[SnowbordrWRX]

Anyone see this article?

http://www.autoweb.com.au/start_/showall_/id_SUB/doc_sub0211281/cms/news/newsarticle.html

hmmm that'd be cool to have on our version but I doubt that we have that. Guess there's always lo-jack!

btw, what security system will you all be getting for your STi? I was planning on just getting a lo-jack and using my existing autolock

 

[MKIVSupra]

I will be getting a pager alarm like I have on my Legacy. Then if someone tries to pry off any of my STi badges I will know and can go out and "deal" with them. I like the idea of Lo-Jack but I don't like the idea of having to report the car stolen before they activate it. What if right after I park the car it gets stolen and I don't realize it till the next morning. By the time I call the police my STi could be long gone.

 

[SnowbordrWRX]

a pager alarm? can you have that tied to your cell phone or do you have to carry a pager around?

 

[91TB78]

I'm just gonna get a nice alarm, then when I get back to the states probably get LoJack installed. Hey, if it gets stolen that is what insurance is for..I'm just hoping that it doesn't happen. :wink:

 

[SnowbordrWRX]

I'd recommend getting an autolock...it PREVENTS thefts instead of aiding in recovery like lojack...but I got a lojack on my WRX as a backup if someone somehow can get past the autolock

However, that pager alarm idea is cool so no one can come around and try to take my roof rack, the only think is I'd like to know if that means I gotta carry a pager around in addition to my cell phone.

 

[Guest]

SnowbordrWRX, what kind of lock do you have? Is there a link to a webpage you can show us? Thanks.

 

[SnowbordrWRX]

www.autolock.com
www.unbrakeable.com

I saw it on an informercial but I thought there's gotta be some way around it, much like the multiple ways you can defeat the club...but unlike the club:

1. It attaches to the clutch pedal or brake pedal. This is the strongest part of the car because it gets pressed many times during the course of a drive, sometimes hard. Take a look at your car you'll notice it's made of hardened steel. A thief wouldn't be able to cut it easily. Then if he could, what then? The car is undriveable without either pedal!

2. It's located in an inconvenient position for a thief to work. Whether he's trying to cut off the pedal or trying to break the lock, he'd have to be crouched down with the door open and would need someone to watch HIS back!

OK, that's paraphrased from the informercial. Well, I still had my suspicions so I searched all over the net for some kind of flaw. I found none. I found an independent review here http://www.epinions.com/content_1526636676

I highly doubt there's a way to defeat it...because alot of people don't even know what it is! If you do find a flaw please let me know...just in case I got a lojack too like I said

 

[EvasionOfTruth]

Thieves get what they want no matter the cost. Sure most of them aren't the brightest bunch, but they are quite a few that are smart. Give them one car with this device in there with ample time and they will find a flaw, then the next car is that much easier. This will slow them down when they first come across it but once it gains popularity like the club, secrets on by passing it will spread. :evil:

Our only safe bet is to sleep in our cars with a loaded 12 gauge and a hair trigger. :wink:

I'm not always a pessimist..... But I once was a badly influenced youth with much experience in auto theft.

 

[91TB78]

Thieves get what they want no matter the cost

I agree. Of course its about deterring people from your car and posessions. I've seen another brake lock that looked very capable against thefts. In Europe (especially Eastern Europe where thefts are SUPER HIGH) everyone uses a type of club/brake lock, etc...

 

[chawklit]

experience in auto theft, eh? do tell! sounds interesting.

 

[MKIVSupra]

Re: My idea

The pager alarm I have is a key phob, not an actual pager. Also when the alarm is first tripped it has 2 short beeps from the car, but my keyphob goes crazy so I know. Now if the the alarm is tripped again then the alarm on the car goes crazy. So the first couple short beeps might not scare them away, but I will know about it.

I am not sure about a cell phone notification. That would be real nice cause as nice as my pager alarm is, there is a distance limit. Mine is 2000 feet which is pretty good, especially since it is a remote start and I live on the 9th floor of an apartment building and park 2 floors undergound in the parking garage, and I can start my car from my apartment. My pager alarm/starter is a few years old. The new ones I hear work up to 6000 feet.

 

[SnowbordrWRX]

haha that's cool MKIVSupra...I did some checking on the lojack website and they do have a early warning system that pages you, and you can specify even your cell phone. Unfortunately, it's not available in CA yet...probably because the car theft rates here are so low (read with sarcasm).

My problem with the pager alarm is having yet another thing to carry around...unless it's as big as the Subaru remote keyless entry thing and you can use it instead of the Subaru one.

