what brand r/s do you like

I have installed a few Viper systems but from what i have been reading it seems like DEI is starting to put out junk. What system do you guy's recommend? I'm going to install in my daughters 2000 celica I want a R/S with keyless entry.

I use DEI everyday. They are absolutely fine. It usually comes down to installer error for a bad brain.

Stick with a name brand. DEI (Avital, python, viper, clifford), Compustar, Audiovox (Prestige, panther)


I use the 4103 Avital everyday. or the one button version 4113. They are bulletproof with good range.

I like using crimestopper's RS4-G4. It is simple to install and provides the features you'll need for generally every install. Also the unit is about half the price of DEI's over priced units full of features that'll proly never be used. The size of most DEI units is like putting a suit case under the dash too.

DEI's units are a little more advance to program than the Crimestopper units which will make your life easy. The Crimestopper unit is extremely reliable too. I've put in thousands of units and have only had maybe 10 that were defective but warrantied.

I hate to say this but if you ask for remote start recommendation on this forum you are gonna get solely DEI recommendations "it's sickening".

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I drink current, eat ohms, and bleed voltage

If you look in the Car Security and Convenience forum and notice what units people are having issues with and questions about it's 90 percent DEI units. I guess that speaks for itself. Putting DEI units in for 7 years and switching to a different brand made me realize what I was missing.

Sorry about my strong opinionated rambling.

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I drink current, eat ohms, and bleed voltage

I agree, DEI isn't what they used to be. Compared to Avox they are harder to install and programming is rediculous. We carry both and the Avox/Pursuit wins hands down...

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Mike M2
Tech Manager
CS Dealer Services

cmk0808ny wrote:

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I use DEI everyday. They are absolutely fine. It usually comes down to installer error for a bad brain.

Stick with a name brand. DEI (Avital, python, viper, clifford), Compustar, Audiovox (Prestige, panther)


I use the 4103 Avital everyday. or the one button version 4113. They are bulletproof with good range.

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I've personally had 4 DEI brains go bad on me in the past year or so. My personal vehicle just wouldn't remote start sometimes (I would hit the button, the lights would flash and nothing else would happen... not even an error). My wife's Jeep was the latest that started with an internal short for the GWA wire causing the internal starter kill relay to stay activated. And now there is something else going on with the remote start. I have a thread explaining it better.

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Kenny
Owner / Technician
KKD Garage LLC
Albany, NY 12205

Thanks for the replies im thinking of chrimestopper or compustar

It's all down to profit!
Back in the day Clifford was the best, most reliable, best boards made in the US but clunky.
Over here we only get Viper unfortunately, I've had customer's bring in the odd Avox, I find the install guide confusing, the OLED remote is garbage.
Compustar appears to be the spiritual successor to the old Cliffords.
We are installing 10-12 5X04 units a week.
No problems, BUT 3 months later they fail!

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Amateurs assume, don't test and have problems; pros test first. I am not a free install service.
Read the installation manual, do a search here or online for your vehicle wiring before posting.

in my experience between DEI and audiovox, the problems i get with each are about what and what. maybe not recently as i havent installed dei alarms regularly in a long time, a few here and there but thats it. anyway, for my money i choose viper over audiovox, true the viper can be tricky to program without a bitwriter but i have one so programming is nothing to me. to me audiovox just lacks features that i consider basic like a timed delayed start for diesels and some convenience features that are standard on mid level and up DEI units like the ability to delete the door trigger error chirp when there is a dome light delay. dumb features like that just make for a better experience as a user.

as far as problems ive had with audiovox, the range is very subjectable to outside interference, many many many times ive had complaints from people who cant get the alarms to respond even standing right next to the car and ive seen it plenty of times with my own eyes too. their 2-way systems are spotty at best, the communication is usually very delayed if it happens at all. the other major problem i get with audiovox is they like to drop power on the ignition or accessory wires for no apparent reason, ive had this happen twice on friends cars and it likes to happen a few months after the alarm has been installed and working just fine until one day it just quits. this is a big big problem because if you try to start the car with the wrong wire not getting power it can throw engine and trouble codes and in rare cases can hurt the car.

