so took my XJS to two shops and one mobile installer and nobody wants to install an alarm because they didn't want to touch the wiring, plus there is too much wiring involved. ARG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Any thoughts? Should I even bother with the alarm?

 

I've never seen the point of car alarms. They just go off and annoy people. The good thieves that want to steal the good cars either turn up with a flatbed and lift it, or they have a laptop "with an app for that" and they can get round almost any alarm.

It is, however, nice to have remote locking, especially as you are having problems with sticky key barrels.

I have one of these installed.....
As you can see, it has 4 outputs. 2 are momentary (I use those for lock and unlock) and 2 are latched. I use the first latched one for turning on the interior lights so I can see if there are any werewolves hiding in the car before I get in it at night. I use the second latched output to allow me to run my fuel pump remotely. I have battled with hot starting problems since I got the car, and I narrowed it down to fuel evaporation and/or vapour lock in the fuel rail. Even though my car has a "hot start" system which is technically working as it was designed, I always had problems starting the car when it was hot. I now walk up to the car. Unlock it. Set the fuel pump to run. Get in. When I put the ignition key in and turn the ignition on, the remote anything system is disabled automatically (so I can't get in to the situation where my fuel pump stays running after I've turned the car off) It has completely solved my hot start problems.

Anyway, I digress. Fit what you want, but I'd be surprised if an auto installer would want to mess with an XJS. For me I only think the convenience for remote locking is worth any effort and I was able to fit it myself.

 

Yeah, I guess I'm looking for piece of mind knowing that it has one installed. I intend to park it in my garage (once I can actually get around to cleaning out my garage to make space) since its not a DD. I use my Benz for that.

By the way, I saw the interior pics of your '92 XJS. UNREAL!! The PO on my '90 XJS had the interior redone, but it was a shotty job. All the panel joints are really poofy and nothing fits snug and tight like your panels seem to look.

 

I recently had an alarm system with keyless entry installed in my '92 by a local audio shop, and they didn't seem to think the task was too daunting. They had some seasoned installers but any good shop should.

The main benefit was certainly getting keyless entry which works great. My car is a convertible so the effectiveness of an alarm can be questioned. Even the installer commented that the blinking alarm light on the console is the most effective part of the alarm. Maybe it's enough for the thief to move on to the next car. It also has a motion sensor, a DEI 508D, with adjustable sensitivity, with a warn away chirp if someone is lingering around the car or reaching into the cabin while the top is down.

 

@Noah

Where did your shop put the alarm brain ?

The facelift cars are pre wired for an alarm. The multiplug is in the trunk, on the right hand side, underneath the aerial mast. Once you have the wiring diagram it's pretty easy to install any aftermarket alarm as there are wires in the multi plug for everything, ie door lock/unlock, horn honk, headlight flash, door open / trunk open sensing, interior light supervision..... I have my remote anything connected here to control the door locks and interior light (and that way its close to the fuel pump for the other function it serves)

 

They put the brain behind the driver side under scuttle, basically under the steering column. There was a very old aftermarket alpine alarm brain there that didn't work anymore. I've seen that multiplug in the trunk but didn't think about telling them to use it. There is an alarm valet button on a wire attached to the brain so it made sense to put the brain where I can access the valet button easily.