Conference terri::cars_uk

    Don't get one that has a connector plug on the back (of the siren) such
    that all that has to be done to turn off the siren is pull the plug
    (and hence all the wires out of the alarm). MOSS 715s & 705s(?)are like
    this. If a theif wants a car with a MS715 on it it is easy.
    All you have to do is break into the car, open the bonnet, pull the
    wires out of the back of the alarm and join the two grey ones together
    with a little pice of wire !! Then you are free to commence hot wiring
    - don't know how to do that though :-)
    
    Gary. (I've got a Sonar on mine and I recommend them)
        

    Gary - get back into DECITS where you belong ;-}
    
    I've just discovered that DEC employees can get alarms fitted using the
    same people that do the Fleet cars - and at the same discount. I
    believe this discount is quite significant. (So the chap at VSL told
    me). They're sending me some info on Monday.
    
    Has anyone else had a non-fleet car fitted with an alarm this way. I
    bet there's a catch. They come and fit the alarm in the car park.
    
    Dougie
    

    Oi Dougie, what are you doing reading DECITS !!??
    
    Are you an IT ?
    
    Gary.
    
    PS. Don't take anything you might read in there seriously ! :-)

Re: .2

Can you post that info here when you get it, especially what the discount is
and if possible the end price.

(No point in having a discount if the starting price is much higher than 
normal !)

    Re: .4
    
    Still now news from VSL, the company concerned. Their telephone is;
    	0582 423269 
    and the man to ask for (whom I've never go) is Bob Freeman.
    
    I phoned them for the Third time today, and was promised, again, that
    am information pack would be sent to me right away.
    
    If nothing arrives this time, then they don't sound up to much anyway.
    
    Dougie
    

    I've received an information pack from VSL. The complimentary slip
    states that; 
    	'As a Digital Employee, prices will be as Fleet Price'.
    They supply DTI approved alarms. I'm not sure of the system makes,
    since they seem to be broken down by Type. The names WASO and SERPI
    STAR are mentioned in one of the brochures. It looks a very interesting
    information pack, although I've just skimmed through it.
    
    Here are some figures. Can anyone say whether this is good? All prices
    exclude VAT. Fleet prices include 2 year warranty package.
    
    SYSTEM TYPE		FEATURES    		FLEET(�)	 TRADE(�)
    	R1		Remote Control Alarm      220		   243
    			Light Flash
    			Engine Immobiliser
    			Central Locking I/F
    			Sep. 120db siren
    			underdash main ctrl unit
    			ultrasonics
    			key overide
    
        R2		As R1 without Central     190		   203
    			Locking Interface	
    
    
    	965		Budget Remote control	  142		   153
    			audible response only
    			LED warning/116db siren
    			door bonnet protection
    
        969 		As 965 with		  158		   168 
    			engine immobiliser
    
    
    There are a few more alarms. I'm interested in the 969 model. VSL are
    on 0582 423 269
    
    Are these good prices?
    
    Dougie
    

    re -1
    
    Do these prices include installation??  (I hope so at the price)

    Yes, the company come to the Car Park and install it while you work.
    They are exclusive of VAT. 
    
    So, are they overpriced? I don't know much about alarm prices.
    
    Dougie
    
    P.S.
    I wouldn't mind paying a bit extra to get one which doesn't make Poncy
    WoopWoopLookatMeI'veJust Activated my Alarm noises.
    
    And doesn't give false alarms.
    

    I must be hallucinating! My batch Notes reader picked up a note which
    doesn't seem to exist! wierd.
    
    Dougie
    
    Non-Fleet Car owner :-[]
    
    

    Now, here's food for thought.....
    
    
    Last night, I came back to my car to find it missing a window, and my
    breifcase and sundry other bits of kit, (including  AAAAGH, my Time
    Manager !!!!), in the centre of sunny Reading.
    
    The kindly lady constable, doing her best to supress the "well, waht do
    you expect if you park in Reading" expression, asked why, as it was a
    fleet car, the company don't simply fit alrams to all of the cars by
    default....
    "{mumble} percent of car-busts are just kids who don't really know waht
    to do with the stuff anyway.   Any hint of an alarm and they're off
    over the horizon."
    
    It's now going to cost DEC a good deal more than the price of an alarm
    for me to spend time reassembling all the information that was in my
    case (see, I *do* take work home with me, if my boss should happen to
    read this !!!...;-).   Add to that, the fact that I'm out the rpice of
    a new case and a new Time Mgr....(and we'll set aside the argument
    about DEC's niggardly personal-belongings insurance, for the
    moment....)
    
