Just bought a Boxster. Do I have a police radar?

[ProjectM96]

Hello. I bought a 986 2.7L.

When I turn on the car, a red light flashes and makes a beep sound to the left of the steering wheel. It flashes and beeps randomly while driving. But it rarely happens. It has a knob, which I played with. But it does not seem to do anything.

In the front of the car attached to the bumper I saw what looks like a radar.

On the rear view mirror, there is a digital screen with arrows. Only once I have seen it turn on. The number "1" was displayed and one of the arrows lit up.

I could not find anything about it in the owners manual.

Is it a police radar? How does it work? What does the knob do and what does the number "1" mean?

[Stroked & Blown]

Sounds like you may have a Valentine One: http://www.valentine1.com/
That is one of the best radar detectors (some say THE best) around. Nice surprise.

[Lucky]

Originally Posted by ProjectM96

Hello. I bought a 986 2.7L.

When I turn on the car, a red light flashes and makes a beep sound to the left of the steering wheel. It flashes and beeps randomly while driving. But it rarely happens. It has a knob, which I played with. But it does not seem to do anything.

In the front of the car attached to the bumper I saw what looks like a radar.

On the rear view mirror, there is a digital screen with arrows. Only once I have seen it turn on. The number "1" was displayed and one of the arrows lit up.

I could not find anything about it in the owners manual.

Is it a police radar? How does it work? What does the knob do and what does the number "1" mean?

"1" is the number of transmitting radars detected. The arrows tell you if the detected radar(s) are in front of you, behind you, or both.

The knob probably adjusts sensitivity. In urban environments, you'll find that commercial security systems use the same bands as police radar and can lead to excessive false positives. When that appears to be happening, just reduce the sensitivity. Out on the highway you want to maximize sensitivity so you are warned when the cop is still pretty far away.

[ProjectM96]

Thanks guys. It was the valentino radar, but it is built in the car so thats cool.