Alarm issue

[keeno85]

Hi all

I Have a 2018 VW polo which we bought about 2 months ago. Since then the car alarm has gone off 4 times randomly (twice in the evening, once in the dry after parking up 2hrs prior and once on a wet day having not been driven for 2 days)

It’s still under warranty and so after the second time it went off VW looked over it and found it was the interior monitoring alarm which was set off but there was no fault. They said they decreased the sensitivity of the interior alarm and that it could’ve been something moving in the car even an insect (spider) which set it off.

After getting it back the alarm has gone of 2 more times randomly. One time we were sitting next to the car and immediately looked in but there was nothing which could’ve moved and no sign of insects. The cars also had 2 valets (once when bought and once when issue looked at) which to me means there should be no ‘insects’.

The cars going back in again to VW but I’m concerned they will simply again say that it was the interior alarm and nothings wrong.

Just wondering if any of you have any suggestions on what’s triggering the alarm ? And if what the garage is telling me is true (I.e. Can they tell why the alarm went off, can they adjust the sensitivity and can insects like spiders set off the alarm.)

[SRGTD]

It certainly used to be possible for a car’s alarm sensitivity to be adjusted, so assume it still is. Also, I think that it is possible for larger insects to be detected by the car’s interior motion sensors and activate the alarm. I doubt that it would be possible to tell exactly what it was that caused the alarm to activate though.

You’ve said that the car has been valeted (by the VW dealer?) twice. I suspect any interior valet by a VW dealer would be limited to a quick vacuum of the carpets and a possibly a wipe over of the interior trim. If so, then insects could still be lurking in your car.

Has the dealer investigated whether or not the alarm back up battery is faulty? I had a non-VW some years ago where the alarm would go off randomly for no apparent reason. The cause was a faulty alarm back up battery and once this had been replaced by the dealer, I got no more false alarms.

[keeno85]

It certainly used to be possible for a car’s alarm sensitivity to be adjusted, so assume it still is. Also, I think that it is possible for larger insects to be detected by the car’s interior motion sensors and activate the alarm. I doubt that it would be possible to tell exactly what it was that caused the alarm to activate though.

You’ve said that the car has been valeted (by the VW dealer?) twice. I suspect any interior valet by a VW dealer would be limited to a quick vacuum of the carpets and a possibly a wipe over of the interior trim. If so, then insects could still be lurking in your car.

Has the dealer investigated whether or not the alarm back up battery is faulty? I had a non-VW some years ago where the alarm would go off randomly for no apparent reason. The cause was a faulty alarm back up battery and once this had been replaced by the dealer, I got no more false alarms.

I get that an insect large enough could set it off but every time I have quickly opened that car and had a good search and found nothing.

The garage said they plugged their device into the OBD, read what alarm was triggered and then said there were no faults appearing which lead them to the insect route. They didn’t mention anything about a back up battery.

[monkeyhanger]

Turn interior monitoring off when you leave the car, do it for a week and if you've got no alarms then assume it's not insects.

[keeno85]

Turn interior monitoring off when you leave the car, do it for a week and if you've got no alarms then assume it's not insects.

Thanks but don’t quite understand. I won’t get any alarm as the interior monitoring alarm is off so won’t pick up the motion of the insects. Do you mean it could be insects interfering with wires? The garage have said it’s the interior motion alarm which is being triggered so I’ve assumed they mean an insect moving around in the car is setting it off. Not sure if VW alarm are more sensitive as I’ve had a few flies etc in my Ford and it’s never triggered the interior alarm :s

[monkeyhanger]

Turn interior monitoring off when you leave the car, do it for a week and if you've got no alarms then assume it's not insects.

Thanks but don’t quite understand. I won’t get any alarm as the interior monitoring alarm is off so won’t pick up the motion of the insects. Do you mean it could be insects interfering with wires? The garage have said it’s the interior motion alarm which is being triggered so I’ve assumed they mean an insect moving around in the car is setting it off. Not sure if VW alarm are more sensitive as I’ve had a few flies etc in my Ford and it’s never triggered the interior alarm :s

If you turn off the interior monitoring (the alarm will only be looking for external triggers) and the alarm still sounds, you've eliminated interior motion as a possibility.

[johnparker]

Like SRGTD, I also had a problem just like you describe but on a non VW car I once owned. It also turned out to be the alarm backup battery at fault.

[keeno85]

Thanks all, I’ll mention about and ask them to check the back up battery.

Anyone know how to switch off the interior monitoring alarm? There no button on the b pillar so I’m assuming it’s somewhere in the touch screen media centre ?

[monkeyhanger]

Thanks all, I’ll mention about and ask them to check the back up battery.

Anyone know how to switch off the interior monitoring alarm? There no button on the b pillar so I’m assuming it’s somewhere in the touch screen media centre ?

I'm sure it'll be in the car setting screens somewhere. The button used to be on the driver's B-pillar (cost cutting over driver convenience!).

[keeno85]

Thanks all, I’ve found it in the settings.

VW are looking at the car again tomorrow as the alarms gone off 4 times since purchasing it from them 6 weeks ago. I’ll mention about the backup battery.

[keeno85]

Thought I’d give an update in case others have similar issue.

In total the alarms gone off 4 times in 6 weeks. Garage have confirmed this was triggered by the interior monitoring alarm 3 times and by a door lock 1 time. It has had a door lock replaced under warranty a while ago before we bought it. They have decided to replace the interior monitoring alarm control unit and they are keeping the car for a week to monitor it. Fingers crossed this resolves it.