Car Alarm Selection Meridian/Mongoose/Dynatron

[ST185]

Ok,
So i bought a new car and now i want to get an alarm fitted.

The Company i bought the car through also installs alarms - in their case its a meridian 2600ss (4star) it would cost $650 installed and comes with all the bells and whistles. The big thing with this alarm would be the after sales service.
1) If the car is stolen they would pay the insurance company excess (in my case $1000)
2) They loan you a replacement car while your car is sorted.

On the other hand i could go a Mongoose M60G (5star) at approx $490 installed - on special. This is obviosly cheaper with a higher star rating but would not have any aftersales perks.

Lastly ive heard that the dynatron alarms are very good yet i cant find any prices or an installer in Wellington.

Sooooo, to cut a long story short. Out of the 2 alarms has anyone have any preference to either or can tell me which one is better.

Thanks in advance.

[flat_0ut]

I'd just get the best alarm without the perks. It's going to be hard to chase up the alarm company to pay unless they are a well known respectable company and if they are they can't be very confident in their alarm if they are offering to pay the excess if it does get stolen, it shouldn't get stolen in the first place is what they should be trying to sell.

[Leon]

Lastly ive heard that the dynatron alarms are very good yet i cant find any prices or an installer in Wellington.

Star something security in Riddiford Street in Newtown, beside the Caltex Station is the Dynatron agent that I know of. They've done the dynatron stuff on one of the work cars.

[ST185]

Thanks guys,

flat_out, i think you just need to show them that you still have both remotes and both over-ride alarm keycards and they pay out. I see where you are coming from, i think they are saying to the buyer - we are so confident in our alarm that we would even pay the excess if it gets stolen.
Im leaning slightly towards the Mongoose one at the moment.

Leon, thanks for that the mongoose deal is at Abtec security which i thik is on the same road so i'll go into the place you mentioned and see what they have/what tehy can do. Thanks for that.

[flat_0ut]

good point, I never looked at it that way. Try get a dynatron, thet get my vote

[Blackrazor]

Dynatron > Mongoose (from someone who sells both). Both are good at protecting your car, but the Mongooses have more faults as they age. Lets put it this way - we can access and install 90% of the alarm brands on the market, including some very fancy high end gear designed for premium sports cars etc, and yet all 4 of us at work run Dynatron alarms. No gimmicks, no whizbang features, just a plain simple alarm that does what it should - stop people stealing shite.

Also, Mongoose are very loose with who they allow to install their product, so every cowboy in the country can install Mongoose alarms, and we see some AWFUL installs. Remember, 95% of the effectiveness of the alarm will be based on the quality of the install, not the quality of the alarm. So hunting for the cheapest deal is self defeating - you would literally be better off to go for a lower grade alarm but get a better quality install, for the same money.

As a hint, tho, whichever alarm you get, get a PIR addon. All standard alarms rely on people opening the doors or breaking the windows. If they do neither (pull the window rubber and Dukes Of Hazzard in the window), the alarm wont do diddly squat and your gear is theirs for the taking.

[Elmendorf]

I have a mongoose in my starlet and am starting to have major problems with it.

Got a cobra in my carib and find it great. Cobra definately get the thumbs up from me. The car stereo company sell and install them if ur interested

[ST185]

Thanks guys.
Thats good advice Blackrazor.
Ive called up Dynatron and they have connected me with the wellingon retailer. After talking with him for about 20 minutes he had some good arguements for going the Dynatron way (and they install lots of different brands).

So, the conclusion is that im getting it installed this Friday. 5 Stars. Not cheap but neither are cars so i might as well get the best i can afford.

Cheers Everyone

[t0ms]

Dynatron > Mongoose (from someone who sells both). Both are good at protecting your car, but the Mongooses have more faults as they age. Lets put it this way - we can access and install 90% of the alarm brands on the market, including some very fancy high end gear designed for premium sports cars etc, and yet all 4 of us at work run Dynatron alarms. No gimmicks, no whizbang features, just a plain simple alarm that does what it should - stop people stealing shite.

Also, Mongoose are very loose with who they allow to install their product, so every cowboy in the country can install Mongoose alarms, and we see some AWFUL installs. Remember, 95% of the effectiveness of the alarm will be based on the quality of the install, not the quality of the alarm. So hunting for the cheapest deal is self defeating - you would literally be better off to go for a lower grade alarm but get a better quality install, for the same money.

As a hint, tho, whichever alarm you get, get a PIR addon. All standard alarms rely on people opening the doors or breaking the windows. If they do neither (pull the window rubber and Dukes Of Hazzard in the window), the alarm wont do diddly squat and your gear is theirs for the taking.

all good points

also however in terms of the technology used in all three the dynatrons are also higher up the food chain as it were. if you can go for the 7 series dynatrons, transponder technology much easier to use. Plus the new dynatron remotes look awesome.

but PIR? you would prob be better spending the money on a decent internal siren system. keep them out with noise

but yes as black razor said. installation is everything. even the best product can cause problems with a poor install. i have personally seen alarms of every make model shape and style absolutely butchered.

[ST185]

Being installed as i type this....
D7800 model.
Im also getting the add on that acts as a turbo timer (saves me having to buy that seperately).

[Distrb]

Make sure you get a couple of spare alarm remote cases as they tend to be a little fragile and fall off the keyring when you least expect

[Blackrazor]

but PIR? you would prob be better spending the money on a decent internal siren system. keep them out with noise

The reason i suggest PIR's is simply for detection reasons. Internal screamers are semi-mandatory anyway, but they wont increase the ability of an alarm to detect an intrusion in the first place.

The fact remains that most alarms monitor the windows for glass breakage, the doors for pin switch activity, and sometimes tilt sensors. And there are ways to get into cars that will not activate any of the above. Hence,the suggestion of a PIR, as at least that way if someone manages to bypass the normal detection methods, you have a very good chance of the alarm detecting them once they are inside

[Jazza]

Also check the small print for meridian. I found out with my brothers alarm (a while ago, might be different now), that they have to install it, it must also be a 5 star alarm for the excess to be payed, and the car has to be a right off for them to pay the excess, for example if they do 2 grand damage from stuff being taken from the car, they wouldnt have payed the excess. Got a different alarm in the end anyhow...

[DeeCee]

Mongoose just saved my car last night Alarm went off at 4.40am this morning and i saw the culprit sprinting off down the alleyway

[Simon K]

Mongoose just saved my car last night Alarm went off at 4.40am this morning and i saw the culprit sprinting off down the alleyway

This wouldn't happen to have been in Whitby or that neck of the woods? One of our Bike guys had his car done there last night, apparently along with several others.

Someones been shopping

[DeeCee]

Nah - in the hutt. I think the guy was more testing the car to see whether there was an alarm or not.. can't find any evidence of a forced lock or anything.. but the knock sensor is set low so he must have rocked the car pretty damn hard to set it off.

Anyway - i woke up when the alarm went off, ripped back the curtains and saw the punk run down the alleyway across the road