Are they gonna mess up my car???

[Lillydot]

i'm probably gonna go to best buy or circuit city to get my keyless entry and alarm installed in my car. i called the dealership first, but they blew me off! first they told me it couldn't be done, then they told me it would be waaaay to difficult to do, then they told me it would be too expensive (without giving me a price quote!) so i'm stuck with best buy or ciurcuit city. but i don't trust them. my sister told me the poeple they hire at circuit city aren't even certified or trained! what's your experiences been like?

[sam07yaris]

Originally Posted by Lillydot

i'm probably gonna go to best buy or circuit city to get my keyless entry and alarm installed in my car. i called the dealership first, but they blew me off! first they told me it couldn't be done, then they told me it would be waaaay to difficult to do, then they told me it would be too expensive (without giving me a price quote!) so i'm stuck with best buy or ciurcuit city. but i don't trust them. my sister told me the poeple they hire at circuit city aren't even certified or trained! what's your experiences been like?

call rt 44 toyota to see if they do it.

[sf180th]

Do you already have power locks and are just upgrading to keyless entry or are you having solenoids installed as well. I had keyless entry and an alarm installed by ABC Warehouse and they did a great job.

[RogueYaris]

I'd steer clear of Best Buy and Circuit City. Most places that do stereo installation can do this for you. I'd find a place more reputable than the two you mentioned.

[sqcomp]

For the people at the dealership, it may be "difficult to do". Around your area...don't you have Tweeter (the business name)? Find a more specialized shop that concentrates on car audio rather than a broadliner like CC or BB. I have never had any experience with the installers there, but if the salesman reflect the skill level...you're screwed!

I'm on the wrong side of the country or I'd help you more with recomendations.

[MeggiemobileSFLA]

Yeah. The dudes at best buy put in a car stereo for me not too long ago in my old car and they were all eating Wendy's while doing it. Very unprofessional and look young and immature. I wouldnt trust them with my Yaris, thats for sure. And your right, Circuit City guys' are not certified. My BF's brother used to work there. I actually was at my dealership today and they said it was no problem to install a keyless entry and they said they would get a price for me. If i were you and if it's even possible where you live, try another Toyota dealership.... Im not gonna trust anyone but them to install it.

[acrbill]

Do you have power locks already? If so I would trust them. If not I would figure something else out.

[Blenjar]

I got my alarm plus remote start (2 pager) for 300 bux including install and life time warranty.

-- Blen

[yrsdrgn]

I got the Clifford 50.5x Matrix alarm system for $549 total with installation. It only took the dudes at the local audio shop 2 hours to complete.............The dealership even gave me a Clifford Arrow5 alarm to start off with!!!!! Instead of giving me the factory power package and keyless alarm system they had those options installed from the audio place across from them. Good thing is that they didn't charge me the factory price.

[Lillydot]

Originally Posted by sf180th

Do you already have power locks and are just upgrading to keyless entry or are you having solenoids installed as well. I had keyless entry and an alarm installed by ABC Warehouse and they did a great job.

i don't have anything! i have manual locks. they have to make the locks electric first and then install the keyless entry. thanks for all the advice, guys. i'm gonna look into tweeter or another toyota dealership!

[brickhardmeat]

I don't have anything on mine. I have insurance. Where I'm from it makes no difference if your alarm is going off. They bust your window tear up the dash and run. I have chosen to stick with the factory stereo and manual locks-no alarm. My opinion, alarms are a waste of money. Nodody sares when they go off. I have a Clifford on my VW and it was just annoying. I also had a stereo, speakers, amp installed at Best Buy. None of the shit worked right when I traded the car in. The guy couldn't even figure out how to program the remote start on the Clifford so it was never activated. Best Buy = crappy service and crappy install

[sqcomp]

IMHO, the only alarms that are worth anything these days are the responders.

Having used a responder, this is the first step to protecting my property. I watch where I go and where I park my vehicle. Agreeing with the idea that an alarm won't stop a person from actually breaking into the vehicle...it WILL, however, tell me what is happening, where it is happening and actually prevent the car from going anywhere.

