2013 Civic Won't Start - Maybe From After Market Alarm System?

Maintenance/Repairs
1

I bought my Honda Civic brand new in April 2013. Around July 2013 (after I moved 500 miles away), it started acting up and wouldn’t start. When I would turn the key, all the lights turned on on the inside, and you can hear a click from under the hood but nothing else would happen. Sometimes it would take a second then would start. Other times I had to get out of the car, lock/unlock it, try a couple times and finally it would start.

I took it to the Honda dealership and they found nothing wrong with it and suggested that it may be because I have an after market alarm system installed. The alarm system is Karr Security System; it was already installed when I bought the car and the Honda dealership where I bought it said they put it in all of their Hondas and have never had any problems (which I HIGHLY doubt). I called the alarm company and took it to a technician who worked out of a dealership an hour away. He said the system was “faulty”, he replaced it and sent me on my way.

The car seemed fine for a few months then it started happening again every few weeks or so. NOW it happens 4 out of the 5 times I get in my car. Last week I couldn’t get it to start for 2 hours when I was out of town and stranded. I took it to a technician again and he fed me BS about how I can’t lock my car when I get inside (which I hardly do anyways) because that triggers the alarm to keep the car from starting, or how I can’t use certain buttons on my key. I explained to him that I know how the system works because of all the problems I’ve had to deal with and I know that I’m not doing anything wrong that its the alarm that was probably installed incorrectly. He finally admitted that it was installed incorrectly so he ended up removing the “brain” of the system and replacing it.

The next day my car wouldn’t start both times I got inside. I’ve had auto repair mechanics tell me that once an after market alarm system is installed incorrectly, the electrical systems in the car will never work again. I’ve had the battery looked at and its completely fine. My car is brand new I shouldn’t be having some many problems. I’M DESPERATE for help!

2

I would suggest completely removing this and have a good quality alarm installed at a shop that specializes in this sort of thing. In my experience after-market alarms mass installed by dealers are nothing but a profit generator for the dealer and nothing but problems for the consumer.

3

There is the potential for two types of problems with aftermarket alarm systems:

The units themselves have much greater potential to malfunction after a few years, as compared to a “factory” system.
An even more likely problem is ham-handed installation, causing damage to the wiring harness, which can screw-up many electronic systems on the car and–possibly–void part of the car’s warranty.

Rather than having another aftermarket system installed, I would suggest that the OP have the system removed and not replaced.

4

I did a Google search and it looks like this Karr Security system actually defeats some of the security features already on the car. Seems to be a large number of complaints. One person said it was an 800.00 dealer add on. I vote for removal also.

5

Yeah the Honda dealership tried to sell it to me for around $1400. After saying I didn’t want it over and over, they agreed to just “give” it to me for an additional $500, which they said was the rate that they pay for each one, so they “wouldn’t be making any profit”. I read that they push to sell the alarm system so aggressively because they are pre-installed in all the vehicles so if the customer declines, the technician has to put in more effort in just to remove it and it will cost them more money. I wish I knew about the aftermarket alarm problems before I bought the car, I NEVER would have agreed to it. I’m going to look into just having it removed. Such a waste of time. Thanks for all your help!!

6

I agree with @VDCdriver because I don’t believe alarm systems are anything more than a way to disrupt sleep in the neighborhood at 3 in the morning.