no alarm is completely without problems and i guess DEI has been going down hill fast over the years that i havent been installing them and its probably true that installer error has a lot to do with many of the problems, when you are the most popular you will inevitable have more installers with less training than they should have trying to install these alarms and they arent very forgiving of bad wiring mistakes.

ive heard good things about ultrastart but i have never used or installed one.

autopage...junk
scytek...junk

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X 2 with soundnsecurity.
Except could it be down to sheer volume.
I'm just guessing from this side of the pond but I bet DEI outsells the other brands by let's say 4-1.
Assuming the same build quality and installer levels of competence, shouldn't you get 4 times the complaints about DEI?
From about 1992 until about 2010 Clifford ruled the roost in the UK BUT it took a certain amount of competence, thoroughness and sheer bloody minded attention to detail to install them.
They only allowed certain people, and we all knew each other to install them.
You could charge top dollar and they backed you up, warrantee etc.
Then along comes the takeover, they sell the Chinese made kit to all and sundry without proper training, managed to almost kill the market.

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Amateurs assume, don't test and have problems; pros test first. I am not a free install service.
Read the installation manual, do a search here or online for your vehicle wiring before posting.

see that phrase "proper training" it means a lot and not very many installers get it these days, not something you can pick up from reading a book or watching someone else install and far too few employers are willing to train AND supervise newer installers until they have seen enough to make good installation decisions by themselves.

a lot of problems that get reported as being a bad alarm brain or a fried output are just the results or a misplaced wire or a wire that got pinched from being ran where it shouldnt be, or knowing when and how to use a relay so that you dont fry an output. these are all installer errors that most often get reported as a bad brain because it will fry a brain the first time so it just looks like it was bad out of the box.

i am totally guilty of just about any mistake you can think of and that is just a fact about this business, it is very hard to learn and not F things up occasionally

so thats why i say that you cant really judge an alarm by certain problems like a bad brain. failure to program, range issues, com issues keypad durability and outputs that go out months after the install are better factors to judge an alarm on

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Again, X 2.

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Amateurs assume, don't test and have problems; pros test first. I am not a free install service.
Read the installation manual, do a search here or online for your vehicle wiring before posting.

soundnsecurity wrote:

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in my experience between DEI and audiovox, the problems i get with each are about what and what. maybe not recently as i havent installed dei alarms regularly in a long time, a few here and there but thats it. anyway, for my money i choose viper over audiovox, true the viper can be tricky to program without a bitwriter but i have one so programming is nothing to me. to me audiovox just lacks features that i consider basic like a timed delayed start for diesels and some convenience features that are standard on mid level and up DEI units like the ability to delete the door trigger error chirp when there is a dome light delay. dumb features like that just make for a better experience as a user.

as far as problems ive had with audiovox, the range is very subjectable to outside interference, many many many times ive had complaints from people who cant get the alarms to respond even standing right next to the car and ive seen it plenty of times with my own eyes too. their 2-way systems are spotty at best, the communication is usually very delayed if it happens at all. the other major problem i get with audiovox is they like to drop power on the ignition or accessory wires for no apparent reason, ive had this happen twice on friends cars and it likes to happen a few months after the alarm has been installed and working just fine until one day it just quits. this is a big big problem because if you try to start the car with the wrong wire not getting power it can throw engine and trouble codes and in rare cases can hurt the car.

no alarm is completely without problems and i guess DEI has been going down hill fast over the years that i havent been installing them and its probably true that installer error has a lot to do with many of the problems, when you are the most popular you will inevitable have more installers with less training than they should have trying to install these alarms and they arent very forgiving of bad wiring mistakes.

ive heard good things about ultrastart but i have never used or installed one.

autopage...junk
scytek...junk

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FYI, all Avox Rs units have a Deisel delay. It is programmable in 5 second increments. Also, all Avox alarms have the ability to delete the dome delay chirp. Very simple to program, just arm disarm 3 times ina row and shut the door. It calculates the delay and programs itself. The 2 way is junk and needs a total revamp IMHO. rediculaously long delay when arming. Never experienced the dropped power you describe, but for a while they had an issue where they would just stop working and you would have to unplug and plug it in again to get it going. This was an issue fixed a few years back....

