £100 but fitting is the fun part.

Typically we charge £75+vat per alarm system we find to completely remove the old systems and restore the wiring back to standard.

Supply and installation is typically about £400+vat for a Toad Ai606 on a 944 including getting properly getting the central locking working seamlessly, which most people make a mess of which can cause the alarm and central locking to get out of sync.

We can also program all the features of toad alarms, including auto locking time, sounder on arm disarm, what flashes, what siren tone you want and much more.

We can also add additional features like microwave sensors for cabs, pagers and other add ons.

I really like are the features of the Ai606 interactive, such as text message alerts, remote unlocking and disarming, and remote immobilising and valet modes all by text message.. But this is more expensive. But it can be handy when you are on holiday and someone needs something out of your car or you want the reasurance of knowing if your alarm went off while anywhere in the world, you will get a text message.

But we do prefer a policy that the more features you add to any system, you increase the chances of unreliability creeping in, however, some of the systems we have installed have been very in depth without issues, maybe a good versus bad installation example.

Hi

I agree with John , to be honest, WHICH alarm is NOT important, its WHO fits it that is the crucial bit....

I have a top of the range Clifford, with all the extras... remote starting, anti-hijack, auto-close on all windows/sunroof, it even has a mike(internal) and a speaker (external) so I can chat with hijackers lol...it also changed my windows to one touch etc etc.... plus it also controls a purge system for my Nitrous remotely...

A fantastic alarm system, BUT ..I know Steve my alarm fitter personally...and that helps a LOT....

It cost around a grand , with all the extras including fitting....

All the best Brett

Hi

Oops I forgot to add, my brother also has a 928 and he had his genuine Porsche alarm stripped out (as faulty) and completely replaced by H&P (the original manufacturers) a couple of years ago...that cost around £750, as I remember it...

All the best Brett

Wow, my first post, thanks to you all for your responses. Looks like I will be off to JMG for a Toad.

Thanks for the advice! JMG fitted a Toad, it took a little longer than planned, but was a cracking job. We have just returned from a road trip to France, Switzerland and Italy, the car covered over 1800 miles without a single hitch.

Free advice is a pleasure to give, especially when it works well for someone else .
Very pleased you got it sorted, as you say a cracking job at JMG.