i bought the scion security for my Xb when i bought it a few weeks ago, little to say it was a slight bit dissapointed, the alarm will not go off with anything shy of me leaving my windows open and someone reaching in to unlock it and open it.

i tried the tapping on the glass like the manual said, that did shiza, and whats up with the whole microphone "tuned to the sound of breaking glass" kinda ghetto

i paid like $469 bucks for a honking horn? seems like all they did was stick a piggy back on top of the power door mechanism so that it honks when opened, i could have got some cheap 29 dollar alarm at kragens or the flea market and at least those would have beeped when i arm them.

does anyone know if its possible to somehow make the alarm beep whenever i lock or unlock it, its kinda annoying having to turn around, stare at the car and wait for the lights to flash because they were to cheap to install a relay to make a beep.

dont get my wrong, i love my box, but i definatly feel jipped for my $469 dollar useless alarm, i wish i saved the 500 bucks and spend like 200 on a nice alarm with remote start, those pager remote dealies and some other fancy gizmo where i would feel like i got my moneys worth :flame:

I thought the keychains that came with the alarm package were cool looking, but I felt a little weery about getting the Scion alarm package, so I went with something I know that works, a Viper alarm. $230 and installed for $9 at Best Buy.

thats the thing, you dont get those colored keychains, i dont know why its advertised in the pictures, i got my car back and was like" wheres those colores keychains in the pic" turns out its another 53 bucks for those, and not only that according to posts here they dont even work on the Xb

Its a waste for sure. And you dont get the colored fobs. Hell they dont even fit the xb clickers.
Stick with a Viper or Clifford (both DEI products) and you wont go wrong. Sorry for you to have wasted your money.

Just a bit of info...when I bought my tC, I didn't pick any options, other than side airbag. For the price they are asking, I can get the exact same thing from a Toyota Dealership on eBay for half the price. I actually bought the wheel locks, mats, and cargo nets all from ebay...got them all for half the price, no taxes, combined shipping. What a deal! As for alarm, I have had clifford from Magnolia Hi-Fi with lifetime warranty, no problems what so ever.

500$ can get you a alarm system that give you power roll down and up windows, and remote start. but oh well your money.

I paid $130 shipped for my alarm with Power Window Modules to roll the windows up and down, remote start, and LCD Pager remotes. I'm waiting until summer to hook up the window modules, but the rest of it took me a weekend to install. It could have been done in 1 day, but I kept running out of connectors and supplies(I wasn't really prepared) and I only worked about 2-3 hours a day. I love the alarm, it's loud and it's cool to have it notify you if someone is messing with your car and what they're messing with.

-Z

i tried the tapping on the glass like the manual said, that did shiza, and whats up with the whole microphone "tuned to the sound of breaking glass" kinda ghetto

You can adjust how sensitive it is. If you drop your glove box out you'll see two little ecu boxes on the left hand side. One of those is the GBS ECU and it has a setting pot on it. It should be set at #6 from the factory. You can increase the knob to a higher number which should help out your problem.

Caveat Emptor.

I am glad to see that all you guys got good deals on your alarms, and the topic's author knows that the deals are out there, and does feel cheated, like myself. But, does anyone have the answer he's looking for? I would like my horn to honk as well.

i tried the tapping on the glass like the manual said, that did shiza, and whats up with the whole microphone "tuned to the sound of breaking glass" kinda ghetto

You can adjust how sensitive it is. If you drop your glove box out you'll see two little ecu boxes on the left hand side. One of those is the GBS ECU and it has a setting pot on it. It should be set at #6 from the factory. You can increase the knob to a higher number which should help out your problem.

do you think you could do a "how to" walk through with pics? I don't know how to remove the glovebox.

i tried the tapping on the glass like the manual said, that did shiza, and whats up with the whole microphone "tuned to the sound of breaking glass" kinda ghetto

You can adjust how sensitive it is. If you drop your glove box out you'll see two little ecu boxes on the left hand side. One of those is the GBS ECU and it has a setting pot on it. It should be set at #6 from the factory. You can increase the knob to a higher number which should help out your problem.

do you think you could do a "how to" walk through with pics? I don't know how to remove the glovebox.
If you look in your manual it will show you. You have to remove it to get to your a/c filters. You just open it and then push in on the two sides in the rear.

IF you need pictures, look in the tech section for how to change air filter... and the scion security ECU is on the bottom left ... you can access it by taking out one screw. I just set mine tonight- mine was set below 6. I set it to the max and sadly to say its still not that sensitive. At least it goes off when you tap the window with metalic items(but only metallic items) Thanks for your help ckd!!!

IF you need pictures, look in the tech section for how to change air filter... and the scion security ECU is on the bottom left ... you can access it by taking out one screw. I just set mine tonight- mine was set below 6. I set it to the max and sadly to say its still not that sensitive. At least it goes off when you tap the window with metalic items(but only metallic items) Thanks for your help ckd!!!

