Aftermarket alarm and immobiliser for 90s Japanese

[BrianC1]

Looking for some recommendations on the best aftermarket security system for 90s Japanese cars in particular.

I've a Clifford Concept 650 on my Supra not 100% happy with it or the installer for that matter but won't name anyone here, I'll probably just solve the few issues I'm having on that myself and get a different system on the rest of the cars. Although I suspect most of the issues are due to a poor installation

But there is more in the garage that I'll be getting protected soon so looking for recommendations, both systems and installers.

Couple of systems mentioned are Meta, Viper, Toad and a couple more but no first hand experience with any of them other than Toad which is on my RX7 and I'm happy enough with it nice and simple. I do like the blackjax on the Clifford requiring a pin, similar to the newer autowatch ghost but older tech.

[kdevitt]

I have a Meta alarm on one of my cars, I don't really love it - just seems a bit cheap, down to the tiny little fob - and seems to need to be reset regularly enough. Have a Clifford on another - no issues so with it, or on a previous car. I'm not sure theres a whole lot of benefit to fitting very expensive alarms on older cars though - the cars are basic enough that a decent alarm can be bypassed by someone who really knows what they're doing.

Will be going for another Clifford on my late 80's japanese car soon enough.

[TRD3000GT]

I have the Clifford Concept 650 in the Supra for 13 years , no issues , I reckon alot is got to do with the installation alright

I would try MDS Ireland (Irish Clifford Dealer) , he installed in my Golf, 13 years ago , alarm only started giving me issues this year , but good service off Brendan, Ghost alarm seems to be the one to go for these days , not too sure if just for canbus
https://www.facebook.com/MDSIRELAND/

Gary Ward heard very good things about , GW Autos car alarms, the flavour back in the day was the K9 Alarm, Gary installed in alot of 90's Japs back then
https://www.facebook.com/people/Gary...00004305763648

[Grahamo]

Have the Clifford on my ornament the last 11 years.
Remote start/anti hijack.

No attempts ever.

Old man got ghost & Clifford on his new ST3 Fiesta.(jan 20)
2 days after he collected it...

Fantastic kit.. no attempts and still has it!! ��

Alarm fitters here on our Island are... how do I say.... get the job done...

After seeing how my family old mans ST3 Fiesta was left.... by a top crowd...

I’d have reservations on stuff.

Security wise was fine and still is but the whole leave car and collection after was real bad.

[Titan]

My brother had a fairly high end Clifford alarm fitted to his EK9 back in the mid 2000's that he paid a lot
of money for at the time.

It had among other things tilt sensors, anti hi-jack etc. on it.

For the anti hi-jack system I do remember having to put a code, ie push two black buttons in a certain sequence every time the engine was
started in less than a minute otherwise the alarm would start chirping before the thing went nuts.
Complete pain in the arse, no doubt things have moved on a lot since then.

[Rob_Eng84]

I'd go for GW Alarms, Gary does some very tidy work.

[ondafly]

another vote for Gary - did an install for me in Feb, also did a few extra things I wanted. No issues at all.

[Titan]

I have the Clifford Concept 650 in the Supra for 13 years , no issues , I reckon alot is got to do with the installation alright

I would try MDS Ireland (Irish Clifford Dealer) , he installed in my Golf, 13 years ago , alarm only started giving me issues this year , but good service off Brendan, Ghost alarm seems to be the one to go for these days , not too sure if just for canbus
https://www.facebook.com/MDSIRELAND/

Gary Ward heard very good things about , GW Autos car alarms, the flavour back in the day was the K9 Alarm, Gary installed in alot of 90's Japs back then
https://www.facebook.com/people/Gary...00004305763648

Just reading about that Ghost system their Facebook page,looks to be a very good setup.

Wonder if it works alright through your phone etc.
I'd say having to use some of the car switches every time you get in would wreck your head after a while.

[BrianC1]

Plenty of options here in the replies, thanks guys. I'll chase some of them up and do some more research.

The Ghost is a good system, I had it in a previous modern car, installed in the UK by a very reputable company, I was very impressed with their work and may even get them to secure a couple of cars for me in Ireland if it works out reasonable.

I had contacted a big name supplier here to get the ghost fitted to that car before going to the UK and was told 100% can't be installed on that car not compatible at all with the ECU system, even after telling them there is several companies in the UK installing them weekly they said no it's not possible! That led me to believe they didn't really know what they were doing then and are simply just fitting the devices as per the installation manuals but don't understand the technology behind any of it.

Some of the big name installers in the UK won't set up the phone bluetooth side of it for security reasons unless you really push them on it, whether that's a good thing or not I don't know.

[TPaul]

Hi brian
I got a ghost alarm installed here a few years back, the initial installation didn’t work well at all (car was so secure I couldn’t start it!) but the company sorted with no quibbles and did a full reinstallation; has worked perfectly since. Can pm for details if you want.