Motors car alarms: sticker or no?

We just got a car alarm put on our new vehicle, and I haven't decided if I want to put the window stickers up.

I'm thinking a logo could tell the possible thief which system I have, and therefore help him know what he needs to do to disable it.
On the other hand, it would dissuade most other thiefs from breaking in who don't know as much about disabling alarms, and someone who knows about disabling alarms would probably be able to tell what type of alarm I have anyway.

Any tips?

(The alarm with stickers is only a paremeter alarm, so it only goes off is someone opens a door while it is armed. They still need a coded key to start the car, but I'm sure there's ways around that too.)

I've also looked into GPS tracking systems to recover the vehicle if it is stolen, but most are too expensive, or have small coverage areas. (What is the G supposed to stand for again? Geographically-limited?) LoJack is radio frequency, so it seems limited as well. (and expensive)
Any ideas on inexpensive yet effective theft recovery devices?

 

I think all new cars have some type of car alarm. So I imagine a thief would be prepared for an alarm, so a sticker wouldn't scare him off. BTW, I don't have one on my car.

 

just get the sticker to a DIFFERENT alarm so that way it will mess up the experianced one, and scare away the rookies

 

I might get my parents to do that, then just stick a camera facing, and see what happens.

 

That's what I was thinking... if you know anyone getting a different system, swap with them... win-win...

 

GPS means Global Positioning System

 

I think it was a joke based on the fact that the service is so limited, even though they say it's based on a global system, which is completely illogical and as such, completely absurd.
<Siegfried>Oh yeah, keep explaining it, that'll make it funny. </Siegfried>

 

It will only scare the rookies as stated above. As for "messing up" a pro, I highly doubt that a pro wants your car and if they do, there is very little you can do to stop them.

 

Add to that the fact car alarms have false alarms so often nobody pays them any attention anymore. I just make sure there is nothing on display for a thief to want to take.

 

what kind of car do you drive that would warrent getting an alarm?
my car has an alarm, but it was built into the car at the factory. i couldn't care if someone stole my car, i owe more on it then it's actually worth.

 

you got photoshop? make one, or just go to an auto store they might have one, if not MAKE ONE.

 

Except that it's not. The car can work out where it is anywhere on the world (subject to topography anyway), and it can cry out all it wants saying I'm here, but if it can't reach a receiver nothing will happen. The geographic limit is caused not by the GPS, but by the radio limits. I don't think that's absurd at all. If the limit was caused by the GPS, then yes it would be absurd. But it's not.

 

A. What kind of area do you live in to be afraid that your car is going to be stolen?
B. It seems like you're certain your car is going to be stolen with this 'oh no, professional carjackers!' jib-jab.. it's like you know it's going to happen.. what's with that?
C. How many times have you had your car stolen before?

 

My mum had the strangest attempt to have her car stolen when she was visiting her perants in leeds.

They used a screw driver to remove the lock facia, failed on the driver side, and then started on the passenger side, which is damn stupid, because the passenger side isn't a lock, its just a blank cap (remote locking system, they take out the passenger side lock). Now they really scratched the metal (insurance jobbie in the £1,500 region) on both sides. But the still didn't steal the car, why didn't they brick in the window? would of been cheeper for them to replace if their worried about selling it, and a yaris verso is hardly a car for joy riding.

So there are people so inept, they can't even break in the window. (there is no ultra sonic alarm, but it does have double locking on the main doors).

 

Well, I guess I'm in luck as I live in a low-car-theft area and don't travel to the city often. Who wants a ford focus anyway? Nonetheless, it came with stock door alarm and coded key ignition. I was rooting around installing wire and noticed a box that said something like "samsung 350mhz receiver"... interesting, they RF the codes from the steering chassis to the ignition lock.

I would get one of those stickers for the GPS systems anyway, even better if you live in a covered area.

 

When I moved into my apartment complex, it was pretty crappy, but cheap. My friend's back window was smashed in to steal his cheap stereo, and my camper shell on my truck was torn to steal a decent set of tools.

The worst part is they smashed my friend's window when the window next to it was duct-taped on! So I'm more worried about dumb people than pros, but I suffered a temporary wave of paranoia.

The car is not one to be on any list, ever. It is a 2001 Ford Escape, but we just found out the new management lifted the requirements of not committing a felony to live here, so you never know. The car alarm is mainly for people trying to get in anyway, as I've watched people just walking through the neighbourhood try my doors to see if they were unlocked, then looked into the window cupping his hands for a good view. (And that was on my '94 oldsmobile with a dent in the side!)

So yes, primarily paranoia caused by this being the first car my wife and I picked out. (all others were 'hand-me-downs' that weren't really reflective of who we are.)

I think I'll just slap a different sticker on, because it is an insanely common car alarm that you probably don't have to be a pro to figure out anyway. (standard audiovox paremeter alarm.)

 

Maybe they got that car last week?

 

Seems to me you might want to find a better place to live instead of getting a crappy car alarm if you're really that worried about it. Cheap apartments are not always the deal they seem to be at first.

 

Like dgb said, it is not. GPS is only used to determine your position. You don't actually send signals to the satelites, it's a one-way signal from the satelites. The receiver inside your car times how far the "beeps" or whatever they are are apart, and from that calculates your position. Using a GPS alone you can't know where your car is without being inside one.

To determine the position of your car without being inside, you need a system that will send the information (which the GPS inside the car received) to you. This obviously means it's geographically limited, 'cause it's illegal to have radio waves sent over a certain distance.

 

But at that point it's almost worthless to have some fancy gadget with "GPS" written all over it... I mean sure it might be nice to see where your car is to the centimeter, but if you have to be within a mile of it to find it anyway, what's the point?
Not to mention in some areas (heavily urban such as NYC, or in parking garages, or heavily forested) a GPS signal won't be very accurate anyway, so you may have better odds by calling it in to the cops...


I personally don't care though. I've never had a security system and I never will. I have a couple kill switches and am contemplating moving the ignition switch entirely, and keep nothing of value in my truck. I know that if a criminal knows there's something in there that he wants (or even thinks it) he will break in to get it. Security system or not. If I ever wanted to be so paranoid that I didn't want people touching the car, I'd put a pair of contacts on the door handle hooked up to a nice little voltage source... but that's me. :shrug: