Viper Alarms

Does anyone have any good or bad things to say about viper alarms/ keyless enery/ Remote starter Before i buy one

We have been a Viper dealer for a couple years now.
I have installed quite a few (dozen), and haven't had any real issues. The only complications/problems were installing remote starts in newer vehicles that have transponder chips, factory anti-theft, etc...

Mine is a 1996 so i dont have any chips in the keys or anything. what should i expect to pay for a instaled alarm, Keyless, Remote start kit
There is only one place in town that sells them, that i now of and he said $450 is that about normal?

I hae a Viper on my XJ and i love it, I live in Riverside so its not uncommon for cars to get broken into there and its never gone off because someone was stealing something but its gone off by people just knockin on it. So im sure if anyone hits it or anything like that it would go off and the pager always let me know whats hapening with it. So in other words :thumbup: :thumbup:

Thats what i paid but i had auto door locks installed in the 2 front doors. or it would have been less.

Overpriced. You can do just as good if not better for less money. AutoPage has an excellent remote start/alarm system, use it in my car and I've installed them in several others. The RS-860LCD is the one I have, wish they had these out when I was doing installations for a living.

A few words about alarms though....don't let anyone tell you that you need a ton of options, gizmos, sensors or whatever else to be effective. Any alarm (even a fake one with a blinking light in the dash) will deter a certain percentage of crooks. The rest of that group won't care what you have installed, they know how to get around it. Here's an example...

Had a guy come into my car audio shop to get a new sound system installed. As I'm going over the system layout with him, he is going on and on and on about the top of the line Viper alarm and how he got EVERY possible option/sensor and there is NO WAY anyone can get in. I asked him to arm it, he did and I broke into his car within a minute without breaking anything or triggering a single sensor. Deflated his balloon quick, but it also brought him down to reality.

I did one custom security system on my own truck at the time that I think would have kept out anyone, but man oh man the labor involved in that one...eeek.

swbooking said:

Thats what i paid but i had auto door locks installed in the 2 front doors. or it would have been less.

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What is this?

well because i have a 90 xj it has manual door locks like you have to lock every door individualy theres no door lock button.

I think the remote start and keyless entery is the main reson i am geting this. the alarm is just to help save the stuff in my jeep. I know there will always be a way to get in and steal stuff if someone really wants it, but maybe a sticker or a flashing light will tell a thief to move to the next car down.

Exactly my same reason for getting it. IMO its a good investment.

My jeep already has power locks and a keyless entery(That doesnt work) So maybe he will do it a little cheap. I think i will go get it all set up tomarow and hopefully than can put it in this week

The best part is it comes with a little shinny blue remote

If your doing it at a stereo shop then just bargin with them, stereo shops (well at least in Cali) try and rip you off, you just have to act like you know what your talking about and bargin with them.

i had a top-of-the-line Viper come installed when i bought my ol' F/S 96 Bronco. it kicked ass, and would kill the engine unless you knew the "code" and had the actual key. if she went off, you'd have to insert the key, turn on the ignition, push a small, hidden button under the steering column and pump the brake three times...and then finally, crank the engine. i never had any theft problems, it had motion sensors that'd beep and warn you. it was pretty cool, but that damn alarm would go off forever if you didnt turn it off...

ArcticCat843 said:

Mine is a 1996 so i dont have any chips in the keys or anything. what should i expect to pay for a instaled alarm, Keyless, Remote start kit
There is only one place in town that sells them, that i now of and he said $450 is that about normal?

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What system are they pricing? If it's the 791xv it isn't completely overpriced, but you could find it for less (MSRP is $400, seen them as low as $180). This is the system with the paging remote so you know what's going on. Since so many people ignore car alarms due to false alarms, If I was concerned about security, I'd like to have the paging remote. That way if your lucky you can catch someone red handed (just don't get yourself hurt).

AJsArmor said:

A few words about alarms though....don't let anyone tell you that you need a ton of options, gizmos, sensors or whatever else to be effective. Any alarm (even a fake one with a blinking light in the dash) will deter a certain percentage of crooks. The rest of that group won't care what you have installed, they know how to get around it.

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I fully agree, If someone really wants your stuff, they will get it! Otherwise if someone is just looking around for an easy target, a simple blinking LED can be just as effective as an alarm.
A properly installed basic alarm (not cheap like bulldog though) will be more effective than a badly installed system with all the bells and whistles. More sensors= more false alarms= more sleepless nights.
I haven't delt with AutoPage, but I hear good things about them.

One thing I like about the Viper is if a sensor is tripped a few times (before disarming) the system will disable that one sensor. Thieves have been known to trigger shock sensors and run until you finally get pissed off about your "false alarms" that you disarm the system....just what they wanted.

The price was for the 2-way remote version with the little screen.
I dont want something that is going to go off every time a bird lands on it or something but if someone opens a door or breaks the rear window out, i want to know

Just my $.02... These false alarms that keep getting mentioned are more often than not triggered by the shock sensor. There are a few different types of these sensors including but not limited to...Piezo, Infrared, microwave, etc. each one with their own pros and cons respectively. The placement and adjustment of a shock sensor is KEY to preventing false alarms. It is possible to omit the shock sensor completely from the install if you so desire. I personally have a Python 2-way (variant of the Viper) and the only problem I've had with it is the onboard parking lamp relay...DO NOT USE IT! It damaged the main 12+ wire on the H1 harness due to too small awg wire (16-18 awg). Instead I used it to provide a negative pulse to an external relay to drive the park lamps. As far as anything else goes, I'd shy away from anything that has main onboard relays (not serviceable) and code hopping technology is mandatory. Also the DEI 530t window module is an excellent addition because is adds express up/down to the front doors and you can open/close the windows by remote.

ArcticCat843 said:

The price was for the 2-way remote version with the little screen.
I dont want something that is going to go off every time a bird lands on it or something but if someone opens a door or breaks the rear window out, i want to know

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That should be the 791xv,
If you get it, the sensitivity of the impact sensor can be turned down. It also has a pre-warn, so it will give a warning chirp if "tapped", once "tapped" harder it will go off.
There are less expensive remote start models, but they don't have the 2 way remote.

So let me get this right, the $450 is just for the package then you have to buy all the sensors and stuff separate?
If so, How much are the sensors?
What are the first and most important places to put them? Doors? Windows?
I like the window controls on the remote thing.
How much did that cost? Can it be made to run all four windows?

The alarm includes a dual stage shock sensor. It wires into the doors, hood, and hatch, so whenever a door is opened it goes off. It also has a starter kill, so it won't start when armed.
If you want more sensors they are extra (glass breakage, motion, etc...) But once again, more sensors isn't necessarily a good thing.

I have found a central location to work best for the shock sensor. The biggest problem (causing false alarms) is if the sensor is mounted toward one side of the vehicle. If not placed properly, the sensitivity will be too high on that side if adjusted properly for the other side. Or it will be too low on the side without the sensor. This depends on the vehicle and how well it's constructed too.
Right under the center console is about perfect for an XJ.

The window module can control all 4 windows. This can get a little pricey though, mainly due to the labor involved.

How much is a little pricey?
I wonder if it will work with my back doors. They dont have a little button to turn the lights on and off when you open them. Same with the hatch. The lights come on only when you turn the headlight nob and when the front doors are open
Is this a problem?
I think the hood doors and hatch will be enough sensors. they will have to open something to get in