meta vs cobra alarms - any views?
Discussion
The foxguard alarm on my '95 griff is finally giving up the ghost and I need a new alarm.
The options chiefly seem to be either a cobra or meta cat 1. A little bird tells me that only meta alarms can stand being inside griffiths and cobra alarms fall apart after a year or two.
Anyone any experience with failing meta or cobra alarms in griffs?
Any info or thoughts gratefully received!
The options chiefly seem to be either a cobra or meta cat 1. A little bird tells me that only meta alarms can stand being inside griffiths and cobra alarms fall apart after a year or two.
Anyone any experience with failing meta or cobra alarms in griffs?
Any info or thoughts gratefully received!
It will be interesting to see what the views of the forum are: Both alarms will cost me about the same to fit. I guess a lot of it omes down to finding a fitter who really knows their way around the Griffith. My local dealer quoted me £220 fully fitted which made even me laugh out loud - I think the alarm units themselves cost that much!.
Good topic - i have always installed Clifford alarms in previous cars and they ahve worked very well - and Meta seem to be an inferior brand (in a marketing/ brand sense). But grif's probably demand different qualities from an alarm compared to metal bodied cars - if you had to install a new alarm - which one is the best?
one thing I have noticed is that the clifford I have now works from a long distance away from the car - the meta i have to be next to the grif for it to work, which is a bit annoying. The amount of times I have had to walk closer to the grif to lock it!
one thing I have noticed is that the clifford I have now works from a long distance away from the car - the meta i have to be next to the grif for it to work, which is a bit annoying. The amount of times I have had to walk closer to the grif to lock it!
Georaphical location (or a willingness to travel) may well play a part in your decision.... I note you are in Notts, but if you resided in the south - it will be a no-brainer and Carl (THE META Man) from CBI will be your first and only choice.
It's worth having a chat to him as he will outline the reasons why a META is the prefered choice for a Griff.
apprentice
It's worth having a chat to him as he will outline the reasons why a META is the prefered choice for a Griff.
apprentice
spw3 said:
well no prizes for guessing who the little bird was but he does seem to be a very experienced chap.
Make an appointment, fill up with Optimax, get to bed early, set your alarm and
get your arse down to Hampshire! You won't be the first (nor the last) TVR owner to have made the pilgrimage to seek out the living legend, that is the MetaMan!
apprentice
I think Meta is standard on all TVRs from ?96 onwards. Only criticism of the Meta alarm & immobiliser in my car is that unlocking the car is supposed to allow starting of the engine for 40seconds before the immobiliser kicks back in - this it only rarely does and I often have to turn off the immobiliser independently even though I have got into the car & tried starting the engine straight away. minor irritant only (?"Oh, they all do that, sir"?)
I have had a Cobra 3198 fitted to my 92 Griff for 6 months now, it has been faultless, it replaced the Gemini unit which had turned into a lump of corrosion even though my car is a dry one, had a similar alarm fitted to a scooby for a year and a half, again faultless.
Fitter, who I trust, said that he wasn't keen on Meta Alarms, although he does fit them if the customer wants, mainly because he is a mobile fitter and if he had to return to the customers car to fix problems he would loose money, rarely does he have to return to Cobra installs if ever.
Around £220-£260 is reasonable. Any more is a rip off.
The main thing with TVR's is that they tend to have very strange alarm and general wiring set-ups, this is why some people charge a fortune for the fitting, just because they know how to do it, but if the fitter is any good it's not too hard to work out, just illogical.
Fitter, who I trust, said that he wasn't keen on Meta Alarms, although he does fit them if the customer wants, mainly because he is a mobile fitter and if he had to return to the customers car to fix problems he would loose money, rarely does he have to return to Cobra installs if ever.
Around £220-£260 is reasonable. Any more is a rip off.
The main thing with TVR's is that they tend to have very strange alarm and general wiring set-ups, this is why some people charge a fortune for the fitting, just because they know how to do it, but if the fitter is any good it's not too hard to work out, just illogical.
I had a meta fitted to my Griff at TMS, thank the Lord under warrenty as they said i would be looking at around £800.
Just to add a little more,when i arm my alarm the indicators flash twice with no chirp of the siren but if a door is not quite shut it will chirp four times.
why is it that some owners alarms chirp when arming and as mine some don't, is there a way that i can get my alarm to chirp when arming?. TMS were unable to help me, any ideas folks?
>> Edited by pasco on Friday 4th November 19:38
Just to add a little more,when i arm my alarm the indicators flash twice with no chirp of the siren but if a door is not quite shut it will chirp four times.
why is it that some owners alarms chirp when arming and as mine some don't, is there a way that i can get my alarm to chirp when arming?. TMS were unable to help me, any ideas folks?
>> Edited by pasco on Friday 4th November 19:38
pasco said:
I had a meta fitted to my Griff at TMS, thank the Lord under warrenty as they said i would be looking at around £800.
Just to add a little more,when i arm my alarm the indicators flash twice with no chirp of the siren but if a door is not quite shut it will chirp four times.
why is it that some owners alarms chirp when arming and as mine some don't, is there a way that i can get my alarm to chirp when arming?. TMS were unable to help me, any ideas folks?
>> Edited by pasco on Friday 4th November 19:38
Most alarms are configurable - I don't know about the metas specifically. Sometimes there's a user level of configurability and a fitter level (more options). If there are no details in your alarm handbook, I'd suggest trawling the net.
97octane said:
Only criticism of the Meta alarm & immobiliser in my car is that unlocking the car is supposed to allow starting of the engine for 40seconds before the immobiliser kicks back in - this it only rarely does and I often have to turn off the immobiliser independently even though I have got into the car & tried starting the engine straight away. minor irritant only (?"Oh, they all do that, sir"?)
There's a link wire between alarm and immobiliser (seperate units I think). Mine broke and I had to disarm the immobiliser seperately until Fernhurst fixed it (many years ago).
Ian A.
A few years ago I had a Meta system fitted to my M5 by a bunch of nobbers called Motorsound (Glasgow). The first time the thing passively armed it frazzled the Electronic Damper Control unit amongst other things. The alarm cost £250 and the damage came to £800. Of course they denied all liability (even though they were caught red handed, so to speak, by BMW main dealer diagnostics). They are, as THEY say, acredited experts (!!), and I was too scared to let them near the car again, so went elsewhere for an uninstall. The very mention of the word Meta brings me out in a cold sweat.:mad
OK, so lets say you have to take the dash off, I didn't but it's still a bastard to get at, but lets say you do at £50 per hr that's £200-£250 and the alarm cost to the supplier really isn't that great, even for arguments sake lets say £180-200, that's £350-£400 for nothing if people are being quoted £750-800!
If you had your car (TVR) serviced and were quoted £400, would you bung the mechanic (however good) £400, just because?
If you had your car (TVR) serviced and were quoted £400, would you bung the mechanic (however good) £400, just because?
Gassing Station | Griffith | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff