Car security

Herzlos

They wouldn't do that though because by offering a faraday pouch (free or not) they'd be inferring there was some problem with keyless (there is). 

I've found it pretty handy at times but I ultimately hated keyless on mine because there was no way to verify the car had actually locked; if you walk up to it to try the door it unlocks. So a few times I had to leave the key out of range and then walk back to the car which is worse than just using a key. 

Ectophile

born_again said:

Kinda funny that people think keyless entry is unsafe.

Remember back years ago & a flat bit of metal or brick & a screwdriver was all they needed to steal a car, which could be anywhere. At least now they have to spend £'000 to get the software to do the same. Which they can only do outside your house.

It's worth paying a few thousand to steal something expensive like a Range Rover.  At one time, they were practically uninsurable in some areas as so many got stolen and shipped abroad.

And unlike heaving a brick through a window, you can steal some keyless cars with no damage and without doing anything that would look suspicious to a passer by.

Two people.  One stands near the front door of a house, the other stands next to the car.  The car unlocks.  They get in and drive away.  Alternatively the same trick works in a car park.  One person walks past a person who has just left their car, and the other person walks up to the car.

Emmia

Bigbeinn said:

I know it's ‘cheap’ to buy a faraday pouch or box but there’s a lot of people who don’t seem to know how easy it is to access a keyless car if they leave their keys lying around in their house where signal can be picked up. I was only thinking car dealerships could take some responsibility to ‘educate’ their customers by perhaps offering a free pouch & helping reduce the crime rate of stolen cars which runs in to tens of thousands 

Based on this rationale, wouldn't it be more appropriate for insurers to give them out? They are the ones who end up paying out when cars are stolen etc.

MyRealNameToo

Ectophile said:

born_again said:

Kinda funny that people think keyless entry is unsafe.

Remember back years ago & a flat bit of metal or brick & a screwdriver was all they needed to steal a car, which could be anywhere. At least now they have to spend £'000 to get the software to do the same. Which they can only do outside your house.

It's worth paying a few thousand to steal something expensive like a Range Rover.  At one time, they were practically uninsurable in some areas as so many got stolen and shipped abroad.

And unlike heaving a brick through a window, you can steal some keyless cars with no damage and without doing anything that would look suspicious to a passer by.

Two people.  One stands near the front door of a house, the other stands next to the car.  The car unlocks.  They get in and drive away.  Alternatively the same trick works in a car park.  One person walks past a person who has just left their car, and the other person walks up to the car.

Not sure the average person can tell the difference between someone driving along with an open window and one driving along with an open window because the window was smashed. Amount of damage to the vehicle is less but thats more about getting it moving than gaining access. 

Having caught our neighbours car being stolen on camera it did look fairly dodgy, they weren't on our property so it didnt trigger an alert at the time but the neighbours asked for footage. Car drives up a speed, two people in balaclava jump out and car speeds off. One runs to out neighbours front door, the other runs to the car. Bit of shouting between them then the cars lights flash, one jumps in and drives off and the other legs it in the same direction. A passer by would have thought something was a foot but it was done at 4am in the morning when there were no passers by.

paul_c123

You can turn off keyless entry.

facade

paul_c123 said:

You can turn off keyless entry.

Not on all cars.

My Citroen I can only turn off proximity unlocking (the car unlocks every time the key moves within so many feet of it) obviously that was the first thing that I did   

Keyless unlocking still works if I press the button on the boot handle, or about once in 50 times that I tap the door handle. (So relay theft would just need one of them to keep trying to open the boot)

I think that the key goes to sleep if it isn't moved inside it's little tin box to defeat relay theft (but Stellantis- I wouldn't put money on it) certainly picking up the key gets the car all excited- the lights come on and it tries to break my 'phone with continual attempts to connect Android Auto. 

I really ought to try opening the boot when I come back from walking The Dog to find out.

Goudy

If someone wants to steal your car, they will.
They can break in or mug you outside the house for the key if they can't "read" a key signal.

They can overcome alarms and block trackers and cut physical security devices off in seconds. 

Nothing much will stop them, even you sitting in it at the time.

I was reading some car theft advice recently that said never take your car keys to bed, otherwise you might wake up face to face with someone who broke in for your keys.

I had a car stolen from outside the house a few years ago and it didn't have keyless entry but it still went without a key.
I was away at the time but my family was at home as were the keys.

Obviously I was extremely pssd off at the time, but I was actually glad no one broke in or tried mugging my Mrs for the key.

We both have keyless entry cars now and to be honest, I don't even think about protecting the key in any sort of pouch.
If it gets stolen, it's only a car and it's insured.
One thing I am sure about is I don't want my Mrs or myself to be burgled or mugged for it. 

forgotmyname

Herzlos said:

They wouldn't do that though because by offering a faraday pouch (free or not) they'd be inferring there was some problem with keyless (there is). 

I've found it pretty handy at times but I ultimately hated keyless on mine because there was no way to verify the car had actually locked; if you walk up to it to try the door it unlocks. So a few times I had to leave the key out of range and then walk back to the car which is worse than just using a key. 

Mines a PITA.  I can unlock the car and the mirrors don't unfold until you operate the handle or press and hold the unlock button. But if you hold unlock

too long all the windows open. Stupid system.

It's probably unlocked now and probably has been since I last used it on Saturday because I am not going to do the walk back and forth between the
house and car to check whether it is actually locked.  Daughter just walks out of range and uses the fob to lock and unlock her car.

chrisw

forgotmyname said:

Herzlos said:

They wouldn't do that though because by offering a faraday pouch (free or not) they'd be inferring there was some problem with keyless (there is). 

I've found it pretty handy at times but I ultimately hated keyless on mine because there was no way to verify the car had actually locked; if you walk up to it to try the door it unlocks. So a few times I had to leave the key out of range and then walk back to the car which is worse than just using a key. 

It's probably unlocked now and probably has been since I last used it on Saturday because I am not going to do the walk back and forth between the

house and car to check whether it is actually locked. 

Does it have a phone app so you can check if it's unlocked and lock it remotely?

facade

I use a Disklok on my car to put off the casual kiddies with relay theft or OBD attack gear they bought "down the pub".

It isn't going to stop organised theft, as they will have the decoding tool to open the lock in a few seconds (well worth the cost as Diskloks are so popular and easy to see when driving past car spotting)

Hopefully the badge on the front is a deterrent to organised theft.