@pam w, The advantage of that, which you seem to have missed, is that you can take the keys out of the car while it's running to warm up while you have a pee.
I 'think' mine turns off if the fob is outside the car for too long, or maybe too far. Certainly wouldn't be able to drive away. Although I can unlock the car with my phone anyway (as long as there's 3/4G coverage)
A near neighbour has this facility too, and three times someone else has unlocked his car and taken it, all same make and each new one disappeared same as the last. Now bought a different make and still has it at the moment.
Wouldn't mind but he's on same postcode as us and probably affected my insurance
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
MorningGory wrote:
@pam w, The advantage of that, which you seem to have missed, is that you can take the keys out of the car while it's running to warm up while you have a pee.
I 'think' mine turns off if the fob is outside the car for too long, or maybe too far. Certainly wouldn't be able to drive away. Although I can unlock the car with my phone anyway (as long as there's 3/4G coverage)
It sounds as though the car in question can be driven away without the key.
I wonder what happens if a car suddenly is being driven when it realised the key is missing? A sudden, unexpected stop seems a bit risky
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
@LaForet, I'm curious. Your worldview (based on your industry experience) is clearly that tyre tests should not be trusted because the methodology "could" be flawed. Ok, I'll play along.
How, therefore, should an ignorant (because he doesn't work in the industry) consumer choose between a likely bewildering array of available alternatives on the internet?
@Red Leon, it's a bit vague, I'll try tomorrow and see how far I get. Maybe it'll run but not move.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Red Leon wrote:
MorningGory wrote:
@pam w, The advantage of that, which you seem to have missed, is that you can take the keys out of the car while it's running to warm up while you have a pee.
I 'think' mine turns off if the fob is outside the car for too long, or maybe too far. Certainly wouldn't be able to drive away. Although I can unlock the car with my phone anyway (as long as there's 3/4G coverage)
It sounds as though the car in question can be driven away without the key.
I wonder what happens if a car suddenly is being driven when it realised the key is missing? A sudden, unexpected stop seems a bit risky
One of my cars (newish Subaru) won’t start unless the key is inside it but it will go on forever without the key, with some annoying beeps, until it’s turned off.
I know this because I jumped out my car last week and wife took off in it while I still had the key in my pocket
I always turn the annoying stop start thing off so not sure how that works if there’s no key in the vehicle.
A near neighbour has this facility too, and three times someone else has unlocked his car and taken it, all same make and each new one disappeared same as the last.
It's a well-known and publicised theft technique using bluetooth repeaters to convince the car that the key is next to the door when it's still inside the house. Range Rovers are the target of choice.
Scumbags will always exist but it's easily prevented by placing your key in a Faraday pouch when you get home, available for a fiver off eBay.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
All Merc, after first one they schooled him in higher security protocol routine with remote, but still two more went.
A right pain, but three caught with last one as tracker fitted. Located in Hertfordshire being prepared into container for removal to Eastern Europe. One, ten years sentence as been prosecuted before then deported, back in country with renewed identity, apparently will be out in half time and deport again. Other two, five years.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Quote:
Scumbags will always exist but it's easily prevented by placing your key in a Faraday pouch when you get home, available for a fiver off eBay.
Easily prevented by not having invented these absurd new "keys" which seem to be a classic solution to a non-existent problem.
As for little cars being crap, @Raceplate, the little car you can afford seems greatly preferable to a big old bug you can't afford. Like the old people (often women because the men die) who moan about not being able to heat and maintain the four bedroom homes they live in alone.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Obviously off track in topic, but they believe it's cloning while he was getting in/out of it by being in that proximity to snag it. With method and location repeated when insurance replaced it.
I've nothing like that though and so not affected, other than the expensive insurance
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
See - yet another advantage of my Fabia. No bugger's going to bother to pinch it.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
ski3 wrote:
Obviously off track in topic, but they believe it's cloning while he was getting in/out of it by being in that proximity to snag it. With method and location repeated when insurance replaced it.
I've nothing like that though and so not affected, other than the expensive insurance
Yes, TBF, that is the other way of doing it though I believe it's less common because they need to be within about 5 metres of you when you get out of the car and are likely stood holding an open laptop in the middle of the street (or more likely behind a bush ). Seems hard to believe he's been tracked that closely three times and never noticed! Much more likely that they've scanned the key through the front door at 4am when no-one's about but impossible to say for sure without CCTV or similar.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
pam w wrote:
See - yet another advantage of my Fabia. No bugger's going to bother to pinch it.
Don't be so sure. That's a luxury car in Romania - always a demand for cheap parts!
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
pam w wrote:
See - yet another advantage of my Fabia. No bugger's going to bother to pinch it.
One of the most consistent competitors in Rally history with illustrious achievements, fabia long been their competition lead car. Very good development engineers the Skoda bods.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
pam w wrote:
As for little cars being crap, @Raceplate, the little car you can afford seems greatly preferable to walking, a horse and cart or an Austin Seven.
Fixed it for you.
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Well I love mine! Just £20 road tax. Even though I have to put a key in the lock. Such a terrible drag, dahhhling. So frightfully old-fashioned.
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
pam w wrote:
Like the old people (often women because the men die) who moan about not being able to heat and maintain the four bedroom homes they live in alone.
Reminds me of one of my favourite female quotes:
“Money may not buy happiness, but I'd rather cry in a Jaguar than on a bus.”
― Françoise Sagan
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Any woman who says, “Whisky, gambling and Ferraris are better than housework.” and “A dress makes no sense unless it inspires men to want to take it off you” is alright by me
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Maybe quite a sad life in some ways. Addiction, succession of relationships with men and women, self-destructive. Like a lot of creative people, I guess. Though I do agree that housework is pointless.
@LaForet, I'm curious. Your worldview (based on your industry experience) is clearly that tyre tests should not be trusted because the methodology "could" be flawed. Ok, I'll play along.
How, therefore, should an ignorant (because he doesn't work in the industry) consumer choose between a likely bewildering array of available alternatives on the internet?
They can’t, not really. It’s like buying your next dishwasher. You know there are a few leading manufacturers, and you look at some reviews just to see if any particular models consistently get terrible reviews. Then you see what the manufacturer says about the features of each. Perhaps you go to Curry’s and the salesperson says “I recommended this one to my my mother.” You see which of your shortlist is consistently featured by the likes of John Lewis. Then you make your final choice.
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Raceplate wrote:
ski3 wrote:
A near neighbour has this facility too, and three times someone else has unlocked his car and taken it, all same make and each new one disappeared same as the last.
It's a well-known and publicised theft technique using bluetooth repeaters to convince the car that the key is next to the door when it's still inside the house. Range Rovers are the target of choice.
Scumbags will always exist but it's easily prevented by placing your key in a Faraday pouch when you get home, available for a fiver off eBay.
If you read the annual police reports for vehicle thefts the analysis is that ‘comfort access’ cars aren’t stolen to any greater degree than other types of locking system. The press get hysterical about this every year when the stats come out and one of a very limited set of videos gets re-referenced, but it’s a case of ‘correlation is not causation’: comfort access thefts have risen because more cars have it, but the probability of theft isn’t affected by whether you have it or not. The majority of stolen cars are dark-coloured, but a light-coloured car isn’t any less likely to be stolen. Most of the top-ten stolen models are stolen ‘to order’ by organised criminals who sub-contract the more risky process of actual removal to low-lifes. But the gangs themselves are almost businesses: taking orders from criminal buyers for specific models, surveying an area with their ‘shopping list’, targeting in particular cars parked on driveways (because the keys will be in the house); and then contracting-out the theft. A lot of keys are stolen covertly (energy provider’s subcontractor comes to “check a meter fault” and either takes the keys hanging up in the Faraday bag or clocks where they are for a later break-in, etc.).
Police and insurer advice is that a car parked in a garage is 3x less likely to be stolen than one on your drive and a car parked randomly on the street is half as likely to be stolen as one on the drive.
The #1 stolen car in England in recent years has been either the BMW X5 or the Audi S3/RS3 (and that’s by numbers, not as a % of cars on the road) while the other big SUVs like the Range Rover, Discovery etc. form the top 6-7. BMWs get a bit of a bad name as a top #10 rating, because in the stats I saw anyway, for some reason they aggregate all 5 Series into a single grouping, which seems a bit unfair.
