There have been other threads in the past about this Karr alarm. One even had pics to show what a hack job the install was. I wouldn't buy a car that has or had it. Several poorly installed cheap splices are a recipe for disaster.

Yep - the intent was to show a butt connector for those who did not understand what one looks like.

The dealer told me that the Karr cannot be removed etc and this is mandatory, and I bought the new 4Runner 2022 with it. What put me off is the obnoxious green blinker under the steering wheel.

This literary happened yesterday.
And when I'm starting googling KARR I found all these threads.

What can be done to remove it? I sent the dealer the email saying that I want it to be removed and I'm refunded since they told me this was obligatory and it's not, but they haven't responded yet.

I'm very upset, because I hate a car to be tempered, and it bugs me a lot how stupid I was, because I thought I removed all their unnecessary "lifetime warranty" and other junk fees, but this...

Purchase my 4R from a used dealer and they tried to sell me the tracker feature and I declined. I later found the black box wired to power near the driver side fuse box. I took me about 1 minute to remove it. I took it apart and sure enough it was a tracker SIM card and all.

Part of this tracker feature and Karr alarm is to locate your vehicle when you don't make your payments! They proper way to remove it is to trace down every wire to locate where it's spliced into the factory wiring. While doing this, make a drawing and label the wires - indicate those labels on the drawing.

Then one at a time (after you disconnect the battery) remove each Karr wire and then splice the factory wires back together. Use a quality insulated crimp splice with good quality crimpers. You can solder and heat shrink if you are good at soldering and know how to properly make a good solder connection; and if you have room.

Not much else you can do if you have already taken possession of the vehicle. Some of the previous threads about the Karr alarm mention the dealer (when questioned) say the Karr was installed at the port and others say the dealer did it. I'm sure Toyota isn't the only company that has these alarms - in fact, I bet most all do. It's sold by a vendor with promises of big profits.

Can I escalate this to Toyota and complain? Can I somehow leverage the dealership to removing it by threatening them with leaving negative review for the sales person who sold me the car?

As I remember, in one of the threads, the owner got the dealer to remove the alarm and even replace the lower dash panel the indicator unit was screwed to. It wouldn't hurt to try to have the dealer remove everything including the kaar wiring and return the harness back to original. I doubt you will get them to replace the harness.

My concern would be - how good a job are they going to do? On the plus side is if they did the work, then any future issues would be on them. If you (or have someone) do it - then they can claim any future issues would be on you. I think I would defer to them and have them make a record of it in your dealer maint record for warranty purposes.

So I went to the dealer and said that I want it removed and they said it cannot be, it's in all their cars, but on the stage of purchase I can either activate it and get charged for it, or I can refuse to. I explained that I wasn't presented the option of not activating it (which is totally true), and I don't really need it, and if I knew then I wouldn't activate it as I opted out from all their additional charges.

So after all their explanations about how dangerous it is outside for a car like that without an alarm, they said they would de-activate it though usually they don't do that. After some time they said that to appease my state of mind they would even completely remove it. And indeed, they did remove it, it took them like 10 mins (lol, nice alarm system). I checked the area near the fuse box, the additional T-shaped wiring is gone though the red T-shaped connectors are there, the grey box zip-tied to the car body is gone, the stupid green light is gone.

I was promised to be sent the $695 refund in couple days.

And I got two empty screw holes in my new car as a keepsake.

Thank you guys for all your support. I'll make sure to talk them to make a record for these operations too.

RE: how good the job is. From what I've seen yesterday, they just cut in the wires near the fuse box, and that's the only place. And they use something like this:
10pcs! Quick T Type Splice Crimp Terminal Wire Cable Terminal Electrical Wire Connector Set for Car Audio Tool Junction Box|Terminals| - AliExpress

So what they've done to remove it is just cut off the "|" part of the T, and the horizontal line is the car's wire is left as-is, with the connector dangling from it. I hope that's more or less okay integrity-wise.

The panel with the 2 screw holes is the one the other member got his dealer to replace; as he felt a brand new 4Runner shouldn't come with unwanted damage.

Actually cutting the Kaar wire at the splice isn't all that bad. I would make sure the little end left in each splice can't short out on anything. You'll just have to look around for those splices; unless they gave you a drawing or description of the connections. If it's cut flush, you can cover the end with nail polish or something to insulate it. If in the future you start getting strange electrical symptoms, remember those splices are there and may be involved. I'm guessing they are the kind of splice that snap around the wire and pierce the insulation with pin that the Kaar wire is connected to. Odds are that you should be ok.

Yeah, definitely make sure to remove those T tap adapters and tape off the tapped wires, I would be so pissed if a stealership did this to my brand new truck, yikes

I'll take a look at the little ends, and maybe will remove the connectors altogether...
I don't think I'll ever forget this

Finally removed my Karr system. Left the t-taps on and just removed the connector.
The way this alarm is wired up, its failure mode is to allow starting which is pretty funny. Just unplug the controller and you’re good to go. So much for the dealer claiming it was the ultimate system haha. Glad I never paid for it.

What security features do 4R's come with from the factory? I'm taking delivery of a TRD Off-Road in about a month and wondering if I should insist that the KARR system is not installed. I believe there was mention of it.

I suggest you insist the Kaar alarm system NOT be installed. I would then research systems and go with the one with the best reviews, after you take delivery. This gives you the choice and takes away a discount POS system that is solely for dealer profit. I would check and be sure by saying they are not going to install it, doesn't mean they installed and removed it! You'll have to check the wiring and if there are holes in the panel down by the steering column where the indicator panel would have been mounted. In otherwords, I wouldn't believe them without checking.

As I understand it, the standard Toyota alarm system (may be some differences with keyless entry) locks/unlocks doors, turns on/off the alarm and immobilizer which disables starting without the key present or inserted. Aftermarket systems have better security, are harder to clone the key signal and are easier to customize to what you want (what doors unlock, etc. Some (I think because I really haven't looked into it) will send a signal to you if the car is broken into or stolen and can track the vehicle.