Scion tC Factory Alarm

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so i recently found out that my car was equipped with the factory alarm - i tried to open the door by unlocking it from the inside (windows down) and the horn blasted me (this was inside my garage so it was 10 times worse)... but on the bright side, the relay i installed to protect my HIDs from just such an occasion works like it's supposed to haha!

my question in: whats included with that package? Carmax apparently had no clue that the car was equipped with this b/c it wasn't ever specified on any paperwork. I'm kind of excited because if it's a worthwhile investment (even though i didn't really pay the extra amount to have it done, someone else did) then that means that I don't have to pay an extra $400+ on an aftermarket alarm.

on scionlife.com, another member stated that:

It does have starter kill.

It has one blinking LED.

It goes off as soon as a door is unlocked or opened (whether pryed or not).

If the alarm is set off then the starter kill is activated until the alarm is disarmed.

Sound of breaking glass will set the alarm off.

If the battery is disconnected, when reconnected the alarm will sound until deactivated

so apparently no shock/motion sensor. thats what stinks.

to those that actually have the scion alarm, does this sound right? it seems bare-basic as an alarm, and all i would want in addition is a shock/motion sensor to protect my wheels (when i get them). other than that, i'm a pretty satisfied camper.

any input? Navy? i saw you were working on some add ons to the TVIP...

[crf3973]

I know u posted this a really long time ago graphite, but I think my dealer said that lifting of the car would set it off to (like being towed)... It also has door pry sensors.

It took my dealer 8 hours to install my scion security when I bought my car... they said it takes a long time to tune the glass break microphone correctly.

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i have to try harder to set it off then, because I was changing my oil with the alarm on and it never went off

[crf3973]

Interesting!

[navylife59]

For some reason, this is the first that I have seen this thread........

There are no pry sensors, just door open pin switches. There is also no sensor to detect the car being jacked/towed. There is only a glass breakage sensor on the TVIP. Install should only take an hour as the entire thing plugs into the car harness with minimal panel removal. The glass breakage sensor only has, I believe, 8 sensitivity settings. It should take no more than 10 minutes to set. Your Dealer was blowing smoke up your tail to cover the fact that they did not work on your car till about an hour or so before you picked it up (standard Service Department procedure).

As for researching and coming up with a method for adding sensors and an external siren, I have dropped the ball on that. I ran into a stumbling block on the siren part. The TVIP is basically a harness, not much else. Therefore, it integrates into the Combination Meter and ECM mainly. This, as you all know, is what stops us from having the capacity to do a great many things on the tC (Toyotas in general). You can easily tap into the trigger wire for the glass breakage sensor to add additional sensors, ie microwave (zone), motion, tilt, water, etc.

The only real benefit of purchasing the TVIP is for the harness. It will allow you to install an aftermarket unit w/o the need to cut the factory harness. It also allows integration of the engine immobilizer.

[240]

Hi Everybody,

I have a quick question about the alarm that is currently in my scion TC that was purchased new in February 2008. Mind you, I paid approximately $500 for this alarm system when I purchased the car, and the dealer installed the alarm while I was in the finance room signing the documents. I did not think twice about the alarm system until my brother recently asked about it.

I purchased the car from Toyota of Orange.

Here is a description of how the alarm operates and the placement of the alarm LED indicator.


1. Locking the car:

Upon locking the car using the key, the horn will honk once, and the headlights will flash once. If left alone, after approximately 10-15 seconds, the horn will horn will honk once again, and the headlights will flash once again.

2. Unlocking the car:

Unlocking the car using the key works like normal, except when I press the unlock button quickly after I accidentally press the lock button. The effect is that the alarm will "go off (Ring&Honk etc.)", and it takes about 10 seconds of repeatedly pressing the unlock button to deactivate the alarm system.

3. Using power door locks while car is off and still sitting inside car:

When the car is turned off and I'm sitting inside, if I use the power door locks to lock the car, after approximately 10 seconds, the alarm will activate. However, if I manually lock each door, the alarm does not activate at all.

4. Location of LED indicator:

This is something that after talking to my brother about seems a little odd. The LED indicator is not to the left of the steering wheel in the proper designated location next to the side mirror controls. The LED indicator is actually under my steering wheel to the above my left knee when sitting down. I have looked closely at the LED indicator and it does not look like the LED indicator that would normally be placed next to the side mirror controls. It is not square shaped at all. The shape of the LED indicator looks like a "T" where the top of the 2 has 2 screws that are screwed into the plastic frame under the steering column. There seems to be a button of some sort behind the LED indicator that depresses but appears to do nothing. It almost feels like some sort of "reset" switch on a computer.


Thank you for all your help in diagnosing the situation.

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odd... you are able to use your OEM key fob? because it sounds like you have an aftermarket alarm (I have the factory alarm on my 06 and it doesnt honk or flash headlights when you arm/disarm, and just uses the horn and no siren). The OEM alarm has great integration into the system, but it sounds like yours is kinda jacked up...

[240]

Apparently I do not have the Scion Security alarm and that the dealer installed an aftermarket alarm system into the car. The normal key still works with the alarm, but there's no integration of the LED into the dashboard.