In some ways, you might prefer thieves to clone your key from outside the front door, if the alternative is to break into the house, and take them by force if necessary. Remember, in most cases, by the time they’ve turned up, they’ve invested a lot of time and effort in identifying your car and have a cash buyer ready and waiting for it. Not being able to clone it may be no hindrance to them taking more aggressive measures. Advice on countermeasures for cars in the top#10 list or exotics etc is to actually beef up you physical home access security (ignore CCTV - it’s not a deterrent) i.e. external doors and locks, which is useful anyway for home security generally, plus to be suspicious about utility etc. cold-callers and when building work is being done (with lots of contractors coming and going through the property).
So if you have a performance or luxury vehicle and a garage full of stuff, it’s really a very good idea to clear the garage out and park the car there if you can. If you don’t have a garage Then consider parking it randomly on the street if you’re concerned about theft. But really, this should mainly be of concern to premium SUV owners only and perhaps if you have an Audi ‘R’ or ‘RS’ model. For most other models, if it’s not something exotic, the probability of theft is relatively low in comparison. That’s not to say it doesn’t happen, but it’s going to be relatively bad luck if it does.
The exception to all of this in the Top#10 list is the Ford Fiesta, which seems to be targeted by joy riders and people wanting a ride home. There are obviously lots on the road and many are easily broken into and are fairly easy to start without keys. The vehicle of choice for those stranded somewhere who won’t or can’t get a taxi.
Last edited by Then you can post your own questions or snow reports... on Wed 1-02-23 1:01; edited 2 times in total
After all it is free
After all it is free
LaForet wrote:
and you look at some reviews just to see if any particular models consistently get terrible reviews.
So reviews do have their place, then. Thought so...
To some extent, I agree with you - reviews are perhaps most useful to identify poor quality options and remove them from your possibles list rather than to identify the absolute best choice. What is usually the case is that at least 3 of the top 5 rated tyres across all tests, whatever the size tested and the methodology is, are consistent. The exact rankings may differ across tests but they're always in the top 5 grouping. You then have a shortlist and can see what the best deal or availability is in your size.
For all-seasons, the shortlist would be:
GY Vector 4 Seasons
Michelin CC2
Hankook Kinergy 4S2
Conti Allseason contact
Vredestein Quatrac (small wheel sizes only)
All of those are consistently near the top of the reviews' lists.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
Raceplate wrote:
LaForet wrote:
and you look at some reviews just to see if any particular models consistently get terrible reviews.
So reviews do have their place, then. Thought so...
To some extent, I agree with you - reviews are perhaps most useful to identify poor quality options and remove them from your possibles list rather than to identify the absolute best choice. What is usually the case is that at least 3 of the top 5 rated tyres across all tests, whatever the size tested and the methodology is, are consistent. The exact rankings may differ across tests but they're always in the top 5 grouping. You then have a shortlist and can see what the best deal or availability is in your size.
For all-seasons, the shortlist would be:
GY Vector 4 Seasons
Michelin CC2
Hankook Kinergy 4S2
Conti Allseason contact
Vredestein Quatrac (small wheel sizes only)
All of those are consistently near the top of the reviews' lists.
Yes, I think we’re closer than it might seem in terms of the process. I was just concerned that reviews can seem much more emphatic and certain than they actually are and need to be used as part of a broader appraisal. And yes, if I’m looking at products where I’ve got no manufacturer insight to help me, then I too will make some use of reviews. But like most people, I won’t take them as definitive.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
The most stolen car in Nz by a big margin is the pre 2008 Mazda demio
I think we must have less sophisticated car thieves.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
I couldn't imagine any joyrider activities for cars after a certain timeline as they need key proximity to electronics (similar to ski pass r fid) to disable engine immobiliser in ecu. They can be opened by brute force but won't go.
More likely is exit strategy from finance contract, park in uncontrolled, unmonitored street, leave it alone then report stolen. Still have both keys etc job done. That's from an insurance assessor acquaintance, difficult to prove, not worth individual investigation etc. Delivery scooters the same, all gaming the system.
Shifting more expensive type, park in uncontrolled, disconnect battery, wait to see if pickup on tracker, retrieve after clean time etc, well known by insurance insiders, but difficult to contain. The nefarious will always find holes to leverage.
We've a very good condition, high quality and well specified older car, 23yrs now, that this element doesn't give a fig about nil depreciation now too which helps with paying for ski holiday they walk past ours to steal the neighbours new one.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
LaForet wrote:
Raceplate wrote:
ski3 wrote:
A near neighbour has this facility too, and three times someone else has unlocked his car and taken it, all same make and each new one disappeared same as the last.
