Factory Alarm. Cost Benefits?

My 98 TDI came with the factory alarm (red LED on the drivers door button supposed to flash to indicate alarm is armed).
The previous owner disabled this factory alarm, and didn’t provide the alarm remote keyfob.
As it’s always been disabled while I own the car, I’ve never had the opportunity to try out this factory alarm so I have no idea how it works or how it compares to other factory alarms.

What are the Costs and Benefits of this factory VW alarm?
What features does this VW factory alarm give you?
How does it compare to the OEM factory alarms that come standard on VW and other automakers new cars today?
Any really bad or undesirable drawback to this alarm?
Any vulnerabilities ie is it well known how to easily effortlessly get past it and break in or steal the car anyway?
If someone bumps the car while parked will it go off?
Does it use the built in horn or does it use its own siren horn?
Can it provide a trigger signal? I’d use this trigger to wake up the android head unit, which would send me a text, and start live streaming video over the LTE data connection to my cloud drive or to a public social media video streaming site.

Most likely the PO disabled it so that it could be started. When the module fails you have to replace it with a very $$$$$$ part or just bypass the ignition wire to the module.
There is no key fob for a MK3. Just a key.

There really is no good option cost vs benefit.
The best thing to do is buy a aftermarket key fob setup and wire it in, buy a OEM MK4 key FOB and hollow it out and make the guts of the aftermarket fit inside. i did it, Its not hard to do and works well, but the problem is that for under $200 you cant get a decent controller that works well, they all fail within a few months to a few years. your going to pay up big $$$$ for anything that does something useful other than honk the horn. I got mine specifically for my horn blasters train horn set up so i could honk it remotely.

Your best bet is to fit up a kill switch on the negative for the battery and a removable steering wheel. no one is going to take your car if they cant start it and cant steer it.
Save your money.

They’re cheap to replace and there is a key fob, aka banjo. Last one I sold was $30+ shipping, for a white box module.

Plenty of cheap aftermarket alternatives, too.... I’d lean this direction.

-Todd

Mongler98 said:

There is no key fob for a MK3. Just a key.

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I have a key fob with mine. It was another retrofit, but it is a mk3 key fob. It's the same one that locks (arms) and unlocks (disarms) the doors.

Does any of the aftermarket alarms, work well enough that they act like they is original, but better?
They don’t look like this entirely separate thing stuck on top of the existing factory alarm?
The factory alarm still looks like it’s there doing it’s thing?
Like, for example, does they also make the red light on the driver door blink?
Does they honk the horn when they be set off?
Does they let you connect a secondary horn and honk that one also when the alarm is set off?
Does they able to flash your headlights make a serious sounding voice announcement and try and call attention to the burglary in progress?
Can they electronically immobilize the car by sending that signal to the white factory alarm box? Or by just doing its own immobilizing by breaking certain connections?

Read this....
http://faculty.ccp.edu/faculty/dreed/Campingart/jettatech/alarmcentralhelp/alarmhelp2.htm

Car alarms have been proven to not deter thieves and to annoy your neighbors.

If you want some peace of mind, go with a tracking service like trackmategps.com

It allows you to track the location of your vehicle, setup geo-fencing, and establish text messaging if the vehicle is started, moved passed a geo-fence, and other criteria. Also, it allows you to remote-shut-off your vehicle if someone has stolen it. Much better than having an annoying alarm that doesn't do much buy annoy your neighbors and you.

In something as old as a 1998, who is going to steal it? If your car was worth stealing, there are thief's that can get past any alarm.

Ol'Rattler said:

In something as old as a 1998, who is going to steal it? If your car was worth stealing, there are thief's that can get past any alarm.

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John Jacksons 1986 Comanche conversion was stolen a few days ago.

Protect anything you don't want to lose, no matter how old it is.

Mongler98 said:

Most likely the PO disabled it so that it could be started. When the module fails you have to replace it with a very $$$$$$ part or just bypass the ignition wire to the module.
There is no key fob for a MK3. Just a key.

There really is no good option cost vs benefit.
The best thing to do is buy a aftermarket key fob setup and wire it in, buy a OEM MK4 key FOB and hollow it out and make the guts of the aftermarket fit inside. i did it, Its not hard to do and works well, but the problem is that for under $200 you cant get a decent controller that works well, they all fail within a few months to a few years. your going to pay up big $$$$ for anything that does something useful other than honk the horn. I got mine specifically for my horn blasters train horn set up so i could honk it remotely.

Your best bet is to fit up a kill switch on the negative for the battery and a removable steering wheel. no one is going to take your car if they cant start it and cant steer it.
Save your money.

