Today many cars are equipped with an alarm system. This is not without reason, because it often means great trouble and grief when the car is stolen. If this happens to you while on vacation, it can quickly lead to you leaving early or having to completely rethink your plans. To prevent this from happening, vehicle manufacturers take a number of precautions that make it more difficult to steal the vehicle itself, but also valuables from the car. Other corresponding systems and devices against theft include, for example, the steering wheel lock, the electronic immobilizer or the security code of your radio. The alarm system itself can also be equipped with various refinements that (can) make life a lot easier for you or the police if your vehicle has been stolen.
This includes, among other things, that there are car alarm systems with GPS location. So you can find your car again quickly. Such a function of your car alarm system can also be useful if you live in a big city and no longer know where the car is parked.
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How does a car alarm work and what types of car alarms are there?
While it's not a true working car alarm, a universal car alarm can deter amateur thieves, if only is a dummy. The advantage is that this is particularly cheap to have. The downside, however, is that protecting your car properly relies solely on deterrence.
There are also car alarm systems, for example for the cigarette lighter, which have a SIM card. Such systems use integrated sensors to detect, for example, unusual vibrations/bumps against the vehicle. With the existing SIM card, you can send warning messages to your cell phone – provided that the reception of the cell phone signal is guaranteed.
Car alarm systems for the interior with remote control are offered as further variants. This is often the most expensive option for retrofitting a universal alarm system. In general, some of these systems are not only able to generate extremely loud noises (up to 120 decibels), but can also make the vehicle lighting go haywire. These are activated either manually using the remote control or automatically when you lock your car using the central locking system.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of a car alarm system?
One advantage, of course, is that a car alarm system offers you more security. Especially if you drive a more expensive vehicle model, you can sleep more peacefully. The most frequently stolen vehicles include models from Volkswagen, Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz. However, it should be noted how many vehicles of the respective brands are on German roads. Another advantage is that retrofit alarm systems are usually quite easy to understand because they have detailed operating instructions. You can also find a lot of additional information on the Internet.
The price of such an alarm system for retrofitting does not necessarily have to be high. Systems are already being offered at low prices, which still achieve a really high level of protection. If you invest significantly more money, you can also purchase a car alarm system, which can also detect vibrations. In this case, shaking the car harder is enough to trigger the alarm. This will deter a potential thief at an early stage, because just fiddling around with the car door will trigger the alarm. Speaking alarm systems for your car also have a high deterrent potential. In particular, casual thieves react particularly quickly and abandon their plan as soon as they are addressed directly and their misconduct is pointed out.
The disadvantage is that there are certainly alarm systems for permanent installation, which not every layperson can easily integrate into the vehicle electronics. If you don't want to hire a specialist workshop to do this, you should consider using a car alarm system for the cigarette lighter. This universal alarm system already offers good basic protection and is very easy to install. Please keep in mind, especially with dummy alarm systems, that these can only have a deterrent effect. A real protection is therefore not achieved, also because the dizziness can fly up particularly quickly.
Problems with the alarm system for your car
Of course, car alarm systems can also malfunction. One of the most common problems is that your car alarm goes off for no reason. Something like that can quickly become embarrassing in public. If you are really unlucky, you will even be interrogated by the police afterwards until you can prove that it is actually your car. The cause is usually sensors that are set too sensitively or malfunctions in the electronics and/or sensors. In such a case, especially with retrofitted alarm systems, you can often set the desired sensitivity yourself. In all other cases, we recommend that you contact your trusted specialist workshop.
Conclusion
Alarm systems for the car are quite useful. In some areas, these systems have saved drivers a lot of trouble. It is not always about the car itself, but often also about certain valuables that are in the car. Various brands are now offering very different alarm systems for cars, for example with ultrasonic interior monitoring or with a proximity sensor. This doesn't always make the choice easy when planning to retrofit your car with a universal car alarm. If you decide on a new system, then you should also consider a 2-way car alarm system with a pager and without installation.
A tip from CarTipsandmore: With car insurance theft (and also robbery) is usually covered by comprehensive insurance (partial or fully comprehensive). However, this is only about the vehicle itself and not about other items of value in the car. In addition, you must take your car back if the police manage to find it within a month. However, if the car was damaged as a result of the theft, this will be replaced by your partially comprehensive insurance. Please bear in mind that the agreed deductible still applies.