Glad to be able to help. Why Toyota doesn't list this in the manual :crazy:

IF I kick my tires the alarm beeps.

yeah the alarm blows, im going to try to check out that setting on the security ECU when i get the chance, the only reason i got the all the additions from the dealer is because i wanted everything in one package and one payment, but for some reason they said no financing company will finance a new car with additions such as any of the TRD parts, so why do they even friggin offer them??? if they would have financed it i would have had the springs, struts, CAI and muffler, but now i have to pay for them one by one when i can afford it.

yeah the alarm blows, im going to try to check out that setting on the security ECU when i get the chance, the only reason i got the all the additions from the dealer is because i wanted everything in one package and one payment, but for some reason they said no financing company will finance a new car with additions such as any of the TRD parts, so why do they even friggin offer them??? if they would have financed it i would have had the springs, struts, CAI and muffler, but now i have to pay for them one by one when i can afford it.
I don't believe that. When I went through the credit union for work all they wanted was the total. Done deal here's your check.

i have a basic rule when buying cars. Never buy anything through the dealer that you can get aftermarket without voiding a warranty.

My alarm was the first aftermarket piece I purchased.

What would cause the factory alarm to go off all by itself? Our xb sits in a locked
garage and it has gone off 3 different times now just sitting there.

I think scions price on the factory alarm is crazy. I would never pay that much money. And it does not even come close to a clifford or a viper... mm.. eahh.. :yawn:

To be honest, I don't understand alarms. They've turned into "The Boy Cried Wolf". The noise they make is more of an annoyance to society than an effective preventive.

We've all had the experience of walking by a car and the alarm tripping for no reason. Or worse, getting woken up in the middle of the night by the neighbors faulty alarm.

If I were to get anything, it would be the Ravelco system, a site sponsor. It seems like a simple setup and from looking at their PR, an unbeaten system.

That being said, it seems to be very pricey for a cutoff switch. $400 + tax. I look at my deductible ($500) and it does not seem to make sense to spend $ on a system.

Maybe I'm looking at this incorrectly? I talked to a Ravelco sales guy yesterday and he didn't disuade me from that argument.

Hi Willyum4u,

At NoHotWire.com, we try not to put the 'hard sell' on people. We don't like trying to talk people into buying if they are not convinced they want the device.

Some poeple look at insurance (and their deductible) as their safety net. If you look at it that way, then it's kind of a done deal. But the reality that the deductible is just the first cost. The next is the time and hassle you have to go through post theft. Dealing with the insurance, taking time off work, rental car, belongings in the car, etc.

All that adds up to potentially thousands of dollars.

Then their's the issue of the car turning up again. Once your car is stolen, the police register it with the DMV, and the DMV provides the VIN to companies such as CarFax. When you go to trade in or sell your previously stolen car, the buyer would find that it was stolen and the value of your car drops.

Think of it this way: if you were looking at buying a used car and found two suitable cars that were the same model, color, options, condition, mileage, etc., but one was a recovered theft, would you pay the same price for the car that was stolen, or would you use that to negotiate a better deal? Most poeple wouldn't pay the same for the stolen car, and certainly any dealer that car was traded into wouldn't pay the same amount.

Unfortunately most of our customers call us after they've experience a theft. We're hoping that more customers will call us BEFORE they experience a theft attempt, and we keep them from losing their car.

Take care.

That being said, $400+ for two hours work and non-electrical or mechanical parts - as far as I can tell, it's the caps, a short piece of pipe, and mostly labor - it seems like a lot of $$$. And since it is mostly labor, why charge sales tax on the whole shebang?

We got that alarm too on mine, I switch over to the two way pager alarm tho. Scion Security sucks! They shouldn't even be selling it!! JMO! Theres NO way its worth what they charge!! My two way was only like 2 hundred something installed!

:no:

Willyum4u,

$400 and you don't have to worry about your car being stolen. It really isn't a bad deal.

The Ravelco is a more than a couple wires, a tube and two hours of installation. We've spent years developing the pins so that they don't corrode or get weak and loose over time. You could buy other products that wear out over time, or leave you stranded. The Ravelco won't. The female pins are a memory alloy that always go back to their original shape. The male pins are brass. They're both nickel plated to prevent corrosion. It's actually is pretty costly comparitively speaking.

The combination of the product and proper installation has not been defeated to date.

Plus there's a cost of running, growing, promoting, and advertising a business. It's not just a matter of paying the guy that shows up. Sponsoring ScionLife can't happen for free! ;-)

Take care.

Oh, on the sales tax, the Board of Equalization makes us charge tax on the whole thing. We sell it as a complete solution and have to charge tax on the entire amount. We tried to figure a way around it, but there really isn't.

If I were to get a system, it would by Ravelco. No unneccesary noise, no hassle, no theft.