Alarm system questions/issues
 

Hi everyone!
I recently purchased a used 2013 FR-S 10-series. From what I was told it was leased previously by one person before I purchased it from a 3rd party dealer.

Here's my issue:
The alarm system is finicky. I've read several other people's complaints about the honking during arm/disarm and how annoying it is. I share your sentiment. But my case is worse than that.

Ever since I acquired this vehicle the alarm would start going off if the key was simply in the vicinity of the car. Also, within approximately 10 min. of arming the alarm it would start going off unprovoked. The first handful of times this happened I thought someone was breaking in to my car. Then it continued to happen every day, like clockwork.

Apparently it has an aftermarket alarm system because Toyota said they won't touch it (as did the dealer I purchased the car from).

Finally, just a week or so ago, I was approaching my car in a parking lot, hit the unlock button on my remote and the alarm started sounding. I frantically tried to deactivate it to no avail. Finally I just climbed into the car and started it. I thought it was strange but shrugged it off thinking maybe I accidentally hit the "panic" button instead.

This happened several more times (not every time, mind you) until it finally caused my horn to stop working. Now, I have no horn and an alarm system that is pretty much ineffective. I'm assuming the horn is simply a blown fuse, so not a huge deal.

My questions are as follows:

1. Are the dealers giving me the run-around by saying they won't touch this? I'd assume they have an Alarm Company they contract with for customers who want a system installed, so why aren't they directing me to them?
2. What is the stock "alarm"/anti-theft system in the FR-S 10-series? My dealer said they would simply take the alarm system out for me and restore the car to factory, but do I want that?
3. Should I just take my car to a Car Audio shop and have them reprogram/fix my alarm.

Thanks for your insight and advice!

The fact that your horn is out now and that it is so finicky leads me to believe that whomever had the car before you installed the alarm themselves and did a terrible job... probably going to be a nightmare to get fixed.

1. If I were still working at a dealership, I would have told you the same thing.
2. The stock alarm is pretty much the same as the Prius alarm.. it's missing a lot of useful sensors that the aftermarket ones typically have.
3. I would absolutely take it to a professional company and get a quote on fixing it or replacing it.

Alarms are not simple to install and have work properly.. things need to be set in specific ways and certain distances from components and it sounds like your alarm was installed very improperly.

most car audio/alarm shops should be able to fix this pretty easily. i bet it's just a loose wire(s). definitely just yelp a good place and take it in.

Thanks for your replies. I'm going to get the horn fixed by the dealer and probably just find a CarAudio shop to fix the alarm. Hopefully it won't cost too much!