Is the SC400 an easy steal ?

[COFFEE]

As always we ask questions and listen to talk from others as if it is gospal.
I have heard from a lot of people that the SC400 is a very hard car to steal and that you should have any probles with theft for this reason.
Personaly the cost of full insurance was very high being younge made it a kill so i opted to spend up big on an alarm and payed $1900 for Patriot alarm system and very happy.
My mate on the other hand took the word of others and simply drove every where showing of his car.
1 year later the car is stolen and found stripped and burnt out, about a month ago !
Well because it was torched and everything melted we have no idea how they stole it, this leaves me wondering are these cars as hard to steal as people have claimed.
Obviously not that hard because there was no smashed glass and it was taken.
Does anyone no of areas of concern that should be looked at ?

Regards

Stephen

 

[Zuffen]

Stephen,

I have a lot of SC400's insured and yes they, like all Grey Imports are easy to steal.

I wouldn't have suggested you spend $1,900.00 on an alarm system as it's overkill. I suppose if it came with a 24 hour guard armed with a .44 magnum I'd call it reasonable.

The most effecctive anti-theft system I have seen is the Brant range of immobilsers they fit to WRX's before they are sold. Brant will fit to almost any car and they cost $400.00 installed or you can have a great alarm system installed by them for under $900.00.

The other effective anti-theft device is to engage your brain before you leave the car. By this I mean don't leave it in any area you wouldn't happilly spend the night sleeping in the same spot. If you don't feel safe why should your car be.

I've lost track of the number of cars I've paid for that were left in dark alleys and plain dumb spots by owners.

 

[COFFEE]

Rod,
If this is the system currently fitted standard to these cars with the key pad, no thanks !
While i would agree that is a lot to pay for an alarm system, i brought this alarm 3 years ago when it first came out and mine was the first soarer they fitted to.
I would expect it to be a little cheaper now.
See at the time my car was worth a few dollars and an eye catcher that along with the fact that i was 22 ment insurence wasn't an option !
The system is called a Patriot alarm and while i do agree the cost sounds crazy i still think the alarm is the best i have seen yet and worth every dollar.
The best thing i like about the alarm that sets it apart from all the others is that you can buy a portable P.I.R. the runs off a 9v battery and responds to the car via infer red. this mens when i am at home or in a friends garage etc the car has a parimeter around it pretected.
your alarmed of any intent before the damage is done.
For me this system is perfect as i rent a unit and there is no house alarm installed.

You should look into it yourself then tell me your opinion as there is to many great features to list, after doing so i am confident that you would agree this alarm would be one of the best if not the best on the market !

Regards

Stephen

 

[Zuffen]

Stephen,

The "keypad" you refer to is the second level of security. The immobiliser is a 3 cut remote system with a further 3 cut laid over the top via the keypad.

The keypad stops someone stealing your keys and immobiliser remote and driving away in your pride and joy.

Over the years I've paid for hundreds of stolen cars and one of the things I've learnt is the more expensive the security system the easier it is to beat.

Whilst I don't know your system I would be surprised if it complied with the Australia Standard and I can guarantee it does not exceed the specs on the Brant. Subaru elected to fit the Brant because it was a cost effective device to prevent theft of the WRX. If Subaru didn't stop the theft of WRX's they would have been forced out of the market. They didn't take the decision lightly.

Nor did they recall 3 years production and install the brant on them to feel good. They had to do it to keep selling cars.

I have a rule and it says the more expensive the car the more marginal the people who sell service or repair them. I fit alarms into the same category.

 

[COFFEE]

Rod,
As i said earlier.
You should check this system out before you categorise the system.
As to the Brant system, WRX's are still being stolen and i am sure some of the problem is due to the company giving out an override code to owners as someone did to my mate when his sytem was playing up.
Anyway, this sytem may be the best value for money but it doesn't prevent them from attepmting to steal the car and absolutly trashing it in the process.
Whilst i can't take the P.I.R. everywhere, externally covers the car in 50% of it resting place which is a massive increase in protection over every other system i have seen.

Regards

Stephen

 

[Zuffen]

I checked out the Patriot Website.

