I bought my alarm for my car a Meta M99 to go with my Meta M36 T2 imobiliser, to up it to a CAT 1 Alarm/imobiliser. The imobiliser was already on the car when I bought it, so that is why I went for that alarm.

Any way, I had it put in, great, there are a few features that I would like to have on it, like a panic button to set the alarm off when people are near it. Kids mostly. But there isnt one.

Anyway. I get my car with the alarm fitted, but straight away I notice that there is very little room near my pedals. The air vent that keeps your feet warm had dropped and I had to use my toes to drive. This was also the same on the passenger side. It has dropped slightly so you kept catching it when you get in and out. I notice a black wire that went from the drivers foot well round the back and into the passenger one. This wire was dangling dangerously in the way of the pedals and annoying for passengers.

Also my car is supposed to arm its self if not used for 5 mins, and all that milarky. It didnt.

I take it back, the wire is moved, the heat vents are put back and the auto arm is fixed. I get home. It doesnt arm its self. Ahh I'll leave it.

A few months later my car lock it broken, but the alarm didnt go off. People are suprised at this and so was I.

Today, I went to my car to get something out of the boot. I opened the boot, rumaged around got what I wanted and closed the boot.

I tried opening the door. It was locked. Why? Cos the alarm was still on.

I tested it again, and this time I opened the boot and then took the bind off the boot in case that was blocking me from the inside sensors. The alarm didnt go off.

!WTF!

This is supposed to be a CAT 1 alarm/imobiliser. There is a boot sensor on it. They put a huge WHITE door sensor on the boot on the BLACK vinal but put a BLACK one on the bonnet. I said it once and I shall say it again.

!WTF!

I could have easly opened my boot un screwed my CD changer and closed the boot and the alarm wouldnt go off.

I am gonna take it back and if its not sorted after that, Im gonna ask for my money back and Im down Bobs for a Toad.

Like he said, any alarm can be good, its how well its fitted. Well I dont think that sensors that dont work over 4 feet, exposed wires and boot/door sensors that dont work can be classed as "well fitted"

Sorry I just had to tell you. We put our trust in these peoples competence only to find that they competent to do a job which we are paying them a good amount of money for. And these people are the Wigan dealer for Meta Alarms.

 

Stuart

Stu, If they have put the switch on the black plastic it won`t work as the switch needs to go to ground to kick the alarm in. They shouldn`t have needed to fit a switch anyway as there is one already there for the boot light.

It`s a common thing they miss out on when fitting an alarm to the Z as the door switches are independant of each other, most fitters go to one door switch and expect it to pick up both doors, it wont. There is an easy way, at the back of the dash in a black plug which is on the left hand side as you look at it from the drivers seat is a red and white wire. This is common to both doors and the boot and will trigger the alarm.

Where abouts are you, i can check it out if you want.

 

Bob

Hi Bob, Im not too far away. Im only in Wigan.

If you want to pop over sometime i`ll go through it all, I don`t deal with Meta but can make sure it`s wired up properly.

 

Bob

CheerZ Bob. It will prob be in a few weeks. Very busy at the moment.

Thanks for the offer.

Should see you soon

 

Stuart

Stu,

 

That sucks man. Glad you spotted it mate, sooner rather then later.

 

Now that Bob is on the case, I am sure you will be in safe hands.

 

Take care.

Hi Stuart, well what a bummer, shame that the car alarm industry still has it`s cowboys.

I have been involved with alarms well before even Moss alarms spewed there s??t 3 wire systems on to the market in the early eighties.

I now only work on building alarms and cctv as the market was full of crap equipment and cowboy fitters.Once the insurance companies got it together with the alarm system makers and having cat 1 and 2 systems with authorised dealers etc the industry should of cleaned up but alas not.There are sooo many good systems out there and good fitters who are let down by the system allowing cowboys to still operate.Even though I am no longer in the same line for my core business I still see the products of these so called cowboy fitters,the cheap and cheerful gang.You know the one`s that advertise cat 2 imobiliser fitted £80! well given that the unit cost could be from £25 to £40 and the fitter is a paye employee what`s the margin for the company ?? unless short cuts are made! A typical example is a company I did work for asked me to look at one of their diesel escort vans that would not start and they thought it may be electrical.Yep it was the imobiliser fitted the previous day, took me less then 1 minute to suss the cables and 1 minute to by pass!! having checked the other vans all had been wired the same way direct to the fuse board under the dash,less than 6" from the imobilser unit and jack plug, no attempts made to disguise the cables or runs? they had 8 vans fitted with these imobilser at a cost of £640, unit cost I checked was £40 + vat it is easy to work out that the margin was so low that they had to cut corners so as to make any profit.

 

Alarm units are varied and often all good makes are insurance approved (worth checking before fitting)unless a cat 1 certificate is required for insurance why pay for a system that you will only use half of the functions One good unit that springs to mind is the Maystar S245 yes I can hear all the Clifford dealers laughing,but guy`s this unit is anti-scan, anti grab,built in immobiser and central locking interface,has two channel switchable outputs (from the fob) warn awy led muti-point earthing, volt drop sensor,and quick connect ports for add on as required like micro wave sensors, window lift interfaces and battery backed up siren.Add to this the insurance approval it carries, no requirement to be fitted by a dealer and comes with very clear

instructions, price?? well there is the rub £42+Vat!!! (wholesale) Bet not to many cowboy alarm dealer will not tell you that guys.Be aware!