Click to expand...

Please stop, you do not know what you are talking about.

EVERY 1998 model Volkswagen sold in the USA had an alarm, a key fob, and of course keyless entry as STANDARD EQUIPMENT.

OP: you can try and buy a couple new fobs and see if you can program them. They are the NOT part of the key like 1999+ cars. They look like a chunky short thermometer sorta. The 1998 (and very early 1999) A3 Jettas and Golfs had a unique CCM too that allowed for the use of these fobs. Your car left the factory with that, and it is still in your car most likely, just need to see if you can pair some fobs to it or not. Do the power locks otherwise work normally? You do not need the fobs to arm/disarm the alarm system, btw. The same function occurs with the key in the door, provided all that is also working properly.

oihammer said:

The 1998 (and very early 1999) A3 Jettas and Golfs had a unique CCM too that allowed for the use of these fobs.

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CCM is the Comfort Control Module?
Just learning about this now.
Is it the white plastic thing on the metal bracket behind the headlight switch?
Does it control alarm, power door locks, power windows, power mirrors, power sunroof, power trunk lock, power hood lock, power fuel door lock?

oilhammer said:

Do the power locks otherwise work normally?

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The power door locks unlock when you press the “up” half of the power lock switch located on the center console under the HVAC controls.
They lock when you press the “down” half of the same button.
When you lock/unlock (or double lock/double unlock) the driver side door with the key, there is no action by the power central locking.
Is CCM supposed to power unlock (or power lock) all doors when I double unlock/double lock with the physical key in the door?

CCM yes, it controls all of those items as well as the alarm.

You most likely have a bad door latch (microswitch inside) and/or a bad door harness (broken wire). Both are pretty common. The door harness has long since been obsoleted, so you are on your own there trying to cobble something together.

So you have two (possibly three) problems. The two above mentioned and the lack of fobs. Chances are your CCM is fine, and the old fobs' are still paired to it, but obviously will not do you any good. New fobs will have to be programmed.

Your alarm is probably perfectly fine, in that all it is is a function of the CCM. But since you have no way to "arm" it, you won't really know if it is able to work.

I should probably look close up zoom in on the CCM connector and see if the previous owner bypassed the alarm with that trick of connecting the two thick red wires together.

Ol'Rattler said:

In something as old as a 1998, who is going to steal it? If your car was worth stealing, there are thief's that can get past any alarm.

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Thieves steal older run-down cars to use as get-away cars for more lucrative robberies. They steal the older car, remove the license plates, and conduct their bigger robbery. It's rather common. By using the older car, it makes it harder to track the criminal down, because they can't be traced back to the car they just stole.

My point in having a strong (yet low cost by re-using the factory security CCM that came with the car tor free, and adding a bit more modern tech like GPS and video streaming) is not to totally prevent any crime, but to maximize the deterrent AND make the chance of recovery as close to 100% as possible.
Also, I want this Jetta to feel competitive with a 2019 car, with passive keyless entry, alarm, wireless fob, and the ultimate goal: silent alarm starts HD cameras on all four sides of the exterior and interior cabin cam streaming 1080p night vision video to the cloud drive or video streaming site (youtube or others).

Are you serious....? You’re trying to make a basic, factory alarm from the 90s, do all that?

I just looked at your rust thread. Nobody is going to steal it.

-Todd

ToddA1 said:

Are you serious....? You’re trying to make a basic, factory alarm from the 90s, do all that?

I just looked at your rust thread. Nobody is going to steal it.

-Todd

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^^^^^ FTW

Also, I want this Jetta to feel competitive with a 2019 car, with passive keyless entry, alarm, wireless fob, and the ultimate goal: silent alarm starts HD cameras on all four sides of the exterior and interior cabin cam streaming 1080p night vision video to the cloud drive or video streaming site (youtube or others).

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That's a crazy list. Unless your Jetta has $20k in custom mods, chips, engine enhancements, carbon fiber, body panels, rims, stereo, and other silly crap, there should be no reason to put all that surveillance on it. Like I mentioned before, hide a trackmateGPS on it, and if someone steals it, you'll get a text message and a map of its current location. Pretty cheap and easy.

Methinks in this country, having a 3rd pedal will thwart many car thieves. Besides, the preferred method now is just carjacking at gunpoint. The alarm won't help with that.

What WILL help is simply living in a place you needn't worry about these things.

