What Does a Car Alarm Look Like?

What Does A Car Alarm Look Like?

A: A car alarm has different electronic components that are wired to the lights on the dashboard and windshield, as well as car horns. The lights activate and the horn sounds to indicate the alarm is armed.

Car Alarm Types

A car alarm by definition makes noise and flashes lights when triggered; thus, where a car alarm is concerned, there is no alarm if no sound is made.

There are three basic alarm types to keep an eye out for: active car alarms, passive car alarms, and two-way car alarms. While they all alert drivers when someone is breaking into their vehicle, they differ in how they’re set up.

Active Car Alarms

Active car alarms require the driver to press a button to lock the doors and activate the alarm system. This means drivers will need to manually set the alarms to ensure that they work.

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Pro Tip: Typically when the doors are locked either with the key, the inside switch, or the fob, the system will be armed and there may be a flashing light on the dash to warn would-be thieves.

Passive Car Alarms

Unlike active car alarms, passive car alarms automatically lock the doors of the vehicle as soon as the driver turns off the ignition and closes the doors.

Two-Way Car Alarms

Two-way car alarms are an advanced type of alarm that transmits information from the car to a remote. This allows drivers to activate and deactivate the alarms as well as lock and unlock the doors from far away via key fobs or even a cell phone app. 

These fobs typically come with LCD screens that alert drivers when someone is too close, trying to break in, or if the alarm has been triggered.

What Makes Car Alarms Important?

Car alarms alert drivers when people attempt to break in or damage the vehicle. They’re an excellent deterrent for would-be thieves and vandals, making them an integral part of any vehicle’s security system.

Car Alarms vs Antitheft Systems

It’s important to distinguish between “car alarms” and “antitheft systems” because while they’re not exactly the same, there’s quite a bit of overlap.

Car alarms are all classified as antitheft systems, but not all antitheft systems include a car alarm.

And where antitheft systems are concerned, there are passive antitheft systems that prevent the vehicle from starting (chip in the key or fob). These don’t have an alarm; they’re just used to make it impossible to start the vehicle without a programmed key or fob.

Then there are perimeter antitheft systems that will trigger an audible alarm and flash the headlights if the hood, trunk, or any of the doors are opened after the system is armed.

And while practically every production car for the past 30 years has had passive antitheft to prevent the car from being started and driven away by a thief without a programmed key, only some platforms have perimeter antitheft and those that have both systems are somewhat rarer.

Not all perimeter antitheft systems will be triggered by vehicle movement or by the breaking of a window, so there’s that.

Typically the systems with motion sensors or glass breakage triggers are only found on aftermarket systems or high end platforms.