(No disrespect to Bob or any other quality fitters)

 

Jeff TT

 

 

If that unit works off voltage drop, has battery back-up as an option then it can`t be Thatcham Approved. Can`t see many insurance company`s accepting it either unless it has been Pro.Fitted.

 

Bob

Bob has a good point (Hi Bob btw!).

 

All the insurers I have gone through have demanded that I send them a photocopy of a professional installers certificate (with alarm/immobiliser model number on it) before they accept it.

 

Andy

Sorry guys I did not mean it was Thatcham approved but is on the list of acceptable systems with insurance companies, and they do accept non proffessional fit if they are not looking for Thatcham approval.

One thing though having had a series of well tasty cars Cosworths 2 x z TTs etc I have NEVER been asked to fit a Thatcham approved alarm, at most a Cat 2 immobilser has helped get a little discount.In fact I fitted a Concept50 Clifford to my Cossy 6 years ago with voice warn away (2 zone prox) 10 number keypad imob. 3 x sirens de locked the doors and had anti smash film on the windows 2nd jack style immobilser bonnet/ boot chains

At home I fitted a driveway post and a concreted in a chassis chain.

When insuring the car at a time when Cossy insurance was mental the £30 Autojack immob was the only requirement that gave any discount.My son later had a £300 Nova (shame)

and when inquiring on insurance was told a concept 50 would attract a £50 discount well there`s an investment eh?

I am sure from talking to some of you guys some ins.co are having us on.Ringing around is boring but can save not just on premiuns but on the security specs demanded.

I think it is everybodys responsibility to secure their car and stop thiefing scum from hiking everone else`s premium but some degree of sense is needed.

Jeff TT

Respect to Bob and his business this is an observated opinion only.

 

 

 

Jeff - on every car I've owned so far (Renault 19 16v, Renault 5 GTTurbo, and the Z - only three coz all the others were company cars) I've been required to fit at least a Cat2 Immob, by every ins. company I've called..

 

But.. I think that has to do with my age, and the area I live in - Slough Central post code (i.e. baaaad), and under 25..

 

If I was older (like me dad.. ) I wouldn't have to fit any kind of extra security devices...

 

What the hell does age have to do with theft vulnerability I wonder? beats me...

I think with insurance companys the type of car is probably only a small part of their considerations.

Where you live and your age also play a big part, i think the age thing is how they look at your lifestyle, they probably think a 21 year old will be leaving the car parked up in city centres while he`s out for a drink or going to the cinema leaving it vunerable to damage whereas a boring 40 year old will have the same car parked in the garage while he watches Coronation Street with the Mrs and kids!

Thats why i spend all week fitting immobilisers to Corsa`s and Nova`s!

 

Just my opinion

 

Bob

You know I never thought of it like that Bob!

 

You're right.. hmm.. does this mean I could get an "old before my time" reduction coz I never ever go out anywhere!?

 

(makes mental note he *really* needs to call Bob) I'm such a procrastinator!

Sorry to hear about this Stu mate. IMHO it's the same old same old! Too many muppets out there who are more qualified to take your hard earned off you than supply you with value for money.

 

Pisses me off! Yet to meet someone who can install an alarm and do it properly. If I had a pound for every person I know that has had an alarm fitted and then had false alarms or other pain in the arse problems afterwards I'd be giving up work!

 

 

Yeah. I Upgraded my immobiliser because I thought it would bring down my insurance some. But it didnt even change.

Jeff: This alarm wasnt cheap. £225 just for the alarm and they nearly added £50 for a lock motor because they said that central locking didnt work the drivers door when you unlocked the passenger door. I called them a lier to their faces. They asked me in the morning and I checked, and it did.

I got a bit pissed off when I was told that Bob did a CAT 1 Toat for about £225. I wanted a Toad, but I though just buying an alarm would be cheaper than a whole new BETTER system.

Aaron: Yeah insurance are gits. My insurance is higher cos I am a student. They think that I have loads of time off and I will be driving everywhere with loads of people in it. Thus its higher. I was told this by Tesco people.

When I worked, www.totalbet.com, Tote's Internetbetting site. My insurance was even higher, cos they classed me as working in a Bookies, where pissed off punters would have a go at your car for losing money. Thus higher insurance. Also all bookies are in seedy places and high crime rate areas.

The fact is I worked in a huge building with 500 people and no money passes through and its all done by computers. But because I work in betting, I work in a Bookies. Tossers.

 

Tim: Yeah there are muppets around, but when these are official Meta installers and where recomended by Meta when I e-mailed them, you have to think, do they know whats going on?

 

 

Stuart

I bought our Range Rover with a Land Rover alarm and immobiliser which didn't give us too much grief until recently! Immobiliser had to be re-wired around the ignition barrel. Guy said it had been well and truly cowboyed. Yet the car has proud stickers slapped all over the windows for some Car Alarm and Audio wankers in Stockport!!!

 

Not overly bothered about it as it was all installed before I bought the car but last week the Mrs. Turbo had to get the Yellow Erics out and again...the immobiliser had thrown a wobbly which took the poor guy 2.5 hours to source and sort!

 

As usual in this country, cowboy workmanship which empties your wallet and end result is nothing but sodding grief!!!

 

I had it on the Z just after I bought it. Went into Tesco for about ten minutes, came out and alarm wouldn't disarm. Ended up walking back to my digs to get the spare keyfob not a happy bunny! Then get back to the car and think I'd just try the same keyfob again...car disarmed and unlocked...WTF?

 

I know what you mean about the proud stickers. When I picked up my car, stickers in the small windows at the back saying it was installed by Them. The first thing I did was to take them off.