Dad bought me a new car this past Monday. Subaru Outback and the maroon color isn't lame which I really like. I felt pretty sporty as I drove to the BYU family history library this morning. I parked in the MOA parking lot and felt pretty awesome. After finding some new ancestors I came out and put the key in the lock and much to my amazement and horror the car alarm sounded. I haven't ever had to deal with this annoying safety feature before. I have no remote control to deactivate the loud honking. I tried putting the key in the ignition but that didn't work. I tried to turn on the car, that didn't work. I got out and locked the door again. It went silent. I looked around. People were smiling to themselves. I took a deep breath and put the key back in the lock and immediately the honking sounded again. I went through this crazy pattern several more times. There seemed to be no rhyme or reason to when it would start or stop. I started thinking that maybe I was on some bizarre reality TV show with a camera hidden somewhere. I'm sure I would have laughed had I been an onlooker. Finally a man came to my rescue. We tried disconnecting the fuses. Nope. We tried locking and unlocking, key in, key out. Nothing. Finally he disconnected the horn wires. There was still one honking after that. The one in the back of the engine was finally located and disabled. I got in the car, turned the key. Nothing. Turned on the headlights to see if it was battery related. No lights. He guessed the battery was dead. (Don't the horns use the battery???) I told him I would call my husband, not to worry. He left. I put the key in once more and the stupid thing started right up. I was befuddled but grateful.
When I got home I called the dealer. This is what I learned. When you lock all the doors at once using the handy dandy lock that is conveniently on the driver's door panel when you leave the car it will activate the alarm when you come back and put the key in the door. To disable the alarm one must put the key in the ignition and click it 3 times, not turn it on all the way, just click it 3 times to get the alarm to stop. The 4th time will turn the car on. The handy dandy lock is for use while IN the car. Otherwise just manually lock the doors when leaving the car (very convenient). Now we know.