I'm shopping for alarms, and i'm leaning toward a Clifford Matrix RSX 3.5. Any others that are recommended? I can get the Clifford for about $179 new, or I can pay a shop to install it for $499. Ouch.

 

It really depends on all of the features. I have a Clifford 7000 intelliguard. They have to program it. I don't have the equipment to do this.

 

They can be a real pain in the ass to install. I had one that had every feature on the planet, the instruction manual looked like a manual to the space shuttle. Ive done lots of stereo installs and love doing them, but as far as alarms ive usually steer clear of them due to the things one has to go thru to PROPERLY install them. $500 seems outrageous tho, Id look elsewhere. Mine was $200 installed, (infrared sensors, motion sensors, door and trunk pins etc etc)

 

It IS a pain in the butt. If you get all your stuff together, wiring manuals, plan out where you're going to connect everything, it will still take a whole Saturday to do it, if you do a neat job.