It's a well-known and publicised theft technique using bluetooth repeaters to convince the car that the key is next to the door when it's still inside the house. Range Rovers are the target of choice.
Scumbags will always exist but it's easily prevented by placing your key in a Faraday pouch when you get home, available for a fiver off eBay.
If you read the annual police reports for vehicle thefts the analysis is that ‘comfort access’ cars aren’t stolen to any greater degree than other types of locking system. The press get hysterical about this every year when the stats come out and one of a very limited set of videos gets re-referenced, but it’s a case of ‘correlation is not causation’: comfort access thefts have risen because more cars have it, but the probability of theft isn’t affected by whether you have it or not. The majority of stolen cars are dark-coloured, but a light-coloured car isn’t any less likely to be stolen. Most of the top-ten stolen models are stolen ‘to order’ by organised criminals who sub-contract the more risky process of actual removal to low-lifes. But the gangs themselves are almost businesses: taking orders from criminal buyers for specific models, surveying an area with their ‘shopping list’, targeting in particular cars parked on driveways (because the keys will be in the house); and then contracting-out the theft. A lot of keys are stolen covertly (energy provider’s subcontractor comes to “check a meter fault” and either takes the keys hanging up in the Faraday bag or clocks where they are for a later break-in, etc.).
Police and insurer advice is that a car parked in a garage is 3x less likely to be stolen than one on your drive and a car parked randomly on the street is half as likely to be stolen as one on the drive.
The #1 stolen car in England in recent years has been either the BMW X5 or the Audi S3/RS3 (and that’s by numbers, not as a % of cars on the road) while the other big SUVs like the Range Rover, Discovery etc. form the top 6-7. BMWs get a bit of a bad name as a top #10 rating, because in the stats I saw anyway, for some reason they aggregate all 5 Series into a single grouping, which seems a bit unfair.
In some ways, you might prefer thieves to clone your key from outside the front door, if the alternative is to break into the house, and take them by force if necessary. Remember, in most cases, by the time they’ve turned up, they’ve invested a lot of time and effort in identifying your car and have a cash buyer ready and waiting for it. Not being able to clone it may be no hindrance to them taking more aggressive measures. Advice on countermeasures for cars in the top#10 list or exotics etc is to actually beef up you physical home access security (ignore CCTV - it’s not a deterrent) i.e. external doors and locks, which is useful anyway for home security generally, plus to be suspicious about utility etc. cold-callers and when building work is being done (with lots of contractors coming and going through the property).
So if you have a performance or luxury vehicle and a garage full of stuff, it’s really a very good idea to clear the garage out and park the car there if you can. If you don’t have a garage Then consider parking it randomly on the street if you’re concerned about theft. But really, this should mainly be of concern to premium SUV owners only and perhaps if you have an Audi ‘R’ or ‘RS’ model. For most other models, if it’s not something exotic, the probability of theft is relatively low in comparison. That’s not to say it doesn’t happen, but it’s going to be relatively bad luck if it does.
The exception to all of this in the Top#10 list is the Ford Fiesta, which seems to be targeted by joy riders and people wanting a ride home. There are obviously lots on the road and many are easily broken into and are fairly easy to start without keys. The vehicle of choice for those stranded somewhere who won’t or can’t get a taxi.
Keyless theft is a massive problem in the area we live, I often read comments on the 'next door' app and barely a day goes by without a car being stolen like this in our neighbourhood and the vast majority are Range Rovers. It is a very popular car in the area we live in but I'm surprised there's any left considering the rate they are being stolen. It has happened to a friend of ours, he has CCTV which we watched back later and it took all of 43 seconds to remove his Range Rover Sport from his driveway.
Faraday pouches (or an old metal biscuit tin work just as well) are ok when you are in the house but there has been occurrences near us where cars have been stolen as they were parked up in Tesco. The thieves follow the car, wait till the person leaves the car (with the key in their pocket) and use the signal to reopen the car then drive off sometimes while the owner looks on helplessly.
The best solutions are Autowatch Ghost immobiliser, and also completely code out the keyless functionality in the ECU - this is easy for most independent tuning companies to do and often not that hard to do yourself with the right cable and software. The exact method depends on the car model.
