faulty car alarm - 1998 toyota avalon

[slubeck]

a week ago today we purchased a used 98 avalon. we had no idea the car even had an alarm. on tuesday we discovered that the battery had a dead cell, so we had the battery replaced. since then, the car alarm has gone off 4-5 times, completely unprovoked. has anyone had any experience with this? is there a way to disable the alarm entirely? this is a huge problem because we are afraid to leave the car alone, in case the alarm goes off for hours. we took it to a mechanic who said because it was a factory alarm, he could not remove it. any advice appreciated.

[swiftjustice]

Didn't say whether your car was an XL or an XLS. Not sure about '98 when they went to a different alarm system, but 95-97 XL's alarms and keyless entrys were mostly dealer installs, and XLS' were mostly factory installs (different systems).

Once you determine that it is in fact a factory system, the dealer should be able to tell you the code to enter to re-set it, similar to re-setting the security code on the radio after it has been removed or lost power. The code entered has to be the same - if you didn't get it when you bought the car (maybe written in the owner's manual?) then you will definitely need to take it to the dealer to re-set it, unless you happen to get an extremely lucky guess.

I didn't get the security code when I bought my car used, but took a lucky guess that the 3 digit code was the area code where the dealership was located in Southern California where the car was originally sold.

If you don't have an owner's maual I suggest getting one, as it may help to tell you what you need to do. Also do a search here on the forum. Good luck, and let us know how you eventually solved it.

[slubeck]

thanks for the reply. we ended up taking the car to a local dealership and they were able to disconnect the alarm for us. we dont need the alarm, and since it was going off unprovoked, we needed the peace of mind in knowing that it wont happen again.