So, there I was minding my own business, burying business rivals in the dump, when my alarm went off.
I got it to go off, but it started again when I tried to start the car, over and over again, for fifteen minutes.
The best part of being stranded at the dump with a blaring alarm on a car I couldn't start is that I saw a squirrel when I went to replace my temporary plate with a permanent one, so I didn't have one.
The alarm kept going off, I couldn't start the car, I didn't have a plate, and I was stuck at the dump.
This took a while, but I think it looks great!
I noticed this when I bought the car, but the flipper wouldn't have known anything about it:
Not only was I stranded at the dump, but one time my brother asked to go to the store. I said "We're taking Mom's car, but I need to get something out of mine." I unlocked the driver's door and the driver's only--and he sat in the passenger seat.
"How did you get in here?! Whatever, now I need to get something out of Mom's car."
When I turned my back the alarm went off and my brother had his hand on the steering wheel.
I finally got it to turn off, I went to grab the thing again, once more the alarm went off again, and my brother's hand was on the steering wheel again.
I had him get in Mom's car and it went off while we were away.
Everyone said to follow the wires, but I thought that would require removing the dash.
No, just the panel under the steering wheel.
Oh and all of this:
The car only came with one key, it isn't factory, and it was wearing out. It is actually twisted from needing to turn it too hard.
I couldn't see how far the wires went and where the alarm was mounted until I removed the center console and the trim above it.
It turned out it didn't go past the center console at all, so I absolutely didn't need to remove the glovebox, but I found this!
So, some dealership installed a tracker and for some reason hid a key.
These were all of the components that I found:
I didn't find a sensor, but 5 wires coming off of the harness were cut.
The screws were also missing from the steering column.
The first owner bought the car on 08/31/2005 and sold it on 03/05/2007 with 21,000 miles.
Who the heck trades in a car after 16 months and 21,000 miles?!
The second owner traded it in and the dealership auctioned it on 02/01/2021
with 96,379 miles.
It was auctioned again on 05/30/2022 with 104,057 miles--almost 16 months and 8,000 miles.
It sold again on 07/07/2022 with unspecified mileage and I finally bought it on 09-20-2022.
I am the fifth owner and the fourth in 24 months?
I keep wondering if there was some hidden problem which led people to get rid of it after a few months or a year.
I also wonder if it was repossessed.
Perhaps some complication from that resulted in people getting rid of it prematurely.