360 Alarm blown (apparently)

I had the alarm battery problem on my (MY'99)360, and also the (MY'99) 456, which has the same unit. It's the backup battery; so even with the battery disconnected the alarm still works. Never heard of it blowing up, but they do fail. I recall that the early units didn't recharge, but now they do (I think!). It's not vital, but you will get Trakbak/Tracker or whomever calling you whenever you move the car. Parts prices must have increased in the last couple of years since the units cost ca. £100 then, and they were both done under warranty.

 

Parts prices have indeed increased recently. I was talking to the chap who serviced my car a couple of weeks ago and he said that in some cases the prices have gone up fourfold.

This is my guess, but since servicing costs for older cars at some dealers have recently gone down (due to the pressure from the independents), I imagine certain distributors are making their profits on the parts instead of the servicing. This is quite devious because, of course, the independents have to get their parts from the same distributor.

 

or cheaper for the older cars.......supplemented by being dearer for the newer cars that most indepentents can't service? perhaps I'm being cynical?!