Most vehicle break-ins are smash and dash type incidents. The crackhead sees change or a stereo...wham! He's in and out within 1-2 minutes. I've actually seen an planned break-in that took the a-holes 24 minutes.

The guy had an alarm...but he had NO backup battery and he didn't have a responder to tell him what was going on. Did he deserve it? No. Does it suprise me? Not at all.

My last vehicle had a nice little responder on it. I had two instances where I was alerted by the fob. In both circumstances, I was outside at the vehicle within 15 seconds.

A responder with a backup battery is a smart choice.

[Lillydot]

Originally Posted by sqcomp

For the people at the dealership, it may be "difficult to do". Around your area...don't you have Tweeter (the business name)? Find a more specialized shop that concentrates on car audio rather than a broadliner like CC or BB. I have never had any experience with the installers there, but if the salesman reflect the skill level...you're screwed!

I'm on the wrong side of the country or I'd help you more with recomendations.

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!!!! i have an appointment at Tweeter on tuesday! i didn't even know they were still in business! whew! thats a load off my mind...

[brickhardmeat]

I had a remote with my Clifford and all it did was wake me up when it rained, or the wind changed. My car still got broken into after the alarm and I simply made an insurance claim and got another crappy Kenwood stereo installed The equipment died as soon as all the warranties went up, probably do to poor wiring or something, I dunno. I like the factory stuff these days. Keep the good stuff in the house. What's in the car works and I was just annoyed with that damn alarm.

[Spades]

Car alarms are a waste of time, proffesional car theives know how to get around alarms, and crackheads dont care about the alarm, they will just use a brick or a rock and smash in the window, then rip the stereo out even if they have to rip the dash apart to get it.

no one cares when they hear a car alarm anymore. no one checks to see if someones car is getting jacked...mainly because the wind, a loud car, or a cat sets off dozens of alarms every day in the average neighborhood.

Just report what stereo equipment you have and take pictures of it and submit it to your insurance company, that way if anyone does jack your stuff you have proof you had it.

[sqcomp]

If the rain is setting off your vehicle..the MORON...I reapeat MORON...who put in the alarm should be shot on the basis of ineptitude, lack of care and general stupidity.

You pay these people to put in the alarm correctly and the should stand behind thier service. If they don't, there are others who will.

As for the alarms area waste of time idea...I'll sayyes and no. Digressing back to my original post, a RESOPNDER is the only viable (and legal) alarm that will assist you these days. You're right, it won't stop a tweaker from putting a brick through the window. It will delay a more experienced thief..if the installer has installed the alarm correctly.

I can guarantee that the person who installed my last responder would not get the alarm to stop before I was out there to the vehicle. He put the backup battery so far up into the dash AND it was attached with this NASTY ass double sided sticky tape that he actually bet lunch that I couldn't get it undone...We went to Red Robin about 15 minutes later, with me wore out and scraped up knuckles. I even used tools to try and pry it out. Didn't work.

Alarms do thier jobs. Responders tell you what is going on.

In response to this post, I'll add a topic that is from Sounddomain.com, a forum on which I moderate. The topic will give you general tips on what to do and what NOT to do in regards to your alarm and vehicle to keep it safe.

[bail_w]

Very unprofessional and disrespectful Mexicans who barely can speak english were hired at my near by circuit and keep claiming there weren't any Toyota Yaris In-Dash kit available at this moment, I would never go there for anything.

[saue1436]

Originally Posted by bail_w

Very unprofessional and disrespectful Mexicans who barely can speak english were hired at my near by circuit and keep claiming there weren't any Toyota Yaris In-Dash kit available at this moment, I would never go there for anything.

In their defense...there wasn't dash-kits available for the Yaris until maybe a month ago. The kits released from Metra were the first that I was aware of.
Regarding Circuit and Best Try, we have fixed enough simple sub-amp installs for me to ever recommend them for a remote start or security install. Typically, any reputable local install shop will have comparable prices, so just go to them for the initial install instead of waiting for the inevitable troubleshoot appointment.