One note about the WRX which I was sorta impressed with...it's difficult to slim-jim. And I assume the same would be for the STi. How do I know this? I accidentally locked my keys in the trunk one day and had to call AAA to have it unlocked. The guy tried slim-jimming it and failed and it took him 10 minutes before he figured out how to get into the car. He even said he wasn't sure if he'd be able to get in since Subarus are difficult to get into. Sure that's not a guarantee your car won't get stolen, but when it takes less than a minute to slim-jim a Civic (I know first hand also, locked my keys in that trunk too ) which car do you think the thieves are gonna hit in a parking lot filled with Hondas and only sparsely populated with Subarus?

 

[SnowbordrWRX]

On the autolock...I did find someone comment in a message board that it would be simple to unbolt the clutch pedal or brake to defeat it. I thought maybe he meant you could unbolt the metal pad and slip the autolock off, but I checked it and it's secured by a pretty hefty weld. The only other way is to reach up to where the thing connects and I couldn't see where it was bolted in...which would be an awkward and vulnerable position for the would-be thief to work.

 

[EvasionOfTruth]

One note about the WRX which I was sorta impressed with...it's difficult to slim-jim. And I assume the same would be for the STi. How do I know this? I accidentally locked my keys in the trunk one day and had to call AAA to have it unlocked. The guy tried slim-jimming it and failed and it took him 10 minutes before he figured out how to get into the car. He even said he wasn't sure if he'd be able to get in since Subarus are difficult to get into. Sure that's not a guarantee your car won't get stolen, but when it takes less than a minute to slim-jim a Civic (I know first hand also, locked my keys in that trunk too ) which car do you think the thieves are gonna hit in a parking lot filled with Hondas and only sparsely populated with Subarus?

Subarus are cake to get into.... I doubt this guy had much expierence with a Subie. Put a wedge in the window, then use a long hook....done you're in.

 

[SnowbordrWRX]

:lol: guess you're right EvasionOfTruth cuz that's how this guy got in...just took him 10 minutes trying various methods before he did what you said

 

[DeeezNuuuts83]

For one thing, it's very easy for anyone to break INTO a car. (Two of my cousins who were both ex-gang members showed me this trick where they can pop doors open with large pieces of cardboard slipped into the door where the window is--I kid you not, and I was amazed.) The brake lock thing is pretty effective, and my brother and I both have them as well as alarms. But before my brother bought his brake lock, all he had was an alarm, and someone was able to break in and steal it (because they pryed open his sunroof, which does not trigger the engine-kill feature). So now my brother has his alarm, his brake lock, plus the Club just to make things harder. (It's funny to watch him undo everything, but he usually just uses the brake lock unless we're in a not-so-great area.)

 

[MKIVSupra]

SnowbordrWRX, so LoJack has an early warning deal and it will work by cell phone. I will definitely have to look into that. It sounds like a damn good combo. I wonder if they offer it in Chicago.

 

[SnowbordrWRX]

STi Dealer Meeting on Jan 15th

MKIVSupra - Currently, LoJack Early Warning is only available in MA, RI, NH, CT, NY, NJ, PA, and DE. LoJack Early Warning will be available in other markets in 2003.

 

[CloNeGTS]

I'm not so concerned with the actual theft of the car but more along the lines of vandalism. I'd want to know if the motion sensor was set off, if I just got door dinged...that kinda stuff.

The alarm I had installed on my Celica might be an alright unit, but the monkeys that installed it mounted the control unit to the wiring harness hanging under the dash. So much for shock sensing! I washed the damn car once with the alarm off and it didn't care to beep until I was drying it off (we're talking hose blasts and all!).

Anyone suggest a good sensitive, but reliable and non buggy security system? A pager may be cool in some instances.

 

[alfredob1]

I'm probably going to get the CompuSTAR 2WSS-AS. There's a review of this unit in the December 2002 issue of Car Audio and Electronics. It's best features are Turbo Mode (2 min turbo timer), Timer Start Mode (can be programmed to start car every one and a half hours for three hours in a 24-hr period (not sure why you'd need this), Remote Paging (an individual can tap your windshield and you'll get a page on the remote) and Cold Start Mode (if temp drops below freezing the engine will start). Of course this also works as a remote starter. Overall they liked it. The only issue they had was that they did not get the advertised 1.25 miles of two-way communication between the car and remote. However, they only tested it to about 500 ft. They suggested playing with the antenna placement to remedy the problem.

http://www.compustar.org/products/2WSS.html