Our minivan came with an alarm system installed; we've had it for about 6 months and thought we had it all figured out. Then last night, for no apparent reason, it stopped "chirping." Sure the doors were locked, but there was no alarm noise at all. "Great," we thought, "How much is this going to cost?" (We still haven't fixed the issue with the driver's-side sliding door, because that is $350 + labour that we don't have.)
Today, we dug around in the van and found the instructions for the alarm (an Audiovox model) and were able to confirm that it was stuck in Valet Mode. The instructions were clear as mud. We were apparently supposed to turn the iginition on, then off, then within 10 seconds of turning off the engine, we were to hit the valet button in a sequence of on-off-on-off-on-off and on. Or maybe off. We tried this a few times and finally tried calling the 800-number on the back of the remote. After being on hold for over 5 minutes, I came back inside and tried to find out what I could from the internet. Bah. Silly me trying to find useful information online. After 20 minutes there was still no response from the tech support, and I had found little online, except that there should be a switch somewhere on or under the dash, or in the glove compartment. So I dug out our old club-style steering restraint (even found the keys) and we went on our way.
While waiting for hubby to pay for a purchase, and after I had buckled the kid into her carseat, I started searching and finally found the damned switch. Goodbye, Valet Mode! (Of course now we know how that works, it should come in handy.)
13 November 2004
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2 comments:
Maybe I'm stupid, but why is it called "Valet Mode?" What do Valets have to do with an audial confirmation that the doors are locked? Are Valets supposed to make the chirping noise themselves: "Tweet tweet! It's locked!"
I think it is so that valets and mechanics don't set off the alarm by accident; or so that you could keep the remote and only hand over the key. I know the vancame with four keys; two with big plastic tops and two plain keys labelled "valet key." Seems silly to me.
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