or do they like to startle people with the alarm set from far away?
Often, YES. My daughter, a few years back, owned an old beat up Ford Pinto station wagon. YUP, you guessed it. It was stolen. unbelievable!
car alarms are sold to people who think their stuff is worth more then it is. after all, there is insurance that covers theft of vehicles, so an alarm is not necessary. an alarm is just to alarm people.
I have an alarm on my car, I can still drive it with the alarm on so all it is, is a lot of noise. It would attract the attention of someone though if it got stolen as' the alarm cant be turned off without the remote. I tried it before. And not all cars with alarms are clunkers as you put it. Some have really expensive cars.
No, waste of both your money and time.
