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It's amazing how long car batteries last these days

Car-alarm car being towed away in South Boston

This morning, Heather Anderson tweeted:

Car alarm still going off, 24 hrs now on W2nd btwn C & D, Black Hyundai. For the sanity of W2nd, pls help us find the owner!

It goes off for 30 secs, then stops & you can't help but wait for it to start again. torture.

That caught the attention of Capt. Greland at C-6, who assigned an officer to check it out. And then that officer, as you can see in Anderson's photo above, called in a truck to haul the offending car away.

Anderson added:

Sanity restored!

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Comments

I hate car alarms... because they never shut the f**k off.

As nanny as this state is, why hasn't the state passed a law that says car alarms can only go off for two minutes (or less)? California has such a law and it works well. (and after a minute, your car will be towed by the muni).

They are the most useless things on the planet, when was the last time you heard someone say "oh lets call 911, I hear a car alarm go off"? Like almost never. Most people ignore it anyways. You're better off with LoJack anyways for car security.

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The Onion's got this.

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(assuming they're even still in business) only if you want eventual, and irrepairable, damage to your vehicle's electrical system and/or master computer board.

One of the principles of every LoJack system, even the basic one (the one without the annoying car alarm), was the concept of the "secret switch" that you had to press while turning the ignition key. The "secret switch" was some dashboard control (on most vehicles, it was either one of the mirror controls or the rear defroster button) that was 'piggybacked' as a start switch.

A half-dozen people I've known (myself included) had some variation of the LoJack system installed on their vehicles between the early 1980s and the early 1990s. Everyone of them (again, myself included) eventually had problems with their vehicle's electrical systems. In my case (a 1988 Prelude), it started with the electronic speedometer ocassionally failing at highway speeds (which created all kinds of havoc with the engine sensors and transmission) and progressed to the temperature gauge randomly reading an overheat condtion. I eventually replaced the speedo, which seemed to solve that problem, but could never resolve the temperature gauge issue. In one of my friend's case (a 1991 Chevy Blazer), she would activate the right turn signal and the windshield wipers would come on as well. She eventually had the problem diagnosed, and was told by two separate shops that the main computer board was damaged and would have to be replaced.

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Yeah but that was a long time ago roadman.

Not dissing your point, but its like saying today "Load Windows 3.11 on your computer and you'll be riddled with problems". Hard to gauge the validity of a product when your complaint is almost 20+ years old. I'd like to think they've fixed this issue by now. Plus back then, many cars didn't have easy-to-program after-market addon interfaces to car mainboards like they do now.

And yes they are still around. Came with the roommate's new car as apart of his package.

And.. what you describe LoJack is, is not what it is today. Today it uses GPS tracking to see where your car is. No hidden switch or anything, its more of a tracking service that gets activated by PD when the car is reported stolen. (according to the documentation that came with roommates new car, it is activated remotely)

PS - And I think you mean you'd be better OFF withOUT LoJack.

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Although LoJack always had the tracking capability, even the "basic" model. GPS technology just makes it easier to implement now.

PS - Note that I stated "You're actually better off with LoJack only if you want eventual ......"

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I was referring to your title ;) but sure.

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I thought they used special radios installed in police cruisers that could locate lojack equipped vehicles in a method similar to locating an aircraft black box underwater.

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Wow, I never knew that about LoJack!

& Awww man, Honda Preludes! My stepfather had a 1986 and he sold it -- it's still on the road! He never had LoJack so I"m pretty sure that's why. Really nice little car.

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my '88 Prelude was still running like a top (with about 121K miles on it) when I traded it in towards a newer car. The body panels were falling apart, and the sunroof had a leak I still couldn't trace even after replacing the gaskets, which is I got rid of it.

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I can't much remember a time, living in urban places, where there was NOT a car alarm going off at least weekly, if not nightly.

Some of this was due to the high theft rate at that time, but was before alternative mechanisms were available or affordable.

I was walking from Davis Square to Mass Ave on the Linear Park one day in the early 90s when I heard a mockingbird singing the Four Part Car Alarm Aria. Now that's an urban bird!

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I'll BBQ this summer.. we can sip beer, sit in my backyard and listen to the car alarms go off.

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n/t

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haha date.. cute. ;) Considering that the last part of her s/n is grrrl, I'll guess she's a girl. Not exactly what I had in mind if you catch my drift. (in short,. I'm a guy if that helps any..)

Although I bet (regardless of she would say about me) Swirly would be great to shoot the sh*t with and chat with about various topics. she certain does keep us on our toes.

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...of the sexual preference dynamics along with marital obligations. ;-) It just had to be said.

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When I was little, I mean 3 years old little. My parents used to live in Chelsea for a while. While it is hard to trust my memory from a stage that young and from that long ago. I remember that every night around the time I go to bed a car alarm goes off. Same alarm pattern, length, and everything. Thinking back, as it followed the same pattern every night, I think I found it comforting. For my parents... we moved not long after.

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They still make The Club!

www.theclub.com

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I don't know if it's law, but I was told (I forget by whom) we can call 911 if the alarm has been going off for longer than 30 minutes.

I suggest 911 and not the district office line because I was also told - this time by an officer during a neighborhood watch meeting - that they divvy up funds between districts partly based upon the number of 911 calls received.

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This. Don't tweet, call the police. They will come and tow the car. It is very satisfying.

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