HaveBlue

Well, it's been two agonizing months. I finally got my alarm installed on Friday. It's a DEI Python Responder. It has an LCD pager remote. This thing is bada$$. I now have remote start!
The LCD remote will tell me where it has been tapped, what door was forced open, etc. It's great!
I'll be taking it back in a week or two to have a proximity sensor installed. I'm also going to have it set up so I can roll down the back window with the remote.
The range on this alarm is incredible. I was able to drive a half mile away before the remore stopped responding. Now, on those long rainy mountain bike rides, I can have the truck started and the A/C on before I get to there. SWEET!

Bob_98SR5

Alan:

Glad to hear you finally got your alarm. I'm enjoying the use of your old one. Works like a charm and I even modified the antenna to get better range! SLC gave me some tips on how to extend it even further so I'll be doing that this weekend.

Bob

UKMyers

Awesome deal man! I have a Clifford Arrow 3 that I just upgraded with a proximity sensor and a glass break sensor. You can hit the glass with your hand but if you tap on it with a quarter the alarm goes to full blown mode. It works off the frequency somehow. Anyways the proximity sensor is entertaining in a parking lot when the guy next to you is loading groceries up in his car and your truck is chirping at him.. I've seen some pretty weird looks from elderly people before..hehehe..Yes I am easily entertained!

doink

sounds like something i might be interested in for my runner. does anyone know if i could get something like that for my manual 2nd generation? i hear that you cant get remote start with a manual tranny, any thoughts?

HaveBlue

You can remote start a manual, but you have to leave it parked in neutral. I've heard some companies won't even touch a remote start on a manual. You might check around.
BTW, Car Toys is advertising the exact same alarm I got for $50 less than what I paid. I had mine installed at a different place. They solder their connections rather than use connectors. No chance of anything coming loose when 4-wheelin'.
Here's the alarm that I bought: DEI

joshik

SWEET!!! My friend got that too. he works for a performance store and got hooked up. how much did u get yours for? The remote looks like a mini cellphone! hahaha

HaveBlue

I paid $550 so far. The rear window and prox. sensor will be another $220.

Mohamed

Ya I don't think you want a truck starting in gear, might not be a good thing...hehe!

Honestly though, I will never buy another DEI product again (VIPER, PYTHON, etc.) they are just too lousey and the one installed in my 4Runner is a best example of this as you could give a good whack to the rear of the truck and no sound whatsoever! They're sensors use a rubber band that in my opinion is a bad way to go.

Clifford's Intelliguard and AvantGuard remained untouched by DEI when they were bought out by them. I am installing a Intelliguard 6000 in my Accord this weekend and then when I get the money, I am gonna get the AvantGuard 4 (mind you it's $1K installed) put into my Tundra. These will feature remote start (including the manual tranny cars) at an extra price and overall have a better system than any of DEI's products. If you have a The Good Guy's store in your town, they do install them.

PhxTRDRunner

Are you kidding me??? The clifford line was completely ditched when DEI aquired them, and all of the clifford line was replaced with the viper equivilent. When you unbox a Clifford (now) and a Viper, you will find exactly the same parts, brain, wiring and shock sensor, they are identical. I know this because this is my buisness, I install alarms, and I use DEI primarily becuase they are the best. The shock sensors are the best the industry has ever seen, and the reliability can't be touched. Now, the alpine line does have more features available, but they are a real PITA to work with and service. The old clifford stuff (which I was a dealer of) was absolute crap, and required constant tweeking and fixing. If your battery was to go dead, no more clifford alarm, it would then need reprogrammed. A very large pain in the ass when you have to fix it for free.
....all my opinion of course



Now, yes you can autostart a manual trans vehicle, but you must first disable the clutch override, and I always use the Ebrake as a secondary safety before it will allow the vehicle to remote start. If anyone in the PHX area wants a deal on a remote start, feel free to PM me and I will definately take care of you.

Corey

iTrader: (1)

That is a kick ass setup you have.
I have the Python 650 that came out a few years ago with the pager to alert me of a break-in.

The brain on it failed a few months back and Cartoy's who did the install replaced it for free.
With the new brain was also included the new long range antenna that sits above my rearview mirror.