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Mike M2
Tech Manager
CS Dealer Services

soundnsecurity wrote:

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see that phrase "proper training" it means a lot and not very many installers get it these days, not something you can pick up from reading a book or watching someone else install and far too few employers are willing to train AND supervise newer installers until they have seen enough to make good installation decisions by themselves.

a lot of problems that get reported as being a bad alarm brain or a fried output are just the results or a misplaced wire or a wire that got pinched from being ran where it shouldnt be, or knowing when and how to use a relay so that you dont fry an output. these are all installer errors that most often get reported as a bad brain because it will fry a brain the first time so it just looks like it was bad out of the box.

i am totally guilty of just about any mistake you can think of and that is just a fact about this business, it is very hard to learn and not F things up occasionally

so thats why i say that you cant really judge an alarm by certain problems like a bad brain. failure to program, range issues, com issues keypad durability and outputs that go out months after the install are better factors to judge an alarm on

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I agree 100%... and I did fry one of my remote starts because I misconnected the trunk release output on a relay (I was a little tired at the time). However, the latest 2 issues I've had were in perfectly working vehicles and it just decided to stop working. I went through my wife's Jeep with a fine tooth comb checking for pinched wires and the install was still perfectly fine. It truly was a brain gone bad.

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Kenny
Owner / Technician
KKD Garage LLC
Albany, NY 12205

Just in, 18 month old install, Avital 3300*, not responding to either remote, the two way is dead, i.e. doesn't light up even with a battery change.
A wasted morning visiting the customer next Friday.
*Officially there are no 2 way plain alarms imported into the UK although we grey import 3303s.

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Amateurs assume, don't test and have problems; pros test first. I am not a free install service.
Read the installation manual, do a search here or online for your vehicle wiring before posting.

thats interesting, are you sure all audiovox alarms have the delay and the chirp delete, i havent used anything other than the aps997c and ive been up and down the manual a hundred times looking for those features. maybe its just the basic aps25c that im thinking of. i am pretty sure i have never seen anything to do with diesel delay. i think setting 5 is the tach, voltage, virtual tach setting.

yea im not saying all bad brains are caused by bad installs, sometimes its just a bad brain or a power surge from changing a battery or something else, it does happen.

audiovox 2 way communication is total garbage and i have had to reset a few brains because they were unresponsive.

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For sure the 997c has both. the dome delay is on page 27. I know it's there because i do about 5 a week for a Honda dealer and use the dome wire on them myself. Like i said, arm/disarm 3 times and the light goes solid, then shut the door and when the light goes out it will chirp again to let you know it's programmed the delay(much easier than DEI). 

Diesel delay is bank 3, program 11....

On the 25C dome delay is on page 5...

Can't agree more on the 2way, but honestly i think they all are all junk. In todays technology you would think someone could make a quality 2 way that meets all our demands...

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Mike M2
Tech Manager
CS Dealer Services

Mike, I think I gotcha after 6 years!
Why in heaven's name would you need dome supervision on a Honda?
Like Toyotas and BMWs it's built in to the car and shuts down immediately on lock.

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Amateurs assume, don't test and have problems; pros test first. I am not a free install service.
Read the installation manual, do a search here or online for your vehicle wiring before posting.

On Toyota and Honda it's much easier to use the dome as an all door trigger than get separate ones. Problem is that both have a 2 second delay from when the door locks until it goes out so Avox chirps 3 times, then another chirp when the light is out. We program the delay to eliminate all the chirps...

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Mike M2
Tech Manager
CS Dealer Services

yea audiovox is stupid with the amount of chirps it gives you when it senses a door still open. id say the 2-way on my older model 5901 is pretty decent and i still have an old 791xv in a bag that was nice too even with my whole truck tinted including the whole windshield i still get decent reception. i have the antenna mounted to the roof under the headliner instead of on the glass

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That's what I do but DEI doesn't show, 10 second settle time.
The point being your wasting your time with dome supervision on these cars.
Just out of interest, I did a Renault Master Van today, looks similar to a Sprinter, 5704, DB-ALL D2D. Thus European software and it actually worked out of the box. Manual transmission diesel.
Amazing.

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Amateurs assume, don't test and have problems; pros test first. I am not a free install service.
Read the installation manual, do a search here or online for your vehicle wiring before posting.