Why does arlo send me notifications about my car being recognized even after it's been parked for ho

[Retired_Member]

Arlo keeps notifying me that there's a vehicle detection and when I look at the feed, it shows my car with the description "My Car" ...which has been parked for hours. I had taken a photo of my car so it would be recognized and there's no other cars moving around, so it's getting annoying to get these notifications every few minutes. How do I stop it?

I set the detection level at medium; I removed and readded the camera but it continues to do this.

Another problem is, I'll get a "legit" notification but the clip doesn't show on my feed until a couple minutes after the person/vehicle has been seen.

My arlo is the Essential 3rd gen and the app is version 6.22.0 released March 30 2026. I'm using an Apple 16e that I got brand new four months ago and is up to date.

TIA

[jguerdat]

It could be for various reasons but I'd suspect some motion activated the recording but the AI couldn't determine anything other than that your car was in view. 

[Retired_Member]

Hi... so how do I make it stop?!

I was browsing thru similar posts and tried restarting my phone.. didn't work.. tried turning off the vehicle detection.. didn't work, and that actually increased the notifications saying "My Car Recognized" literally every 2 minutes 

I tried putting it on Live Camera to see if I can determine WHAT is triggering the camera (bird? a blowing leaf?) and even during Live, I'm still getting notifications but no birds, no stray leaves..

Is there a rule or action I can add to make it stop notifying me about my motionless parked car?!

I wouldn't be so annoyed except I'm getting all these useless instant notifications but the actual things I WANT to be instantly notified about (like my neighbor near my car) don't show in my feed until after a few minutes, by then it's too late to use the microphone to say GET AWAY FROM MY CAR because she's long gone 

It's to the point that I'm considering returning the arlo and getting a different system FR

Thanks for any input

[StephenB]

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@Retired_Member wrote:

Hi... so how do I make it stop?!

Maybe start by doing a hardware reset of the camera.  Remove it from the account, then push the pairing button until the camera LED flashes amber (~15 sec).  Then add it back to your account.

If you still see the problem, then you need to deal with whatever is triggering the camera. Turning off the vehicle recognition won't help.  You will still get notifications - they just will have a different tag.  

Do you have any idea what the trigger might be?  If you do, then consider moving the camera to avoid it.

Then try tuning the motion detection threshold.  Walk around in the area of interest while using the motion detection test.  Find the smallest value that detects you reliably, then set the motion threshold to something slightly higher.

To perform the motion detection test:

1. Launch the Arlo Secure App.
2. Tap Devices.
3. Tap the camera settings wheel
4. Tap Default Mode Settings.
5. Tap Motion Detection Test.

[Retired_Member]

Hi, thanks for your reply!

I need to ask a little more about this reset and re-pair process.. I've actually done that twice, no change in the parked car alert every 2 minutes (literally) so I tried to uninstall/reinstall the app AND restart my phone, no change.. I took snapshots of my car and the neighbor I want to monitor when she's near my car.. and now it notifies me of My Car every 2 minutes instead of the generic White Minivan Parked.. it's not filming when she's next to my car, only after she's passed it and the back of her walking away is briefly filmed.

Here's something I'm curious about: even after the reset/re-pair uninstall/reinstall cycles, when I log back in to my account, my cameras names are intact -I would've thought the reset/re-pair would have eliminated the names?

Gotta be honest and say it's just an academic question at this point bc I'm highly dissatisfied with the poor performance these cameras are giving me and I'm most likely going to return them and get a better brand.

Thanks!

[jguerdat]

My guess is that the car is reflecting the sun's IR, causing your issue. Passing clouds, etc. cause the reflection to vary, resulting in "motion" detection. This behavior will likely change as the sun's position changes with the seasons but all you can do now is to change the camera location and/or reduce motion sensitivity. The upcoming custom modes may be useful for you to use reduced sensitivity for only certain periods of daytime and then use higher sensitivity at others.

[StephenB]

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@Retired_Member wrote:

and now it notifies me of My Car every 2 minutes instead of the generic White Minivan Parked.

Did you tune the motion detection threshold?

Also, if the concern is that she is messing with your car, then try walking through that area yourself, and try doing whatever you are concerned about.  Then see if the camera catches that (or not).

Setting up an activity zone around the car would reduce the amount of notifications and recordings, but would not help battery life.

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@Retired_Member wrote:

Here's something I'm curious about: even after the reset/re-pair uninstall/reinstall cycles, when I log back in to my account, my cameras names are intact -I would've thought the reset/re-pair would have eliminated the names?

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Are you saying the old name shows up during the reinstall process?  I believe that will happen if you immediately reinstall.

If you mean something else, please clarify.