Mohamed, sorry to hear you had problems.
The DEI line of alarms gets high kudos all the time I hear.
They have mine setup that a a small whack will give off the warning chirp, and it works great.
Even if you open and close the tailgate you have to be careful to not set it off full when it's armed.

This is the best alarm I have owned so far.
I really dig that new remote you got Haveblue.

sleepy1405

hey what model is your viper responder? I have a 790XV viper responder, I paid 449.00 plus tax, actually the guy gave me a discount because I got my kenwood screen installed at the same time so I only paid 200 installation for the alarm, screen, varad scanner, indiglo pedals, and minor speaker repair. I will do all my stereo stuffs at that shop from now on.

DuB

UKMyers, be careful because chirping birds can set off the glass break as well so your truck may become an annoyance to others if you leave it unattended around a tree full of birds.

HaveBlue, If possible, try having them install an Alpine prox sensor. They're one of the best in the industry. The DEI prox sensors false a lot and are hard to setup well. I had two of them installed when I realized that one was interferring with the other. So then I just had one installed, but it still falsed a lot. There have been a couple situations where it would just continually do the warn-away until I just turned off the alarm to get it to stop. I now have both unplugged because I figure people can't see into the truck with my tinted windows and I don't leave the truck unattended with the windows open because the window modules roll up the window when I arm the alarm.

I personally like Clifford's products better. DEI's products seem toy-ish compared to Clifford's and don't seem as solid of products... I'd buy a Clifford if I had to do it over again...

Mohamed

I heard the same thing too about how Clifford where getting numerous complaints about programming and such. I thinks that's why they went bankrupt, but about the Viper and very similar Clifford, really? I thought the Intelliguard Series was untouched by DEI. Why would then they be more expensive than the Vipers? There must be some advantage to the Clifford.

You know I really thought about the Alpine, but I prefer Clifford since I think they are the best out there. How do you mean they where a PITA to work with and service? What goes wrong with them?

PhxTRDRunner

Ya, sorry I came off kind of like a dick there, I was kinda tired But, ya, the entire clifford line was ditched as soon as viper aquired them because of the problems with servicing them. Rumor was that all the brains/wires were brought out to the ocean and dumped because all viper wanted when they got Clifford was the name (kind of) and mostly a few patents they had that viper wanted. Now, the problem with alpine, (IMHO) is that the shock sensor is not adjusted externally on the sensor itself, but rather you have to do it through the programming options, which requires TONS of different loops you have to go through to set it. This becomes a real pain when the customer is picky about certain areas of the car being just right for sensitivity. Also, the remotes have too many buttons, which allows for the user to accidentally change settings, alter sensitivity, and other fun stuff without even knowing it! So, yes, I am bitter about both clifford and alpine, and the simplicity of the DEI line just makes them more reliable in the end, IMO. Not to mention, any warranty replacement is absolutely no hassle with Viper.

netZ

viper didn't entirely ditch the clifford line. i currently have 2 brand new boxed Clifford Solaris alarms/remote starters and the only dei item is the XHF antenna. it replaced the old solaris' stick on plastic stick antenna's which was flaky for some users.

true, dei has added the matrix line which is basically their viper 500's and 550esp line of alarms and remote starts. it's a shame to pollute the Clifford Intelliguard's line with the Matrix. the Matrix alarm is so cheaply made just like the viper counterparts.

the only warranty issue regarding the clifford alarms was during the transfer of ownership to dei. any alarms purchased during the and before the transfer had their warrantees voided. any alarms purchased after the transfer are waranteed by DEI.

i've had 4 clifford alarms installed in the various vehicles i have owned from the iq700 to the solaris and they have run rock solid. problems usually stems from poor installation and such.

the solaris has by far the best remote start and safety features, the 550esp will not shut down the remote start when someone opens a door before disarming the alarm. the valet switch is a joke and so is the dual stage shock sensor which requires a user to manually adjust on the sensor itself. The Clifford Intelliguard shock sensors can be adjusted remotely via the master remote.

netZ

DuB

yeah, the shock sensor is completely retarded. Speaking of which, where do you all have your shock sensor located? I have mine ziptied to the steering column...

