Forum Topic

Car alarm

Has anyone else been woken during the past five nights by a car alarm going off numerous times in the middle of the night? Possibly coming from Hadley Gardens/Flats by the Post Office area? Wondering if the owner is away given that it keeps happening.

Joanna Burnett ● 2331d7 Comments

I haven't been bothered by this particular one, Joanna, because I live in the Grove Park area, but I have been bothered by them on several occasions in the past (along, I'm sure. with several hundred other people), and it has led me to wonder (a)What is the point of car alarms? If they go on for hours, as they often seem to do, it seems obvious that no-one, including the car-owner, is doing anything about them, other than cursing and putting their hands over their ears. And (b) Is there any way of getting the damned things shut off quickly? Police? Council Services? Spiderman?

Colin Jordan ● 2331d

The batteries run down on cars that have not been driven for a while.  Then the alarm seems to go off.  It may not be the same car that you are hearing.

Philippa Bond ● 2331d

Normally cheap alarms that the slightest of vibrations set them off.

Julian Pavey ● 2331d

Got it in one.Chep alarms rely on the car's batteryand if this runs down (as they do when parked up for ages), the alarm thinks that it is being tampered with and goes off.Better alarms have a fully independent back-up battery to prevent this.

N V Brooks ● 2331d

I seem to remember that my son's VW's alarm goes off when you disconnect the battery - very disconcerting !

Richard Greenhough ● 2331d

To get this problem sorted, you will have to identify the car making the noise.  It will involve getting out of bed and following the noise to identify it and then the Council or your Safer Neighbourhood PCSO will help to notify the owner of the problem.We had this problem some years ago and the cause was a Porsche in an adjacent street - the problem was there were 2 of them but which one.  Neighbours identified the owners and with some persuasion, Porsche 1 set his alarm and was fairly aggressive that it was not his car and Porsche 2 did not.  Needless to say the alarm went off that night (usually around 2am) and the owner was forced to admit and get it sorted.

Elizabeth Ross ● 2331d

I too am affected by this car alarm which has woken me on a number of nights recently. The problem is the alarm doesn't appear to be a car in our street. It goes off for about 30secs and then can be silent for about 15mins before going off again. Or it mightn't go off again. Last night it went off 3 times around 3am - 3.45am. It would be difficult to track down the car given this pattern so we're relying on others who may live closer to help identify the culprit.

Jane Walker ● 2331d