    Seems a pretty convincing argument, to me.
    
    
    Ian
    
    PS, If I was due to come and see you any time this year, let me know,
    I've lost my diary !
    
    PPS If anyone offers you a cheap Time Manger in a pub, let me know,
    I've got a pointed stick I'd like to interest them in......;-)
    

    
    Where did you leave your briefcase?
    
    If it was on the seats what do you expect?
    
    There are constant warnings about leaving valuables on display. It's
    no excuse for breaking into a car but dangling a carrot in front of a
    donkey will cause it move forwards.
    
    Chris
    

Re: .10

Anyone who parks a car in Reading with anything like a case visible inside
unfortunately is asking for trouble.

One should *always* follow police advice and lock away everything out of
signt.

jb

Err, excuse me, let's clear up this little misapprehension right away.....

I did NOT leave anything in sight, every detachable item in the car was 
either locked in the boot or shut away in the glove-pocket, with the door shut.
There was not a single "loose" item visible.  This is my normal policy, on
leaving the car anywhere.


Of course, Peugeot being smart, they design their cars such that, once you've
punched the window in and opened the door, the wonderful central-locking
widgetry unlocks the boot, too !!!!

Anybody know how easy it would be to disconnect that bit ?

Ian

    
    Thieves usually break the rear quater window for a number of reasons
    the most 'important' being that you can open the rear doors by putting
    you arm through the hole. The rear doors rarely turn on the courtesy
    light and this alone renders most alarms ineffective. In addition the
    seats hide the beam of ultrasonic type alarms making the rear seats an
    easy target. The vibrations from this type of break in will only set
    off the most sensitive of alarms.
    
    A simple solution is to trip the child locks whether you have children
    or not.
    
    Re. 10
    
    In reply eleven I only quesioned where the articles where left.
    
    Re .13
    
    Pull the plug out of the solenoid which works the boot lock.
    
    Chris
    

    
    re -1
      ....or get a Cavalier.....
    
    a: the rear�doors and boot/hatch operate the courtesy light.
    b: standard dead locks on all doors (won't easily open with the key,
       let alone anything else.
    c: fill car with valubles, park in Reading car park, leave vehicle,
       stay casual but within visable distance and when the next thievin'
       little tike puts a brick through the window introduce "it" to.....
    
           MR. BASEBALL-BAT
    
       Then leave rapidly, but without any fuss.....
    
       Alan...
      

    re .14
    
    if you have the child locks on.. then with your arm through the
    quarterlight you flip the lock from the inside and use the handle on
    the outside...   simple..
    
    Huw.

    
    Re .16
    
    Child locks on some (if not most) cars are operated from the actual
    catch bit of the door, which is only accessible with the door open.
    
    Mark

    RE.17
     
    I thought that if you flick the little lever, then you can't open the
    door from the inside, but you can from the outside..  hence stopping
    children from falling out onto the road.
    
    Huw. 

    I've bought a car which is going to spend its time parked on the street
    in London and I am considering an alarm.  Reading the notes in this file
    there seems to be a mix of evidence on the benefits of alarms and
    immobilisers.
    
    My motivation in seeking an alarm is not so much to prevent someone
    stealing the car, more to stop someone making a mess of the windows,
    locks and interior when they steal it or investigate whether there is
    anything worth thieving from the car.  On this basis a Krooklok or
    equivalent is of limited value, as is a category 1 Thatcham
    immobiliser, since it won't prevent radio/glovebox investigators from
    causing damage.  The only thing that might deter the opportunist would
    seem to to be an audible indication of the car being disturbed, and the
    only type acceptable to insurance companies is a category 2 Thatcham
    alarm-immobiliser.  (An alarm which tells loiterers to stand clear won't
    do as it will be sounding constantly since children play in our street;
    also these alarms are not BS/Thatcham approved.)  Category 2's start at
    #250 and are mostly in the three hundreds.  Given the car cost #4000 the
    value of such a device is questionable.
    
    I'd appreciate some comments on pros/cons of the above.  Will a noisy
    alarm deter someone from sticking a chisel in a lock or a lump hammer
    through the window?
    
                           ====================
    
    In terms of immobilising the car, if I chose to do it the simplest would
    be for me to wire in a switch where there is no switch today, with this
    cutting the feed to the fuel pump.  This is significantly less than a
    Category 1 alarm and is going to be difficult for a car thief to tumble.
    
    Note: my insurer does not give a discount for having an alarm fitted
    altough they do knock #50 off the excess if it is Thatcham/BS-approved.