[Dan Abbott]

Is it possible to turn OFF the horn that sounds when the panic button is depressed? Ours has gone off three times and I consider it a nuisance. The dealer indicated that it can not be turned off, but there is an indication from some posts that a Prius without an alarm can have one turned on. I want to go the other way.

 

[RSnyder]

My panic alarm used to go off because the button was too sensitive. I opened up the fob and did a little surgery with an exacto knife, and now it only goes off when I push the button on purpose.

 

[DanMan32]

I've experienced GM panic buttons on their fobs being to sensitive, but a Toyota's? You have to hold it down 2 seconds before it goes off!

You can have the alarm turned off (reverse the VIP alarm instructions), but I don't think the panic can be turned off. After all, without the horn, it wouldn't be much of an alarm.

 

[Dan Abbott]

Turning off the alarm

Is the reversal of the VIP alarm instructions something that an owner can do, or is it a dealer item?

I actually do want to turn off the alarm. The likelihood that it will ever stop a theft is much much lower than the likelihood that it will annoy all my neighbors.

I've experienced GM panic buttons on their fobs being to sensitive, but a Toyota's? You have to hold it down 2 seconds before it goes off!

You can have the alarm turned off (reverse the VIP alarm instructions), but I don't think the panic can be turned off. After all, without the horn, it wouldn't be much of an alarm.

 

[DanMan32]

Turning off the alarm requires the scan tool.

Better to find the cause of the false alarms though. Except for a Glass Breakage Sensor, which is a dealer installable option, a door, hood or hatch normally has to be opened to trigger the alarm.

But then, intermittent 12V problems might trigger the alarm as well.

 

[Astrowoman]

I've never had a false alarm from my Prius and I'm a person who swore I'd never get an alarm because of the annoyance potential. This one shouldn't go off in earthquakes etc. I'm with DanMan, maybe find out what's setting it off?

 

[Dan Abbott]

reasons for alarm

The first two times, it was the result of sitting in my office (about 50 feet from the driveway) with the fob in my pocket. Apparently the panic button got pressed against another key. That problem I solved by covering the panic button with a stiff plastic cover. The third time appeared to be the result of another car going by with some kind of enhanced stereo system/flashing lights combination -- kind of a visual hip-hop thing. It drove by, the horn on my car stared honking. That wasn't related to the panic button on either fob. I have no theory about why that happened, but I am not interested in having it happen when I am not home to cancel it.

The dealer is looking into disabling it, which is my preference over trying to troubleshoot it. I am tired of car alarms going off, and have no faith in them.

This does give me one thing to say when I am asked how I like our Prius -- after 40,000 miles it's my only complaint.

I've never had a false alarm from my Prius and I'm a person who swore I'd never get an alarm because of the annoyance potential. This one shouldn't go off in earthquakes etc. I'm with DanMan, maybe find out what's setting it off?

 

[DanMan32]

Disabling the alarm won't stop the panic feature, just so you know.
Must have pinched that panic button hard and fast. Takes 2 seconds of it being pressed to set it off.
If such presses happen too often out of range of the car, you might lose pairing of the fob to the car. You only get 255 shots.

 

[jeromep]

I believe that the panic button and the alarm system are two different items. The alarm system will eventually stop sounding after 2 minutes (I think). However I'm not sure how long the panic alarm will sound based upon the fact that it is manually actuated rather than something that is generated based upon a sensed intrusion.