# Alarm system in my Sentra unlocks the doors



## Helix (Jul 13, 2008)

I recently bought a 2008 Sentra-SL from Steven's Creek Nissan, in California. The Sentra in the lot had a $750 factory installed alarm system. I refused to pay $750, and the salesperson agreed to take the price off. Later, the financing person convinced me to buy a $495 car alarm, and arranged an appointment for me to come and have the alarm system installed. It turns out that the salesperson flat out lied.....and now I have 2 alarm systems, which cost a pretty penny. How could it get any worse?

THE KARR ALARM UNLOCKS MY DOORS. Yes, you read that correctly. The car alarm that was installed in my Sentra by the dealership for a whopping $495 dollars actually silently unlocks my doors in certain conditions. For instance, suppose you drive to work, get out of your car, push the keyless entry button to lock the door and then walk away. Now imagine you forgot something, so you walk to the car, press the button, get something out of the car, close the door, and press the button to lock it again. With my Karr alarm enabled, there seems to be some sort of timer that will automatically unlock the doors.

It gets worse! How could it get worse? When the Karr alarm system unlocks the doors due to various software glitches, the car will not beep, flash lights, or give any indication that the doors have unlocked. The only sound that is made is by the physical locks kicking in, which is quite quiet. This isn't the only glitch with my car alarm. It has lots of trouble figuring out whats going on when you open the trunk, for example. Suppose you open your trunk, then close it. Then go to the driver's door and press the keyless entry button to lock the car. My car alarm will unlock the door again in about 15 to 30 seconds.

I am *very* disappointed that I was charged $750 for an alarm I didn't want. I'm even more disappointed that the alarm I was talked into buying is of such poor quality. The KARR alarm has obviously never been properly tested with the Sentra SL. It's not like these are crazy or unusual circumstances. How could Nissan sell such a poor quality product? Has anyone else had similar issues?


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## david_2010 (Jul 29, 2010)

*whoah*

Ok, so I thought it was only me that was freakin' out about this. I bought a new 2010 Sentra just 2 months ago, and I've randomly come back to an unlocked car and still can't figure out why. To throw a monkey wrench in your theories though, I did not pay for the "Karr" alarm. As I was getting prepared to leave the lot, the salesperson came back to the car and inserted a small piece of plastic into a thing right under the dash by the door to do *something* to the alarm. I think it was to disable the factory alarm because I did not pay extra for it. Obviously all cars come with the alarm enabled, and if you don't pay extra, they disable it so you can still use the remote keyless entry.

So I have this green sticker leftover from when I bought it that says:
"Security Notice. This vehicle is equipped with a TEMPORARY EX-1 anti-theft device that will be removed prior to delivery, or can be purchased at the customers option. This system is an upgrade to the factory installed system, and is to protect the dealer's vehicles from theft while parked on the dealers premises."

Anyhow, I am noticing the same issue you have, so I suspect it is this EX-1 alarm that is screwing things up, not the "Karr" alarm add-on. I'm going to go test your trunk thing. Is that completely repeatable for you? Car unlocked, open trunk, close trunk, push door button to lock car, wait 15 seconds, and car unlocks itself? How often does that happen for you if not every time?

I was actually reading posts here to try and find out how to enable the factory alarm myself, .. I think I can just remove that plastic piece they installed, but I'm worried about bricking my car..


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## Helix (Jul 13, 2008)

Ah, I remember that post. Man, I was so mad how that Nissan dealership ripped me off, not just the car alarm, but a huge hidden 'dealer markup fee'.

Anyway, no, I can't reproduce the trunk situation. But the door unlocking, I can reproduce 100%. Drive. Park. Get out, close door. Press button to lock door. Press button again to open. Open door, get something out of car. Close door. Press button to lock. Walk away. Car automatically unlocks for your convenience. Absurd.

Interesting that it may not be the KARR alarm. I probably just didn't notice my doors unlocking until after having KARR installed. But whatever is causing the problem, it's ridiculous. Like, something out of a Seinfeld episode. But hey, I'm glad to hear that I'm not the only one experiencing this problem.


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