1. The factory alarm already does the alarm part, and is free.
2. Passive keyless entry is $20, and can work together with the factory alarm.
3. The challenge is to do all the rest of this (gps, cameras streaming to the net) for very low cost like less than $30 in parts, I think I’ve got the solution, it’s to repurpose smartphones (a few years old) as hidden WiFi streaming video audio security cams.

I just saw your rust thread, LOL.... yeah, that car's an organ donor on wheels. I wouldn't spend a dime on it beyond putting fuel in the tank and making sure the fluids are full and the tires have air and tread.

Much of this sounds like overkill, just get a remote, add a wire to the white box to extend range of the remote, then be happy that it works and you can lock/unlock without using the key.

As for camera, there are some inexpensive units out there that would be better than repurposed cell phones.

Steve

In order for your cellphone mod to work, you would need night-vision or infrared, because the car thief is likely going to steal at night. AFAIK, most cell phones don't have night vision. Unless you are an electrical engineer and programmer, Steve's suggestion of getting a cheap camera system is better.

I'm not sure why you want to use cameras and cell phones. What will that accomplish? Take the picture of the person who is stealing your car? What good will that do you? The cops are not going to launch an investigation of your $1000 car based on a grainy photo of a hooded car thief.

Streaming Video to the net plus gps tracking is required to get police to do anything useful.
Gps proves where it is.
Video proves who.
Suppose bad guy takes car AND steals something out of it (could even be the $20 dash cam).
WITH THE VIDEO and gps, the police MUST do something to enforce the law, because they have everything they need to react fast, get a warrant to enter guy’s place, get me back my dash cam, and charge the guy with petty burglary of my dash cam, and larceny of my vehicle.
Without both gps AND video, the police can just shrug and argue why they shouldn’t even try to enforce the law.

Maybe the police in your area have a lot less to do, but if I handed my neighborhood cops a video file and GPS coordinate, they would take down my report and stash it in a file drawer for a decade. They don't have to do anything, especially if no one was physically hurt. Especially if the theft was under a hundred bucks.

Unless the criminal says their name and address in the video, a picture of the criminal isn't going to identify who it is. And it's not like the police have facial recognition software to scan your picture against a list of known thieves. This isn't hollywood.

Your only recourse with a car theft is to install a GPS, and track it on your smart phone. Do a remote shut-off, let the thieves exit the disabled car, and go pick up your car with your spare key. The cops will only find your stolen car if it has been illegally parked, blocking traffic, or if it was involved in a more violent crime. Only then, will they call you, and by that time, the criminals will have already trashed it, totalled it, or parted it out.

LOL....The Thread of the month.

looks like OP is 10 years late to the MK3 party!
all that rust, aint no one taking your car bro, all they will do is break your window and take your crap you put in it to make it baller and leave the rusted shell the hell alone.

Guys, it sounds like there’s some misperceptions of how the law works. First the car is worth less than $5000. Around here, theft of this car is a criminal charge of Larceny in the 3rd degree, a Class D felony, punishable by 1 to 5 years prison, plus up to $5000 fine. So you better believe I’m building this streaming video addon to the factory alarm, without it, people can just laugh at you like sone of you are doing here. With it, you’re well protected, and the tracking takes it to the next level, there’s no need for facial recognition like is commonly used in other countries right now, the thief prob drives back to his place or a place associated to him, bada bing, let the cops nab him immediately.
https://law.justia.com/codes/connecticut/2005/title53a/sec53a-124.html

Had a problem in my area of older vehicles being stolen and taken directly to the scrapyard. They just pull up in broad daylight and snatch it on a trailer and gone. i think if it is over 15 yrs old, no title needed to sell as scrap.

The police finally caught the guys. They've probably got out by now and moved their operation to a different state.

Jetta SS said:

Had a problem in my area of older vehicles being stolen and taken directly to the scrapyard. They just pull up in broad daylight and snatch it on a trailer and gone. i think if it is over 15 yrs old, no title needed to sell as scrap.

The police finally caught the guys. They've probably got out by now and moved their operation to a different state.

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That’s the kind of risk we need to be prepared to prevent, with a tracker and alarm triggered streaming video.
In Alabama, theft of a car worth between $1500 and $2500 is a Class C felony punishable by 1 year to 10 years in state prison.
https://law.justia.com/codes/alabama/2016/title-13a/chapter-8/article-1/section-13a-8-4/

Just keeps getting better.... I mean, law enforcement and the judicial and penal system SHOULD concentrate on rusted out 20+ year old turd cars being stolen. It is a national epidemic. Don't worry about drugs, guns, human trafficing....for heaven's sake, ARREST THE CRAPPY VOLKSWAGEN THIEVES!