At 11:20 PM in a grocery lot, a 2014 Camry went full alarm mid-decode — the BCM locked into anti-scan while the door-latch microswitch read closed, so the car thought I was both inside and attacking it. Ninety seconds to run a quick reset and cut a clean sidewinder, and it went silent like nothing happened; customer: “So you just turned it off and on?”.
On those ’14 Camrys, I crack the driver door a finger-width before decoding so the latch switch reports open — keeps the BCM from pairing a closed latch with “anti-scan” and spares you the siren at 11:20 PM. Ever try that, or do you stick with the quick reset then cut the sidewinder?
Same circus — when a 2014 Camry screams mid-decode at 11:20 PM, I pull the horn fuse so the lot stops staring, then disconnect battery negative for about 30s and finish the sidewinder. Small caveat: it wipes clock/presets, so I warn them. Was your “quick reset” a battery pull or did you pop an ECU-B fuse, @nash_w72?
Before decoding, if the fob’s around I have the customer tap unlock so the “anti-scan” paranoia chills, and I let store security know I’m working so if it screams nobody panics — like flashing a hall pass to an over-caffeinated hall monitor. Curious if you’ve had it refuse to relock from the fob after the cut; I see that once in a blue moon.
In grocery lots after dark, I hang a laminated “On a locksmith call” placard with the customer’s name and my license on the dash before I touch the Camry; it buys me those 90 seconds of chaos without security swarming… It won’t stop the “So you just turned it off and on?” line, but it keeps the crowd calm — you run anything like that, or just count on van branding?
Had a twin of your 9:12 a.m.: ‘pick the cheapest’ with 14 meds and a must-have cardiologist — . I pull a one-pager from Find a Medicare plan showing total annual cost (premium + copays) and circle the $70 difference that keeps their doc in-network; nine times out of ten they budge, though once in a while the true cheapest wins.