Funny | This Happened To Me

The Day My Car Alarm Went Haywire and Made Me Look Like a Car Thief

It was embarrassing at the time, but it makes me laugh today

Image created by the author using Image Creator from Microsoft Bing, powered by DALL·E 3

In January 1989, two weeks after I bought my fourth car, it was stolen.

I could hardly believe it!

It marked the end of my naive approach to security.

Soon after getting my car back, I installed an alarm and started using a lock over the gear lever and handbrake. And I avoided the public car park from where it was stolen.

Alarm installation

My supervisor at work had his own alarm business on the side, and he recommended a Moss alarm, which was a popular and widely available brand here in the UK back then.

The alarm had an ultrasonic movement sensor mounted on the dashboard, a siren under the bonnet, and a key fob remote control to arm and disarm it.

Installation was not too complex, but running the wires was a bit of a pain.

One of the wires seemed unnecessary. Its purpose was to inhibit the alarm when the engine was running. I saw no reason to connect it, given that you’d switch off the alarm using the remote before entering the car. (I’m not…