My tC is almost here! ive been waiting for over two weeks and its supposed to arrive in port next week.

My dad wants to add the car alarm option, but for $500 it seems quite steep. there are so many sites and car alarms out there so i thought i would ask you guys. What would be the best thing to do. Look for an aftermarket alarm system for around the same price or just stick with the scion alarm system. And also what alarms would be best since i have no idea where to start

 

I got the alarm option... i'm really dissapointed. The horn just beeps if someone opens the door... its supposed to have a window tamper sensor thingy but i haven't been able to get that to go off at all (i don't want to bang TOO hard). I'm no expert on car alarms but if i had it to do over again, i'd most def get one in the same price range from best buy or something.

 

i think the scion security is nothing but the most simple and worthless security system u can buy. the car dealers are probably laughing to the bank if u get it from them.im getting the clifford matrix rs 3.5 myself, it goes for $550 installed where i live. it has auto start and a remote to tell you whats going on with your car within 1.5 miles. if you are intrested, visit www.clifford.com and go to dealer locator to call the dealer closest to u for the price.

 

See, i wish i had discovered this site before i bought my car... i would have saved a bunch of money and lots of heartache... I kinda bought on impulse (: lol anyways, yeah. Stock alarm = crap.

 

Did anybody here at all adjust the sensitivity??

Adjust it, then tap your windows, I bet you wont be saying it's crap then.

 

I read the alarm manual... i initualized passive arming but i don't remember anything about adjusting the sensitivity. all i remember it saying is that if you can't get it to go off by tapping on the glass with a key, take it back to the dealership to and complain.

 

I cant exactly tell you what to do, but it's said at certian places.

check yoursciontc.com

 

jusy buy one ... i got mine for 150 instalation was free cuz i knew the guy .... i have glass sensitvity and a remote starter. Its a 2 way alarm that when someone breaks in or the alarm goes off the alarm notes to my remote and beeps and warns me.

 

Its outlined in the scion security manual you got with your car, not the actual car owners manual. It's a fairly detailed procedure.

 

The installation is detailed but setting the senitivity is relatively easy to do. Getting the glove box off for the *first time* can be scary to some. After that you can get the glovebox out in about 15 seconds. Go to this LINK to see photos of the glovebox removal.
Then check out these photos to see how to adjust the sensitivity:
Link1
Link2
Link3
Alarm comes preset to "6" and fails to go off when you tap (firmly but not too hard) on the drivers side window with a key. Adjust the sensitivity to 8 or 9 and it will go off when you tap the window.

 

thanx for the pic walkthru, I got the scion security also and was getting worried reading all these negative posts. I WILL adjust the sensitivity and thanks for bringing it up.

On another note is there any way to get one of the remotes that alert you when your alarm is going off? (I mean modified so if the scion security goes off, it alerts the pager/keyring/whatever) just curious.

 

thats the exact unit i'm going to be getting. $180 on ebay. get a local shop to install for you. with the extra cash you save, drop it into modules that roll up your windows and close your sunroof for you. after all that you will still have some extra cash to buy crack with!

 

^^^^^^^^^^^

thats the way im going. The hard part is finding a place to install a remote start in a manual

 

don't go to any chain stores. go to a owner/operator place. they want the $, so it's highly doubtful they will say no. he might say "you know thats illegal." just say "ya, i wanna get it done though." if worse comes to worse, go to a chain store and talk to an installer there, see if he does "work on the side".

 

4 Words: Viper with Remote Start.

 

Viper 550ESP, $250 installed. Very satisfied.

 

None that I'm aware of (yet), but I did just add a shock sensor to the factory alarm. Bought a $15 Airwolf shock sensor at the local speed shop and wired it into the rear hatch dome switch wire at the alarm ECU. It works fine but will need to live with it for a while to find best sensitivity that wont false trigger.

 

There is another advantage to the Scion Security stock alarm optionn. Should something actually happen (car gets stolen, etc) Scion will pay the $500 deductible your insurance company would otherwise charge you. That itself I think pays for the alarm option.

 

viper and clifford = the same thing. they are both made by dei. they have the clifford 3.5 and the viper 791 on ebay for $180 each.

 

So does the top of the line viper and clifford alarms (up to $2500 deductible).