Santa is getting me an alarm for christmas:chit:

[Graham]

I have asked Santa (my missus )for an alarm for crimbo and done loads of research on these, i contacted a few alarm specialists and got told to go with the new Toad Ai 606 (they told me to avoid clifford for some strange reason aswell). I looked on e-bay and you can get a new one off there for around the £145, then another £150 to get it fitted with a years guarantee. So i contacted Toad and asked them and they quoted me £335 to come to my house and fit the alarm and give me a lifetime guarantee as it is being fit by themselves. My missus has agreed to this.
Does anyone have any comments on toad alarms, any problems i should look out for, any issues that might affect the car or give me problems, if so please let me know
Graham

[audiman]

My brother has a toad and its very soft and slimey.

No, sorry, he does have a Toad alarm and its been very good, has never false alarmed in the 6 months he has had it. For the money its one hell of an alarm, CL,windows,headlamp output, loads and loads. Only thing i dont like is it has ultrasonic sensors, which means you cant lock it with window open a bit or the sunroof on hot days, just goes off all the time. Where as the Clifford does this fine.

[Greg_S]

My best mate swears by them. Excellent alarms.

He has the Ai 600 which is the one before the 606 and very good. lots of extra sensors so alarms now and then because of vibration sensor.

£335 sounds a bit expensive though,

You can get a toad C5T2 fitted for £250 and the Ai606 for about £300 from a VSIB mobile fitter.

Greg

[NICNAC]

I have a Clifford Concept 300 (Cat1 alarm&Immob) and it alarms every time me or the missus puts the microwave on in the kitchen

But other than than its O.K.

It can be used to Remote Lock the doors as well which is great Y'know

Steve.

[Alistair C]

Toads are top pieces of kit. I'm now on my third and have had not one problem in all this time.

I know Cliffords have been the subject of alot of discussion Re. reliability with both customers & installers.....to see what I mean, read this from a car stereo website last week:

http://www.talkaudio.co.uk/vbb/showt...threadid=54532

Ignore the poll (f*ing boy racers --- yeeah clifford innit?) and read the thread!

I've now got a 606 and love it. Bought it locally & fitted it myself - purely because I couldn't find anywhere I really trused to do do it without taking the car for a ragging & leaving loose wires everwhere.

I'd only buy it in a box if you're either sure you can fit it yourself, or you know someone reputable who will. Its quite rare to find a shop who will fit it if you don't buy it from them.

PS doing it yourself properly is a PITA & no amount of money would make me want to do it for any car other than my own! Therefore £300 - £350 sounds quite good if you ask me!

Plenty of options with the 606 too. Timers, remote outputs, locking, sensor inputs etc.... should do most of what you want!

Just go for the most reputable fitter you can!!!

[Graham]

If Toad fit the alarm it should* be fit properly shouldnt it? . This worries me because if they send some cowboys who butcher my wiring i will hit the roof, i just thought if toad do it then it will be a pukka job. A bloke at work had his done by a cowboy company and it caused a dashboard fire, the company denied all responsibility. If this happened in the S2 i cant see it being a cheap or easy quick fix if it did cause a fire.
All comments (needed)gratefully accepted.
Graham

[AbsS2]

I have a Clifford C600 installed. Never had problems with it except for putting in the code.
But then again the guy who installed it owned a Ice and security business and it was his car, so i'd expect him to do a pukka job on his own car!!!

Altho I still cant get the damned remote start working, wasnt paying attention whe the previous owner showed me. I was just amazed at the knight rider factor .

@graham: If toad themselves fit it, then I would expect it to be a pukka job. But yeah be careful of cowboys, they can really screw it up. And make sure they put everything back together, its tight and no nasty rattles and squeaks appear!

[s2avant]

I've got a TOAD C5T2 fitted. It cost £299 all in and that included removing the heath robinson alarm that was on it before. It was fitted by Allied Autocentre who do loads of alarms etc for our customers cars.

I've had no problems with it apart from the occasional triggering when the 5.7 V8 MkII Granada Estate (It's a beast) that cruises round town rumbles past.

Don't mention dashboard fires in S2's. Nightmare.

Ben

[Alistair C]

An approved Toad installer should be OK - but then again they're likely to sub-contract the work. try & find out who would do it.....

Toad did used to own Sextons & they're usually pretty good. But not so sure who they'd use now. If it is GAP security - run a mile.... they've the had the most consistant complaints I've heard of.

There are a few very professional guys out there. On the scoobynet forum there is a very knowledgeable guy, a couple on that car stereo website - another on the Ford focus owners website - all hiding in the security sections !

Not so sure if any of these are based around your way though Graham

[Glen Chamberlain]

606's are the business! i had one in my polo 16v which started the car from the key fob! (yes i did wire in a switch on the gear linkage!) Its now in my mates UrS4! no probs with it, top alarm!! Cost me £185 and fit it my self! (naturally) Tah was 2 years back now but the only prob i could see if u wanna fit your self is that they arnt supposed to be sold over the counter with them being CAT 1! Can be done though but not supposed too!

[Doug_RS2]

I have a couple of Cliffords in my car and they are a pain to setup unless you have a laptop which you can connect to set everything up - I need to set up the proximity detectors more sensitive to stop teh wee ******* nicking valve caps.

I think you should edit which model numbers you all have.

Pic courtesy of previous owner - Phil - Insurance company didn't like the electric shocks it gave either







.

[S2central.net]

The only way I would *ever* contemplate allowing one of those 'certified installers' to work on my car is if I stood over them for the complete job and I had the wiring schematics to hand. I have seen so many bodged alarms in an S2 that it makes my blood boil - all supposedly installed by insurance approved agents. What a joke/farce/rip-off...

Be VERY cautious about this stuff !


Paul

[Graham]

Hmmm I have no electrical installation diagrams for the S2, now you have got me worried:confused: . I realy hope they send someone usefull and proffesional, i will give them a ring tomorrow and get the details of who will be installing the alarm and forwarn them if they screw anything up i'll hit the roof and demand all bodge ups to be repaired.
cheers for the info
Graham

[audiman]

I had GAP security fit my clifford, its one of the worst jobs i have ever seen. the bloke didnt know what he was doing. kept askingme questions about how the CL worked!! It took him three attempts to get it right. Same fitter ****ed up my mates supra twin turbo. wired the intelistart for a manual and not an auto!! ****** tw@!

[Graham]

Was the company held responsible for any damage caused when he bodged the electrics?
Graham