Car alarms - a big gap in my knowledge!

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
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Tue 27 Oct 2009 22:39
Car alarms - a big gap in my knowledge! - Sofa Spud
I have never owned a car with an alarm. But the next car we buy will probably come with an alarm, as most seem to now.

The problem is that car alarms are one of my pet hates. What I want to know is whether factory-fitted alarm systems are normally able to be switched off. I really don't want a car with one of these anti-social devices going off every time one of my cats jumps on the bonnet. (or tries unsuccessfully to jump on the bonnet if I end up buying the Mercedes A-Class we've set our hearts on!)

Edited by Sofa Spud on 27/10/2009 at 22:40

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Tue 27 Oct 2009 22:43
Car alarms - a big gap in my knowledge! - Manatee
It seems to be less common than it was to have a means of locking the car without setting the alarm, but you need to know for the individual car.

I'd cross that bridge if you come to it. The CRV has an alarm with ultrasonic but has never gone off when it shouldn't.
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Tue 27 Oct 2009 22:46
Car alarms - a big gap in my knowledge! - Sofa Spud
Actuallly, on reflection I did have a car with an alarm once - a 1965 Rover 2000 with an after-market alarm, but that never worked, even when I tried to get it to work out of curiosity, so that doesn't count.
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Wed 28 Oct 2009 07:01
Car alarms - a big gap in my knowledge! - Simon
Most modern day car alarms are no trouble at all, technology has advanced a long way from the aftermarket Harry Moss stuff you used to get. I really wouldn't worry about it.
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Wed 28 Oct 2009 08:44
Car alarms - a big gap in my knowledge! - grumpyscot
Plus, if you car is fitted with an alarm as standard (which will also mean an immobiliser), any attempt to disable it (unless via an option panel or setting provided as standard) voids your insurance.

Only time my alarm has ever gone off was in a 70mph gale that seriously rocked the car. So next time, I simply (through a simple switch option on the Saab) disabled the internal motion sensor (which I regularly did anyway when I left the pooch in the car).

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Wed 28 Oct 2009 10:35
Car alarms - a big gap in my knowledge! - enfield freddy
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GavWTSAfm1g


butterfly distroys house , enjoy
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Wed 28 Oct 2009 13:55
Car alarms - a big gap in my knowledge! - Andy P
Most alarms work on either switches on the doors/boot/bonnet and the ultrasound motion sensors for the interior. If you're worried about the alarm being set off by the latter, most have some way of arming the alarm without activating the internal sensors so you can leave the car with the windows slightly open.

In twelve years, I've never had a car alarm that didn't go off without a good reason (i.e. someone trying to break in).
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Wed 28 Oct 2009 14:06
Car alarms - a big gap in my knowledge! - Sofa Spud
Thanks for the info. My prejudice against car alarms is because where I used to work, and also in the street where I now live, car alarms are always going off and yet as far as I know never because anyone's tried to steal or break into a car. We regularly get car alarms going off at night in our otherwise quiet residential area, and of course house burglar alarms too, which are even worse because if they go off when nobody's at home they keep going for hours.

Edited by Sofa Spud on 28/10/2009 at 14:07

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Wed 28 Oct 2009 16:55
Car alarms - a big gap in my knowledge! - Pondlife
I think there is a law requiring alarms to go silent after 20 minutes or something similar. I find they only sound for about that time before going silent but with the lights continuing to flash.

I actually find car alarms worse than house alarms, because house alarms IMO go silent after 20 mins or so, but some car alarms go quiet and then start again immediately - like they are resetting themselves and then detecting the same reason to start up again.

All in all, I do wonder whether the noise from both car and house alarms is justified based on the number of thefts they prevent versus the amount of disturbance caused by false alarms.
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