What.The.Actual.Fuck??

That sounds really weird. Memory aint the greatest but I'd be really surprised if that's how they left Canning Vale when we were there. Even still, a copper wire wrapped in red insulation (apart from being very wrong here in WA) will carry current as well as any other coloured wire of the same rating. As for rusty bonnet switches, you can hardly blame Brant OR Subaru for that - eventually they're going to rust regardless of the name. Overall, I can't say I disagree about the systems being unreliable, as it is no secret. There was a time when Brant had one of the better names in the car alarm industry but unfortunately, with time and like everything else, they began to fail...

Yeah, true. I'll take a picture of the mess next time I have the misfortune of removing one. (won't be long)

The earth wire I'm talking about is the one cable tied to the steering column support bar right across behind the glove box and attaches to the M6 nut near the top left of the glove box.