Car Alarm Q&A

Q.Does my car have an alarm system ?

A.Not all cars come with a standard factory fitted alarm, however, they do come with an immobiliser but this isn’t useful as soon as they have cloned your keys the car disables the immobiliser.

Q.Which car alarm system is best?

A.We’d recommend Pandora & Autowatch, depending on your vehicle make, model and year will depend which one we recommend for you.

Q.Will car alarms go off by themselves?

A.Car alarms will not go off by themselves for an unknown reason.  They can sometimes be triggered by the weather, an item inside the car such as a laptop, phone or even a mouse!  Somestimes changes in the vehicles batter can also set off the car alarm as it thinks there is a problem.

Q.How much are car alarms?

A.Car alarms start from £420 inc VAT for a  Thatcham insurance approved Cat 1 alarm system, there are a number of optional extras that can be added to make your vehicle more secure. The latest technology is a Pandora alarm system including an alarm & immobiliser, they start from £750 supplied and fitted inc 5 different sensors.

Q.How effective are car alarms?

A.They are very effective to alert you that someone is trying to break into your car with a loud high pitch sound.  We always recommend adding more than just a car alarm.  The alarm alerts you that there is a problem, an immobilier will stop the car from being started and then a tracker will help you to recover the vehicle if it does go missing.

Q.Should I install a car alarm myself or professionally?

A.This needs to be installed professionally as if there are connections that have to be made with the other electronic components or accessories of your car such as the stereo, windows, heating and air conditioning, and lights among other things.

Q.Where are car alarms installed?

A.There is a number of different locations where a car alarm can be installed this all depends on what type of vehicle it is.  A factory fitted alarm system is usually installed in the same place on each vehicle.  This is a risk as once the theives know where the alarm is and what the weaknesses are they know how to disable it for all the same vehicles.  After market alarm systems are installed in a variety of places making it harder to locate for potential thieves.

Pandora Alarm Aftercare

GREEN MEMBERSHIP CARD

With your alarm system, you will be given a green membership card. keep this safe as you will need this if you need to override the alarm system, If this is lost, the alarm system will be useless so do not use it as we will not keep a record for security reasons. A new brain will have to be purchased if lost. 

BATTERIES

Although your keys fobs have brand new batteries, it is advised to change the batteries every 3-6 months as the fobs are always searching for the signal. We advise that you keep some spare batteries in the car  just in case. 95% of support calls are simply down to the remotes batteries going dead. 

GPS/GSM TRACKING

For The Smart Pro and Professional alarm systems, you will have an Alarm Contact number. Save this number so you know when you receive notifications to your phone. You will also need this number to renew your subscription. 

​RENEWAL 

When your subscription is up, You will need to email subscription@pandoracaralarm.com with your alarm contact number to renew. put in your diary the date your subscription will run out so you do not miss it and you do not get charged a reativation fee. 

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EMERGENCY HELP

In case you need our help in an emergency, Pandora advise that the best way to contact them is through their Facebook page with your contact number or for any other support help, you can email support@pandoracaralarms.co.uk who will usually respond within 2 working days. The more info you send, the quicker we can help so videos, photos and which alarm system to which car always help.

Pandora Troubleshooting

Q. Why am I getting 3 or 4 beeps from the system?  

A. This means the battery in the fob is low and should be replaced. We recommend using Panasonic batteries as these last the longest compared to others on the market.

Q. How do I put the vehicle into service mode using the fob?

A. To switch on the Service mode, press and hold the button on a radio tag for 3 seconds. Release the button after 3 flashes of the LED of the radio. To switch off the Service mode, press and hold the button on a radio tag for 3 seconds. Release the button after 3 flashes of the LED of the radio tag.

The system will confirm switching on the Service mode with this symbol:  in the mobile application, with a long sound signal of a Beeper and the green LED indicator when the ignition is turned on.