I found this tiny black button under the driver's side dash. It's sort of above the accelerator and towards the driver's seat. It's spring-loaded kind of like a reset button. Any ideas?

 

That'll be the seat ejector AKA James Bond [&:]

Did you buy your car used? That might be a valet button for an aftermarket alarm or something like that. Are there wires connected to it? Where do the wires go?

 

Ya, I bought it used, but it looks like it is there from the factory. I pushed it and now sometimes when I have my keys out of the ignition, and hit the door "lock" button on the door, the factory chime goes off and the taillights start flashing. The only way I can make it stop is to unlock it, then lock it while the doors are shut. Oh, and the little factory alarm light stays steady now when I do this, when it used to flash. This is very strange.

 

Yes, that should be a Valet switch so that you can leave your car with a valet & your alarm will notarm itself when it is locked in their care. The remote door locks & such should still work normally in most systems.

My fox has one with its aftermarket Viper alarm. The LED blinker stays on when it is activated & no sound is made when using the remote buttons. Not sure why the lights keep flashing. They never stop?

 

How do I know when this "valet" option is turned off?

 

Everything should operate like it normally does if it is turned off. Is it an aftermarket alarm? If so,find what brand & look up the manual online. Sometimes it takes more than one push of the button to deactivate. Mine can take up to three. It justdepends on how they set it up when they installed it.

On mine, I have to either press(lock/aux/lock) on the remote with a door opento activate/deactiveate, orturn the key toON then to Offand then press the button one time.

 

I don't have an alarm. I pushed this "valet" button a couple times and now when I go to get out of the car, I hit the Lock button on the door, and the chime starts and my tail lights flash. The only way I can make it stop is to lock the car using the remote while the doors are closed. It's no big deal, but it never did that before and I'm afraid I may have disabled the factory anti-theft system or something. That's why I asked if there's a way to know if this "valet" option is turned off.

 

That's not a factory thing. Someone had a aftermarket alarm on it before u got it and probably lost the remote for the old alarm.