PhxTRDRunner

..your shock sensor will be more effective if you zip tie it to a wire harness, i.e. not a solid piece, because it will more accurately feel shock around the vehicle.


btw- a very good friend of mine is a manager for the largest Viper dealer in the world...that is where I got my Clifford/Viper info.

Duffdog

speaking of DEI and clifford----

THere is no such thing as clifford anymore--they are totally bankrupt and the only thing they tried to do was infringe on the patents of DEI. Thus the infamous "magnetic resonance sensor". The shock sensor employed by clifford does not have a rubber band because that would infringe on DEI's patent, the clifford shock sensor is total crap because when the temperature changes, all the settings change because the sensor acuator is made of metal. Rubber doesnt have as high coefficient of thermal expansion as metal and therefore is better. If you dont believe me, locate an old DEI shock sensor from the 80's and you will discover it is of identical construction as a clifford.

I personally hate clifford and alpine alarms, and I should know. I am an installer of all their stupid ass alarms. Maybe the biggest challenge is to put a 10"x9"X1.5" brain under the dash of a honda civic so that a thief wont see it!! Ask any good installer how bypass any clifford or alpine alarm and youll find out how easy it is to steal a car with a POS alarm like clifford or alpine. Yes, i know... its the install that matters most. That is probably the root of all complaints about DEI because they are immensely popular and therefore will have more hokey-ass backwoods installers screwing up the install. PS, any of you clifford fans tried to program a clifford before?? HA! do that and then youll find out why the installers choose DEI over anything else.

so here is the straight truth, any good alarm you buy is a DEI-- sorry, there are no other good companies anymore-- clifford and avital are actually complete DEI products now. I noticed someone said "the only dei product is the SHF antenna"--well got news for you dude, if the wire colors are the same as a viper, then the entire alarm is made by DEI!-- open it up and see for yourself. If the board inside the brain says dei on it ( and it will ) than you will have your answer.

DEI is the monopoly and Ill have no more of this "brand x is better", because they are ALL owned by DEI. Unless you want a total pile of crap like a prestige or a K-9 or an Autoloc.

--about the remote starting of the manual transmission: DONT DO IT!!!! Every installer I know has remote started their own car at one time and it drove into something expensive-- if you do this you are just asking for a huge repair bill and a lawsuit. Im being totally honest here-- I watched a coworker lean on his remote on the counter and drive his isuzu trooper through wall on the front of the store and into the display.

I have to go back to work now and remove all the cliffords with extended warranties and install some dei products.

good luck guys

tim

PhxTRDRunner

Pretty close to what I said..heheh, I like the way you put it tho

..btw, I installed Cliffords up in Washington state, gotta love that atmospheric changes and shock sensors

netZ

sorry, the 2 new clifford solaris' i have only has the xhf antenna from dei. the wire harness is the same as the previous versions of the clifford solaris alarms. you are probably referring to the matrix line from dei, they look like rebadged 500's/550esp's.

whether it's made by dei or clifford it doesn't matter to me... as long as it has the features i want then i'm happy with it.

my gripe with dei is they need to make their remote starts better, it doesn't even shut off if the alarm was tripped except when the brake pedal is pushed, hood pin was triggered or the rpm threshold is too high.

i've stumped other veteran dei viper installers. they can't even figure out how to turn the remote start off in these situations, some suggested disabling the chirp and using the siren's constant output to a relay to trigger the shutdown. that's not a good solution! if the 550esp had a dedicated output for air horns i could have used it to shut down the remote start procedure.

you can easily bypass the viper alarms or any other alarms by removing the alarm brain especially if the starter kill relay is external. if the starter kill relay is set as normally closed as in most alarms, removing the alarm brain will render the starter kill useless. yes, older cliffords with the external starter kill relays are susceptible, but they can be changed to normally open.

if you were to remove the alarm brain off the new g4 iqX000, Solaris or even the AvantGuard4, the starter kill/ignition kill is still in effect.

i never said clifford is downright the best 100% alarm out there, i feel it's the best made, and has the features i want. you are entitled to your opinion and so do i.

congrats to you for being an installer. i'm not an installer, nor would i want to be in your position in fixing other botched installs.
but i've successfully programmed my clifford iq700 many times w/o problems.

netZ


my ol' 99 Toyota 4runner Limited Supercharged of course!