Alarm or no alarm on new car order?
 

About to order my MCS. Should I order the factory installed alarm or get an after market because of price and/or quality?

Thanks,
Michael

I ordered the factory one and have no problems with it. I chose to get the factory one because I didn't want to have some aftermarket shop chop up my brand new cars wiring. In my opinion, 500 for an installed alarm system is cheap anyways.

It works fine, it goes beep beep and flashes the lights when I lock the doors and the little led on the dash blinks. But we all know that if a person really wants to steal our cars bad enough they will, no alarm system can stop a professional car thief.

If you're getting an alarm, get it from the factory. I wouldn't want to deal with an additional remote.

Plus I don't think it is a bad alarm system. Seems to be of pretty decent quality at least from what I can see and tell. But I'm not expert by any means. I agree with coyle996. The last thing you want is some shop messing with your brand new car. Most I've found don't do the best work anyway.

Regards,

Pat

the car has an immobilizer in it without getting the alarm. If someone is breaking into a car with an immobilizer, they're either professionals and they'll get the car anyway, or they're trying to steal something you've left in there.

I have the factory alarm and it works well. I think it is worth it but I may be biased.

Factory is the way to go, IMO. I actually had mine installed by the dealer after delivery. It does what I need it to do not a lot of bells and whistles though.
I really like the fact that I can leave the windows down with the alarm on and when you just stick your hand in through the window the motion sensors set the alarm off.

+1 on factory alarm. Besides, you get a COOL pulsing LED atop the tach. :thumbsup:

Not a big fan of alarms (step dad used to have one and it would go off for no reason), but than again I'm in suburbia most of the time and my car is unlocked - so there's really no need for it.

I hated car alarms with a passion... until my car was broken into twice in 3 months.

I still mildly dislike them, but I have to admit that after I got my own alarm (or, at least a blinky light) it hasn't been touched since.

Car alarms are ok if set up right. But a lot of them are set up so sensitive, that they go off with the slightest sound or vibration. A car in my neighborhood is always going off, I just ignore it. Same in parking lots, a car drives by and alarms go off.

If I felt I needed an alarm I'd sure go with the factory installed piece. I'd be afraid with an aftermarket one the installer would screw something up.

I find it odd that the alarm from the factory costs $500, but when you order the alarm from the dealer, it only costs about $300. (Alarm from Morristown MINI $180, Dealer labour 1 hour at $115 an hour) I'd say get it done at the dealer...

IMO, no one even pays attention to car alarms anymore. But if I get one it'll be from the factory.

This question is to someone with a dealer installed alarm. Do you have to carry another remote?

Just yesterday I was reaching into my car (windows were barely cracked) to see how hot it was. I forgot the alarm was enabled and I BARELY got my hand in the window to see how hot the temperature inside the car was when the alarm started going off. I'm glad I got the factory installed alarm and that the motion detector is so sensitive! Even tho another poster stated that no-one pays attention to car alarms anymore, the MINI's alarm light will flash differently than normal to let you know that the alarm had indeed gone off. Another great feature IMO!

I didn't order the alarm on my '09 MCSC. Since you need the key to make the car start (or you need to fool the computer to thinking the key is in range) no teenager is going to take my car for a joyride. Having an alarm will just let me know that someone smashed my window to grab whatever was in my center console, it probably won't stop them from grabbing it though.

I have to disagree with you there.
Think of it as a deterrent and notification system.

I personally feel that it is a deterrent and prevents some a-hole from breaking in in the first place.

The good thing is that you saved $$$ by not getting it at first and you can always add it later by the dealer if you wish. It's not like the bluetooth option is that is huge cost/pain to add later on.

About a month ago someone's car alarm was going off from 4am to 8am. I wanted to go down there and DESTROY THERE CAR. That being said, a properly calibrate alarm shouldn't do that.

I ordered alarm with my car. Until this friday I would have said don't bother. Last friday my car was hit and the alarm went off while I was eating lunch at a restaurant. I went out to investigate and found that the person who hit my car had just pulled in and hit my car with their gigantic SUV door. The driver was still in the car and I asked them to inspect my door as they hit it hard enough for the alarm to go off. They declined saying it wasn't them. So I opened the door and the hit mark matched perfectly to the end of the door. At this point I demanded they give me their insurance information (the damage is through the clear coat and some paint is missing exposing the primer). I wrote their drivers license information and insurance information down.

I did not get my 09 MINI with an alarm, but I'm curious what's the difference between the two prices listed on MINI's site $226 vs $500. Maybe only one of them comes with its own power source? I agree that an alarm is more of a deterrent. Get it before you "actually" need it, so that's my plan.

The $500 one is installed at the factory. The $226 is just the alarm, no installation. You will have to pay the dealer rates for the install on the $226 alarm.

Thanks. I think I saw an earlier post that it can work out cheaper if you buy and install from the dealer vs a factory install. That does not seem fair to the unsuspecting newbie!

my dealer wanted about $700 for dealer-install.

i ended up going aftermarket for the 2-way remote (i do like having a visual reminder on the fob that i actually did lock the car, and visual cues as to which alarm got triggered), but if i had to do it over, i'd go with factory or dealer install.

Thanks, with that $700 quote that sounds like the the alarm is still $500 before install?