Greetings all,
If everything goes as planned, I will be joining your ranks as a Honda S2000 owner on Saturday! I've been a Honda freak forever.. (I'm currently coming from a '97 Integra Type-R).. I'm a huge F1 fan as well (especialy BAR Honda).. Anyways, once my car is purchased, she will need to have an alarm installed - by the best installers possible.

First things first.. I hear that the best alarms for convertibles are the Clifford Concept 600 and the Clifford IG8000.. Question is, what exactly is the difference? Everyone I know says they are pretty much the same... but the IG8000 costs more.. Anybody have any further details??? What do you guys have installed?

And Secondly.. I'm an anal person.. I don't deny it whatsoever.. And I also would like anyone working on my car to be a perfectionist.. That being said, where are the places you guys went to get your alarms installed? Were you satisfied or disappointed? Any problems since installation? Was it a CLEAN installation?

Any recomendations would be much appreciated here.. A name of a shop would be good, but the specific name of the installer would be even better (Joe, Tom, Pete, etc..)

That's all for now.. Thanks in advance!!

Jason

 

welcome!

I have the Clifford IG8000, got it installed from Custom Sounds on Burnett - I'm a VERY UNHAPPY CAMPER. I didn't like the two full days of work they spent on the car after telling me it was only going to be a half day, I did not care for the scratches around my shift boot, I did not care for the position of the red light - I prefer it be installed the same place as Chris S's alarm which is opposite the cruise control button, I did not care for the scratches on the underside of the dash, I did not care for the brain to be installed under the driver's seat after I specifically told them not to, but yet they say that was my fault because I didn't tell them, I did not care for both batteries in both remotes going dead within 4 days of installation, I did not care for the alarm's twitchyness - I can usually demonstrate this by grabbing a magazine from my passenger side seat without the alarm going off - the alarm had been set for some time so it was fully armed.

I also bought a set of Focal separates from them, which I will soon need to be replaced because they are duds - notta - nothing - notta workie at all, 300 bucks down the drain there if they don't replace them, and they haven't been too kind to help out on that department yet.

Well, good luck on finding a good installer. I would probably recommend Audio Dimensions on 183, I have seen their shop and talked with their installers before. They charge and extra 80 bucks over Custom Sounds but it could be worth it.

If you come out to the Friday Happy Hour this week, you can see the differences in the alarms - at least visually. Not sure of specifics. I asked for one and was given another and knew nothing about it, nor about the different model until after the car was finished.

 

I could refer you to a guy if you wanted to drive up here to Ft. Worth. He installed my amps, and did an EXCELLENT job. But I don't know about anyone down there in Austin.

Blake

 

Neither! Absolutely no one pays attention to a horn honking in the parking lot, it already comes with an immobolizer in the key, and finally, there is no way to secure a convertable. Easy access at all times with a pocket knife. Just my 2p. Instead, spend the money on the next performance driving event and learn more about your car.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Tex_S2K
[B]Neither! Absolutely no one pays attention to a horn honking in the parking lot,

 

Unlike Schatten, I've have nothing but great experience w/ Custom Sounds. I was referred by a friend who's a loyal customer (he's spent tens of thousands of dollars there, and trusted them w/ his $150K Porsche Strosek Speedster), and so far they haven't given me a reason to shop elsewhere. Here's what they've done for me:

- alarm and stereo in previous Supra TT
- alarm, stereo, and tint in S2000
- tint in Tundra

All work has been top-notch, and it's nice not having to show receipts or worry about whether something is in warranty when it goes bad...they just take care of it w/ no hassle. If you choose to go there, ask for Sam, and tell him I sent you.

 

All,
Thanks for the detailed responses. Tex_S2K's reply struck me as the most interesting. I know that the 2002's have the immobilizer so that the engine won't start unless the key is near. Did the 2000's and 2001's have this feature as well?

Also, is this immobilizer feature just as difficult to defeat as a high-end alarm's engine kill features???

As far as Joe_S2K's comment about the pager.. I had a pager for my old alarm (Alpine SEC-8081).. While it definitely serves a purpose, there's only so much you can do if you're not near your car when your pager goes off (like at the movies or in a shopping mall)..

Chris,
So which alarm would you recommend? Also, what do you think caused all of Schatten's problems? Your two descriptions are night and day..

Tex,
Again, your thoughts are interesting.. Do you have an alarm yourself? I guess I'm really not concerned with things getting stolen FROM my car.. My main focus is not getting the car stolen itself.. I know an alarm would provide the door and trunk sensors as well as the radar/motion sensors.. But the bottom line is, would the alarm's engine kill features add to the already included immobilizer system, or is it the exact same redundant feature???

Thanks!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by MACH 5
[B]All,
Thanks for the detailed responses.

 

oh, if you are just trying to prevent the entire car being stolen, dont worry about an alarm.

personally, I'd have my seats and lots of personal items stolen before, so I'm paranoid about it now and have to put up with an alarm.

yes, our experiences are night and day with Custom Sounds. I was working with "Clive" (shaved head fellow) at Custom Sounds. First impressions were always good, but upon delivery everything had changed my perception. Even when inspecting the car and pointing the items out the responses were ones that would not make me go back again or refer anyone to them again. Its just my experience and I'm sure they've done many great installs beforehand, but I will not be going back for any installations or services.

 

I had some stereo work done on my WRX and it was done at Xtreme Sounds on N. Lamar. Ask for David (the manager) and tell him Steve from I-Club sent ya, he'll make sure it's done right.

Billy was the installer on my car.

- Steve