yotaman90

Has anyone installed this device in any of their Toyota's? I was thinking about getting one for each of mine, seeing as its supposedly been installed on 3.5 million vehicles and has never been defeated . Sounds like a good idea, but I don't know if its ever been done to a Toyota truck before. If anyone has had it installed, please tell me how well it works and if its worth the price. Thanks!

SteadFast

They are a great product they are by far the best immobilizer I have come across, but they are only designed to protect the car from being started and driven away. I have not seen them installed on a Toyota yet, but I am sure if you email them, you will find they have been installed on everything from big rigs to metros. I would not recommend them as a stand-alone security system, but rather an addition to an alarm. Alarms alone are useless to, the best setup I've seen installed had an alarm, complete with tilt sensors, hood sensors, glass break sensors, 2mile LCD pager and the Ravelco. I have installed countless alarms (I am MECP certified), and recommended the addition of Ravelco with every one. Even as an installer, I would let Ravelco do the installation of their product, their customer service and install team are top notch. It is well worth every penny if you are concerned about your car being driven away.

yotaman90

I actually am just concerned about it being driven away. I also know that most people disregard car alarms going off anyways (I know I do), but I think that I'm going to get it installed. They did e-mail me, and gave me a price of $399.99 per vehicle, which is a little expensive, but if it prevents my vehicle from being taken......

yotaman90

How much was this complete system anyway?

SteadFast

Installed it ran my client around $750 on top of the price of getting their Ravelco installed by Ravelco. Most of that was labor, I had to remove almost the entire dash and to make life easier, the front seats and center console. When I got under the dash, the first thing I did was inspect the Ravelco installation, it was done cleanly and professionally, and the wires were all concealed nicely in a metal casing. As to not disturb the flow under the dash, and to further foil any tampering with the system I installed, I tracked down some flexible metal conduit and mimicked the look of the Ravelco wiring. The brain and many of the relays are mounted under the center console, but there are 2 "dummy" brains with fake wiring under the dash, just incase someone looks under the dash and hopes to rip out the alarm or tamper with the wiring. Looking back on that install, I horribly undercharged for the labor involved. That was back when I was trying to get established, and get my name out there, I cut alot of breaks to my inital clients. I wish I had taken pics and documented the whole ordeal, shortly after that install, I learned alot that first year in business. Since then I now photograph and document every installation, with the clients approval.


In regards to your comment on alarms going off in parking lots, your correct, no one pays attention to them. Which is why I HIGHLY recommend getting an alarm with an LCD pager, you can find some now with a range of almost 2 miles.

Just to elaborate on the setup described above- the tilt sensors are highly effective in alerting you if someone is attempting to tow your car.
Hood and trunk switches are great for anyone with a system, and also help if someone has gotten under the hood to disconnect the battery. Which is why I recommend a backup battery with every alarm as well.