I stopped reading when I saw they would give you a free suitcase if you purchased a system. I figured if it was so good why try to persuade me to buy it with a suit case?

You're right they are still stealing WRX's. We are one of the big players in the WRX market. The last WRX we had stolen was in December 2002 and it wasn't fitted with a Brant (even though we were told it was). We've had a couple stolen with the keys which were taken in a burglary. Only WRX's sold after 2002 have the Brant standard and Subaru are doing a free recall on all 1999, 2000 and 2001 to fit Brants. There are still thousands out there that don't have the Brant.

So far we haven't lost one with the by-pass code but maybe our clients are smarter than your mate and they don't leave the code in their car.

My code is on a card which sits in my office. The code is a 4 unit number that can consist or 99 characters per unit which gives 96,059,601 permutations and the override allows you 3 chances to start the car before shutting down until reset witht he remote.

If your mates cars was stolen by theives who are so lucky they can get the number right in 3 goes they should be entering Loto and retiring.

I'll stick with what I know works rather than an overpriced sytem.

 

[COFFEE]

My mates car was not stolen.
His battery went flat and he was able to restart his BRANT equiped WRX after recharging the main battery after the BRANT system went into limp mode.

The override code i am talking about is another 4digit code which BRANT and Subaru do not give to owners. This other 4 digit code allows the BRANT system to be reset and also change the "user access code" - (the code you have on your card which sits in your office). Basically for WRX owners who are not in the know are forced to pay Subaru Service $50 (+towing to get their car to the nearest dealer) to reset their cars in the event of a loss of power to the module or incorrect entry of "user access code".

This additional 4digit code was introduced to newer model WRXs because in the past theives were able to steal WRXs by removing the BRANT module from one WRX and using that module to start another. By having another 4digit code unique to the car - swapping of modules cannot be performed.

My mate was able to get his other 4digit code after surprising BRANT/Subaru on how he was able to restart his car.

 

[Zuffen]

Coffee,

Wrong!

The thieves removed the WRX ECU and swapped in their own unit so they could steal the car. This is why the Brant system is being installed.

At last count 4 vehicles had been stolen with Brant immobilisers, out of 10,000odd installed. Of these 4, 3 appear to be the work of the owner. I know I had one of the cars and the owner admitted to it.

I wouldn't mind paying $50.00 if I was sure the thieves couldn't disconnect my battery then steal my car.

Does your system do that?

By the way did you get your suitcase?

My advice to you is always carry the cab fair home. That way you won't be made to walk home.

 

[COFFEE]

Rod,
For your information the last reply was from the mate who i refered to earlier that was given an override code and he has a 2001 STI with the Brant sytem and obviously him along with his mates who also have Wrx's don't think so highly !
Sorry Rod I didn't get what type of car you drove or your occupation for that mater ?
As for the pathetic atempt to have a dig, no i didn't get a suitecase with my system which was installed like 3.5 years ago.
I would imagine a system like the Patriot to be hard to sell just on its market price.
Like i said maybe you should look at the system.
But even if you were to do so now, i would hardly expect you to admit you were wrong and what an ass you have been.
I can only imagin that you did look up the system and found no faults and looked for something stupid as a briefcase to bag it.
Better still, find me a car that has been stolen with the Patriot system installed !

Regards

Stephen

 

[COFFEE]

Rod,
Out of curiosity, which site did you look up ?
You know the one that gave you a " free briefcase " !
Because if you had payed any attension, the site you looked up was " Patriot Alarms " But the free briefcase was for there Central Station alarm.
This is not a car alarm, rather a fulltime commercial back to base monitoring system which pages the security office monitoring the site with the information.
This is probably a $10,000+ system !
Check out superalarms in redfern( www.superalarm.com.au ) as thats where my sytem came from but the site doesn't give you the full potntial of the system.
I am using the Flashpoint FP2061 with the Patriot GSM/ GPS and added tilt sensors and PIR which are not listed, the lot intalled costed me $1900.

Regards

Stephen

 

[jibbby]

Pretty hard to steel an SC400 here in the states...Decent factory alarms and coded keys makes it a challenge for most peddy theives...

I think it would be much easier to steel a Camery or Civic...