Radar detectors

Do radar detectors work/ Worth the money?

  • YES

    Votes: 27 64.3%
  • NO

    Votes: 15 35.7%

  • Total voters
    42
  • Poll closed .

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mike1944

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There's a lot of LEOs on the corvette forum.

A lot of them say the same thing ...if you are speeding, get pulled over, and you have a radar detector .....no mercy. You are getting a ticket.
 

Kman

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There's a lot of LEOs on the corvette forum.

A lot of them say the same thing ...if you are speeding, get pulled over, and you have a radar detector .....no mercy. You are getting a ticket.

One click of the RJ-45 connector and slide the V1 out of its mount and it's in my center console. They would never know.

I've never had even a remotely close call since installing my V1. Get at least a half mile warning.
 

Lidog

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Im wondering if that red camera warning works. We have a ton of those in my town - that would be so cool to have. How the heck did they figure that out?

I live in nassau county and the red light cameras are everywhere! I have had my 9500ix since december and so far there is only 1 camera light it doesnt recognize and its probably because there are two camera lights near each other and the gps isnt refined enough to realize that its two different lights. ****** has a database full of the these lights and it gets updated frequently. So far its only saved me from one ticket.
 

SHWELL

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V1 owner for years.. Been upgrading for over a decade.. No tickets since aquiring it.. There may be newer/better units, but this unit has worked great for me. I think it is time for an update..
 

09tahoehybrid

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Oh, I see what you're saying -- that was $$ just to get it to WORK again? Yipes. Not good.

I seem to remember the software-only upgrades costing nothing or some nominal amount. And, it's been a while, so I thought I'd go for this (costly) update...

Yeah, I'd highly recommend getting a V1 and calling it a day. You probably already know this, but Mike Valentine was the head engineer at ****** before going off on his own. So, I believe that the V1 flat-out works.

I'm pretty sure Valentine will charge at least $90 to fix a broken unit that is out of warranty. Also, Mike Valentine left ****** back in 1993! A lot has changed since then, so I dont know how thats really important?
Believe me, I know firsthand how useless Escorts customer service can be. But they simply have the superior product. At the end of the day use what works best for you. I got the V1 first, thinking it was the best out there, but it simply gives way too many false alerts. Not only was it annoying, but I never really could trust it.

Just my $.02
 

KMeloney

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There's a lot of LEOs on the corvette forum.

A lot of them say the same thing ...if you are speeding, get pulled over, and you have a radar detector .....no mercy. You are getting a ticket.

You should start a "Once you get pulled over..." thread. This is more of a "Don't get pulled over" thread. ;)




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KMeloney

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I'm pretty sure Valentine will charge at least $90 to fix a broken unit that is out of warranty. Also, Mike Valentine left ****** back in 1993! A lot has changed since then, so I dont know how thats really important?
Believe me, I know firsthand how useless Escorts customer service can be. But they simply have the superior product. At the end of the day use what works best for you. I got the V1 first, thinking it was the best out there, but it simply gives way too many false alerts. Not only was it annoying, but I never really could trust it.

Just my $.02

It's only relevant about Mike because he was largely responsible for making the best detectors THEN, and unless the guy has just been hanging out since then, I suspect he's still trying to make the best detectors NOW.

I agree -- like golf clubs, get what works best for you.




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KMeloney

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Felix -- Just go right through the valentine1.com site. I don't think they can be had elsewhere (unless there's a grey market, which I wouldn't mess with for this).


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gnarpow

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I'm pretty sure Valentine will charge at least $90 to fix a broken unit that is out of warranty. Also, Mike Valentine left ****** back in 1993! A lot has changed since then, so I dont know how thats really important?
Believe me, I know firsthand how useless Escorts customer service can be. But they simply have the superior product. At the end of the day use what works best for you. I got the V1 first, thinking it was the best out there, but it simply gives way too many false alerts. Not only was it annoying, but I never really could trust it.

Just my $.02

I can handle a few false alarms for the cost of better customer service, a product that doesn't have built-in obsolescence (it's the second time that i've had to send it in because it "lost calibration") and the directional awareness which I now believe is a huge advantage. You don't think its a big deal until you have a detector without it.
False alarms? If there's radar out there I want to know about it. In town just turn down the sensitivity or turn the unit off. I don't speed in highly populated areas...
 

stevek

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New detector every few years for $400+ because new technology comes out, or a $190 upgrade with a V1 to get the same thing?
 

ezdaar

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who needs a radar detector? when you can drive This!

CAPEAstealth_swinston.jpg
 

KMeloney

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who needs a radar detector? when you can drive This!

CAPEAstealth_swinston.jpg

I've heard of Ford as the Blue Oval... But what's the blue square (with a question mark in it)?

---------- Post added at 03:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:00 PM ----------

New detector every few years for $400+ because new technology comes out, or a $190 upgrade with a V1 to get the same thing?

Not following you here...
 

gnarpow

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I think he's saying that with the V1 you can simply update the unit every few years. Other brand detectors go obsolete after a certain amount of time.
 

Autbond

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Ok, bottom line...radar detectors are ONLY useful when the officer has his/her radar gun set to the "on" position, so whether the detector was $80 or $500 it wouldn't work. Now, the Valentine 1 is the best of the best, but again..it won't help you if the cop is only turning the radar gun on to pop you, it will just let you know that you're about to get pulled over and to put that beer in the back! haha. The V1 is worth it though!

---------- Post added at 03:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:03 PM ----------

What about JAMMERS? is anyone using one with success??
There was a retired police officer that actually tested all the radar "jammers" that were available at the time (I think about 4 years ago) and none of them actually worked. I can't be sure about the new technology, but from what that guy said.. none of them were worth it.
 

Modded

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For all I know, my ****** 9500ix detector has saved me from at least 10 tickets that I can remember over the course of almost 2 years.
Ranging from knowing an officer is ahead so I can roll down my illegally tinted windows, to speed traps, and red light cameras.
The detector cost me only $500.
Just one speeding ticket, plus consequent insurance rate increase due to my age and that ticket will definitely be more than $500.
Just that one save makes the detector completely worth it to me, so those that have never had it can keep on talking! :D

---------- Post added at 03:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:50 PM ----------

On the contrary, a jammer is completely illegal in the US.
A laser shifter is not illegal, but it is not worth it to me because a good one is approximately $1000 and all that device is gonna do is attract traffic officers to my car and piss them off.
Leading to unnecessary searches and harassment.
 

stevek

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For all I know, my ****** 9500ix detector has saved me from at least 10 tickets that I can remember over the course of almost 2 years.
Ranging from knowing an officer is ahead so I can roll down my illegally tinted windows, to speed traps, and red light cameras.
The detector cost me only $500.
Just one speeding ticket, plus consequent insurance rate increase due to my age and that ticket will definitely be more than $500.
Just that one save makes the detector completely worth it to me, so those that have never had it can keep on talking! :D

---------- Post added at 03:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:50 PM ----------

On the contrary, a jammer is completely illegal in the US.
A laser shifter is not illegal, but it is not worth it to me because a good one is approximately $1000 and all that device is gonna do is attract traffic officers to my car and piss them off.
Leading to unnecessary searches and harassment.

My V1 has saved me from at least 100 tickets since I started driving. Can't put a price on still having a drivers license.

Also on radar jammers... I think that active jammers are illegal, but passive ones are not. Meaning ones that are constantly jamming signals are active, and passive only turn on when it detects a radar gun.
 

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