Hi everyone, I own a 2008 Dodge Ram 1500. About a month ago I had my lock punched out & they also tried to punch the steering column. Fortunately for me, my kill switch disabled the truck. So now I am wanting to invest in a good car alarm system. I want one with remote start & two-way pager. So far the local places around here (Kansas City) have tried selling me a Avital 5303 and a Compustar. I know absolutely nothing about car alarms and would really appreciate any feedback/suggestions any of you might have. TIA

 

Viper 5901!! Or any other comprable DEI alarm

 

I would even say nustart if its available. its the same brain as the comparable compustar to the viper 5901. The Viper really doesn't offer many options the nustart isn't capable of and is nearly 2 times the price.

Just my 2 cents

 

i have a viper 5901. hands down the best unit i have ever used.
pay the extra for the name and you wont regret it.

 

The Avital 5303 is a DEI product so i am sure it is a good product.

I am about to get the Viper 5902 with remote start. The brain unit is pretty much the same as the 5901 but with a color remote. The ease of remote functions is what i like (wheel scroll type) because you dont have to fiddle with any sequences (good if you are using multiple aux channels).
Plus the color screen is a bonus.

Being a DEI product The Avital 5303 may also be able to take the same modules used by the Viper/Clifford/Python lines. I also got the 516U voice module which feels so 90's now but still a great fun module to have.

Alarm is only as good as the install. 5% equiment 95% install.

 

Ive got the Clifford 50.7x which is the exact same as the Viper 5901. It is a 2way high range with lots of add-ons and remote start. I absolutely love mine and I bought it off ebay for 250 shipped and BNIB and I installed everything myself.

As said before, all DEI gear is good

 

Thanks guys, I think I will go with the Viper 5901/2 since it seems almost everyone agrees on that one... The first shop I visited pushed the Avital 5303 and said he could do it for $450 installed. The next shop claimed that both the Viper & Avital's two-way pager fails a lot, and pushed the Compustar, saying it was the best brand on the market. He said he could do a Compustar for $650 (1k foot range) or $750 (3k foot range). I think the Avital's range is something like 1.5k feet. So that got me all confused... Again, thanks for your help guys and any other input is always appreciated.

 

I have one of the viper alarms with the 2 way pager and to an extent the one shop is right about the pager. I have had mine for about 3yrs now and the remote will sometimes loose the signal. The truck will stay armed but the pager will show it as unlocked, and wont connect even when standing a foot away from the truck so you have to remove tha battery from the remote and allowe it to restart before it will reconnect and work right. I need to pickup a new remote but they are around $125 for the replacement

 

I had a compustar in my old pickup and I can say that you wont go wrong with that one, it never did fail me, the range is not quite as distant as it claims, but it is still very strong, and its also has quite a few nice add-ons.

 

i have a compustar 1-way and it's never failed me has a 2k ft range