AUDIBLE ALARM ON EXIT

[Tone Arranger]

Whenever I've hired a car in the US, I've found that when leaving the car & locking it with key fob, it makes a loud audible double beep.

This appears to draw attention, or others may think I am trying to get their attention.

Is this normal on all cars, or is there something I can do or switch off, to exit silently ?

Or is it just me ?

[florida4sun]

It's normal, you can turn it off, read the manual that comes with the car for instructions.

[roger]

A lot of the new cars now make a beep only the second time you press the remote lock button (which is handy if you are not sure if you were range when you pressed to lock).

As Martin says, you can disable this, but all car makes have a different method. Check the manual that should be in the glove compartment.

Since nearly all cars do this, you needn't worry about it annoying anyone as residents are used to it.

[Robert5988]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Check the manual that should be in the glove compartment[/quote]

I would estimate that only about 10% of the cars I have rented have a handbook(either in glove compartment or trunk)

Have I been unlucky?

[florida4sun]

Whenever I have needed one (pretty much always as I like to turn the auto locking off) it always being there. Of course if I did not need one it may well be that that particular car did not have one, have you really checked that all your hire cars have a manual?
Anyways there us always google, calling the hire company or dealership.

[Katys Grandad]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Robert5988
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Check the manual that should be in the glove compartment[/quote]

I would estimate that only about 10% of the cars I have rented have a handbook(either in glove compartment or trunk)

Have I been unlucky?
[/quote]

I honestly thought the rental companies removed them as a matter of policy. I can't remember the last time I had one in a rental car.

Interestingly, there seems to no shortage of them for sale on e-bay.[msnwink]

[roger]

I'd say most times I've rented there has been a manual, but I know there has been the odd time it has not been supplied. I expect you can indeed get the info you need by searching the web.

[Robert5988]

[quote] I'd say most times I've rented there has been a manual, but I know there has been the odd time it has not been supplied. I expect you can indeed get the info you need by searching the web[/quote

Not implying it is a big problem, but it is nice to know how all the gadgets work and things like satellite radio.

You can find out anything on the web, but it is not the same as having the manual in your hand while sitting in the car.

IIRC I have never seen a manual in a glove compartment, only in the boot, and then usually in new cars often with masses of leaflets and sometimes a set of mats.

[Robert5988]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:I honestly thought the rental companies removed them as a matter of policy. I can't remember the last time I had one in a rental car.

Interestingly, there seems to no shortage of them for sale on e-bay.[/quote]

Digressing slightly, my brother bought a secondhand VW Passat in UK which had no handbook. The VW dealers wanted a fortune(£100?) for a handbook so he got one on e-bay for £25.

The handbook stated that there was a tag in the glove compartment that you pulled down and the documentation was kept there. He pulled it down and there was the original handbook!!!

[Sniff]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by Robert5988
<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:I honestly thought the rental companies removed them as a matter of policy. I can't remember the last time I had one in a rental car.

Interestingly, there seems to no shortage of them for sale on e-bay.[/quote]

Digressing slightly, my brother bought a secondhand VW Passat in UK which had no handbook. The VW dealers wanted a fortune(£100?) for a handbook so he got one on e-bay for £25.

The handbook stated that there was a tag in the glove compartment that you pulled down and the documentation was kept there. He pulled it down and there was the original handbook!!!
[/quote]
That's outrageous. I've bought several owner's manuals from BMW and none of them has cost me more than a tenner