I am going to begin research on this topic soon. It has been on my list since I got this car in February, but I just haven't had the time or the money to tackle it. Recent events have worried me, though, and so I figured I'd better get cracking.

What I would like are suggestions on where to look (comparisons of brands and/or models), and what those of you who know about car security would prefer.

I have not decided on a price range just yet. First I would like to get some information on different systems so that I can decided what features are the most important to me.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Just as a note... I know people who have had their alarms stolen.

Being that the car is right outside, as long as it made some noise before it gets cut off, that would be enough. I'm a light sleeper, and it wouldn't take long for my eyes to clear enough to grab a phone and a bat.

Edit: I think that wiring a few thousand volts through the door handles would be fine... but that is rather illegal. Doesn't mean I didn't consider it, though.

I've got a friend who was an installer for many years, including MECP certification and shop management. He has only one brand to recommend: DEI (Directed Electronics). The Clifford alarms seemed to be the top. Of course everyone has an opinion, but that was his, and I trust him on it.

We put one into my car over a long weekend, using the Clifford alarm (a DEI brand) and several other DEI parts, everything plugged right together and worked ont he first try. I've had it about a year now and it's been perfect. It's bewildering how many things can be set on it, and how much room it has to grow down the road to add other features. Specifically it was the 8000 model.

So - there's one recommendation. You tend to get what you pay for, as usual. Fortunately the difference between a cruddy and great alarm is like $100 vs. $400 bucks, so nothing major really. The installation is where it's at...

That is a major concern. Whether or not I can find someone with certification who will install the specific model I choose. If not, then I'll be doing quite a bit of learning in the hopes that I can perform the surgery myself (with some help from friends, of course).

Being that the car is right outside, as long as it made some noise before it gets cut off

I ordered my car with the OE (Alpine) subaru alarm system. If you have a basic alarm system, one addition you can make is an inexpensive pager. I added a $50 pager from JC Whitney, and, yes, it did wake me up the one time a bunch of local genii tried to remove my hood scoop. To install it, I just had to figure out which wire activated the alarm horn and I tapped into that.

If you don't have any alarm, then many of the alarms you could consider (such as Clifford) are now owned by DEI (www.directed.com). They have lots of options like pagers.

Nah. You want this system to deter people

- Trevor

Too bad I don't live in South Africa. I'd be on my way to have that installed right now.

I had a Clifford 8000i when it was just Clifford, not DEI ... It was a damned fine alarm. Pretty smart too. The "radar" on it was quirky, but that's the nature of those things. It tended to be a little flakey, and it always disturbed any radar detectors I had in the car.

But everything else about it, brain, logic, every other sensor was top notch. It wasn't cheap even back then. Installed mine was about $800, but worth every penny. The only other one I would have considered was an Alpine 8080 I think ... very smart technology, with two way pager and cell phone smartness for notifying you of a break-in. Don't know what's available these days ... I'm extremely happy with my factory Audi alarm, which does more than I need it to quite well. (The radar on it is much better too, IMHO)

Greg