active vs. passive alarm

I believe passive arms by itself & does not locks the doors, in case you leave your keys in the car accidentially.

I believe active arming requires you press the remote in order to arm the system & lock the doors.

Jim Rojas

Good question. I have a passive alarm in my Mustang..came with the car...I'll be danged if I can figure it what it means. Especially since I can arm it with my keyfob with the windows opened...makes no sense to me. I think if I tried to open the door while its armed the horn will honk. I can even arm it with the top down...go figure.

| > My understanding was that with a passive if I bang on the window that | > the alarm should go off, is this true? How else can I test the alarm to | > verify it is a passive alarm? | >

| > thank you | >

| | |

I don't do car alarms, but I've owned some. In car alarms, the term "passive alarm" means that the system arms automatically. The driver doesn't have to push the button on the remote to arm the system. In theory, this means the owner is less likely to forget to turn the alarm on. Typically, it means the system arms after the ignition is turned off AND the door is opened and closed.

thanks for the replies.

I believe the person that mentioned that the alarm sets itself w/out locking the doors is right, at least as far as my car is concerned. This is the thing though, how you can verify that a passive alarm has been installed in your car, as opposed to an active alarm?

Especially since you can still open the doors since it doesn't seem to lock the doors for you, how do you test it?

Thank You.

Nomen Nescio wrote:

It is a feature...a flip of a switch on the main processor is all it takes.

I would take it to a local car alarm dealer. Most of them will be happy to explain it to you, and some will even demo your system at no charge.

Jim Rojas