I have a new 2013 level 3 with solar roof. Apparently it comes with an alarm. It has gone off in my garage a couple times and I am stuck there looking for a way to turn it off while the horn beeps for what seems like a minute. The first time it happened I had opened the door and was going to get in the car, then got distracted and walked away for a few minutes and it started going off. I figured maybe it had something to do with that. The second time, just a few minutes ago, I was seated far away in the house, two stories over the garage, and it just started beeping. I got out the owner's manual and there is nothing about an alarm in the index, but I googled and found something about hitting any button on the key fob. I was sitting on the keys. Maybe that triggered it? Question 1) Apparently I have an alarm in the Prius. Is that stock? I did not pay for one as far as I know. Question 2) What sets the alarm and what turns it off? I am aware of the lock button and the unlock button on the keys and also the sensor on the front handles. Is that also alarming the car? But I am pretty sure that I did not push the lock button on the key or the handle when I was last leaving the car.
The key fob is pretty sensitive. Several times I've set off the panic button while the keys were in my pocket. Like when you sit down in a chair.
This evening the key was in my back pocket while I was sitting so it is certainly is possible that there was pressure against the red horn button. But the first time it happened it was in my back pocket and I was standing, so there would be a lot less pressure against the button. This new car is a major change from my previous vehicle, a 1994 Chevy Astro van, with an AM/FM radio and hand crank windows. Are alarms all so standard that Toyota didn't even bother to mention it in the owner's manual?
The panic button is not really an alarm. It is essentially a "hey car make a bunch of noise so I can find you" button. It won't go off if someone busts your window. It only goes off if you press the red button on the key fob. Normally used in a parking lot/garage when you don't know where you parked.
