Alarm confusion

[DoogleMac]

I bought a 2023 premium about 2 weeks ago. The finance guy was very aggressive trying to get me to add on packages. I believe that insurance type type things (extended warranties etc.) are not necessary unless a maintenance problem would cause a financial disaster. Obviously someone is making a profit when they sell it to you. Anyway, by the time he asked me if I wanted to pay to activate the alarm, I wasn’t especially friendly. He said the alarm that comes with a car is just a beep.

My car was in the showroom and before they drove it out. A technician was in the frunk doing something that sparked. Looked like he was putting a little metal square in an opening and screwing it down. He said he was reactivating the alarm. It had been deactivated because the alarm was going off when people opened the doors.

When i turn off the car i get asked if i want the alarm active and i see that there is an alarm sensor that can be turned on and off in settings, but there is no evidence of an alarm. I can rock the car or try to open the doors and nothing happens.

My questions are:
What does the stock alarm do?
What does the alarm that they wanted me to activate for about $500 do?

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[ReverendPete]

Yeah, I'd be suspect of that. Unless there's something I don't know about, the alarm is not a paid add-on. It was never discussed in my purchase, and I just double checked my paperwork, which said nothing about an alarm, so it wasn't something that I was charged for.

Page 101-103 in the manual here talks about the alarm: https://www.fordservicecontent.com/...g_Mach-E_Owners_Manual_version_1_om_EN-US.pdf

It doesn't mention anything about "if equipped..."

 

[DoogleMac]

Thanks
i called the ford 800 number and the person I went through the settings with said he thought I should have an alarm. He said to take it to a ford dealer - it should be under warranty.

The ford dealer I bought it from doesn’t deal with alarms. they sub out alarms and didn’t know if anything was wrong.

I went to another ford dealer in town and they deal with alarms same way — sub out. I talked to the guy who does their alarms and he seemed to think that the stock alarm only activates if someone breaks a window - adding to my confusion.
seems like i read of people on the forum having alarm problem, but maybe that’s been fixed in 2023.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

Thanks
i called the ford 800 number and the person I went through the settings with said he thought I should have an alarm. He said to take it to a ford dealer - it should be under warranty.

The ford dealer I bought it from doesn’t deal with alarms. they sub out alarms and didn’t know if anything was wrong.

I went to another ford dealer in town and they deal with alarms same way — sub out. I talked to the guy who does their alarms and he seemed to think that the stock alarm only activates if someone breaks a window - adding to my confusion.
seems like i read of people on the forum having alarm problem, but maybe that’s been fixed in 2023.

Your car has an alarm and you don’t need to break a window to activate it. But once you hear how pathetic it sounds, you might want to voluntarily pay someone to disassemble and replace it with one that sounds like a pony, not a mouse!

 

[Mach-Lee]

I bought a 2023 premium about 2 weeks ago. The finance guy was very aggressive trying to get me to add on packages. I believe that insurance type type things (extended warranties etc.) are not necessary unless a maintenance problem would cause a financial disaster. Obviously someone is making a profit when they sell it to you. Anyway, by the time he asked me if I wanted to pay to activate the alarm, I wasn’t especially friendly. He said the alarm that comes with a car is just a beep.

My car was in the showroom and before they drove it out. A technician was in the frunk doing something that sparked. Looked like he was putting a little metal square in an opening and screwing it down. He said he was reactivating the alarm. It had been deactivated because the alarm was going off when people opened the doors.

When i turn off the car i get asked if i want the alarm active and i see that there is an alarm sensor that can be turned on and off in settings, but there is no evidence of an alarm. I can rock the car or try to open the doors and nothing happens.

My questions are:
What does the stock alarm do?
What does the alarm that they wanted me to activate for about $500 do?

Sounds like he was reconnecting the 12V battery. There is no separate alarm module.

 

[DoogleMac]

Your car has an alarm and you don’t need to break a window to activate it. But once you hear how pathetic it sounds, you might want to voluntarily pay someone to disassemble and replace it with one that sounds like a pony, not a mouse!

Thanks Greasemonkey
thats my problem, I have never heard the alarm. So I lock my car, leave the fob and my phone in the house. What should I do to set it off.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

Thanks Greasemonkey
thats my problem, I have never heard the alarm. So I lock my car, leave the fob and my phone in the house. What should I do to set it off.

I think pushing on the glass enough to sway the car side to side should do it. I'm out of the country, so can't test it for you.

But no matter what you do, please try not to laugh too hard. My first reaction was to look around and see which Kia made that sound. To my disappointment, it was my Mach-E!

 

[TMartz]

I went on a long trip in which I had my dog with me. Several times when I stopped for a break and leaving my pup inside, I've come to realize that inside motion triggers the alarm. And indeed, the alarm is pathetic - embarrassingly inept given the cost and quality of the vehicle!

 

[Just Lurking]

Thanks Greasemonkey
thats my problem, I have never heard the alarm. So I lock my car, leave the fob and my phone in the house. What should I do to set it off.

Leave the windows down and reach in and wave your arms around (there are motion sensors). Alternatively, have someone else lock you inside then move around the vehicle while inside.

 

[DoogleMac]

Thanks just lurking
am I right the only part of the alarm is interior motion sensors? I would have expected trying to open a door or rocking the chassis. Maybe that is the best type of alarm! Does the add on alarm do anything other than change the sound? Sorry to be such a newbie

 

[Mach-Lee]

Thanks just lurking
am I right the only part of the alarm is interior motion sensors? I would have expected trying to open a door or rocking the chassis. Maybe that is the best type of alarm! Does the add on alarm do anything other than change the sound? Sorry to be such a newbie

The alarm is triggered by:

1. Opening a door
2. Movement inside the vehicle
3. The vehicle being inclined past a certain angle (e.g. wheel jacked up)

You can replace the alarm horn under the frunk panels with a louder one if you choose.

 

[DoogleMac]

Thanks Mach-Lee and everyone else who has clarified this for me!

 

[P. T. Magoo]

The alarm is triggered by:

1. Opening a door
2. Movement inside the vehicle
3. The vehicle being inclined past a certain angle (e.g. wheel jacked up)

You can replace the alarm horn under the frunk panels with a louder one if you choose.

Agree. For what it's worth, I found out by accident that jacking up one corner of the vehicle to rotate tires sets off the alarm, and saying yes to "do you want to disable motion sensors" will keep that from happening.

Also, leaving your unsuspecting spouse in the car without a fob while you bop into and out of the store will have similarly annoying results if you don't disable the motion sensors.

In the spousal-annoyance mode, it takes just long enough for you to be in the store out of earshot to start honking.

Someone earlier said they were probably hooking up the battery when you saw a spark. To me, that sounds reasonable.

Personally, I'm now thinking of replacing the alarm horn with a klaxon horn. That'd be cool!

 

[DoogleMac]

BTW does the “OP” on my profile picture mean that someone has discovered that I am an old person and therefore everyone should ignore what I say??

 

[P. T. Magoo]

I think it means original poster.

If it meant old person I'd have it draped over all 4 corners. Nice looking car BTW!

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