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
Quote:
Keyless theft is a massive problem in the area we live
And what massive problems do the "keyless" systems solve?
You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
pam w wrote:
Quote:
Keyless theft is a massive problem in the area we live
And what massive problems do the "keyless" systems solve?
Nothing in my view, they are waste of time. None of my current cars has it but the next one I'm planning to get most likely will. I'll be disabling it as soon as I get the car.
This is a pretty shocking example. The car was taken at a filling station while the key was in the guys pocket.
http://youtube.com/shorts/tNeK50CtCsQ
I found the original longer video where the explanation about keyless theft and what happened in the short video above occurred.:
The advice from the guy at the end is good, he mentions ghost and coding out keyless entry from the ECU. Driveway bollards are good too.
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
pam w wrote:
Quote:
Keyless theft is a massive problem in the area we live
And what massive problems do the "keyless" systems solve?
They allow alzheimer's ridden old ladies to load up their weekly shopping without endlessly searching the depths of their handbags for the key only to find it 20 minutes later in their coat...
Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Quote:
alzheimer's ridden old ladies
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Keyless cars aren't causing thefts. The cars would be stolen, whether keyless or not, is the point.
Range Rovers, BMW X5s, Discoveries etc. get you top whack cash if you're a professional thief. If you can clone the key, fine, that's simple. If you can't then you break in and take them. If you can't find them you threaten the householder so they hand the keys over or you just wait 'till they lock/unlock the car and mug them for the keys.
I like my keyless system and think it's much more secure than a manual key. But I admit I do have a garage to park the car in overnight, so my hope is that the criminals' driveway searches don't pick it up (this is why my insurance says the car has to be in the garage between 22:00 and 06:00). If they've targeted my car for theft then it's too late anyway - and I'd rather they cloned the key and drove it away than have them break the door down and use violence to get the keys. If you buy a Range Rover/X5/etc and park it on the drive every night then you might as well put up a sign saying 'steal me'. If you have a garage filled with accumulated jumble which means you can't park your Range Rover, X5 etc in it, then your priorities are out of whack.
Immobilisers aren't that great a deterrent, they also can be circumvented. Where we are, cars just get driven into a container on a lorry (which blocks the signal) and disappear. That £20K or whatever the thief gets paid for a premium vehicle is a huge incentive, sadly.
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Wed 1-02-23 13:29; edited 1 time in total
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
LaForet wrote:
Keyless cars aren't causing thefts. The cars would be stolen, whether keyless or not, is the point.
Range Rovers, BMW X5s, Discoveries etc. get you top whack cash if you're a professional thief. If you can clone the key, fine, that's simple. If you can't then you break in and take them. If you can't find them you threaten the householder so they hand the keys over or you just wait 'till they lock/unlock the car and mug them for the keys.
There is certainly some truth in that. The newest most valuable cars are stolen to order and sometimes a very specific model is needed but many of the thefts are less specific, they are happy with any high end car that can be sold on. The fact that keyless entry makes it so easy is increasing the number of thefts. There a quite a few criminals who are happy to use a bit of technology to drive away a car but would draw the line at using violence to get the keys (especially if they thought they might come off worse themselves).
From what I heard mentioned on internet sites, a stolen 100k car will only fetch 10-20k on the black market. They need to be shipped out to foreign markets where fewer questions are asked about their origin, lots of people are involved and each one needs their cut of the 'profit' so in most cases the original thieves are less picky than you might think. The don't go shopping with a manafacturer option list.
You could use the 'they will be stolen anyway' argument to say why bother locking the car at all ? and leave the keys inside too ?
Where I live there are expensive cars all over the place, if I protect my car maybe they will just move on to an easier target next door. Why have all the hassle and increased risk of breaking into the house when there are loads of other equally valuable cars in the vicinity that will do just as well in many cases.
I have keyless entry and push button start on my doggy old Audi and I must admit it's a feature I absolutely love. I'm glad I don't live in London or Surrey though. I always use a Faraday pouch and I'm wary when I fill up but the service station scanning method is certainly concerning. The thieves can't just be hanging around on the forecourt though, in that video it looks like the vehicle was targeted and specifically followed to the filling station by an accomplice vehicle.
One benefit for me actually is the age of my car, it's unlikely to be targeted because it was an extremely rare option at the time - on newer cars it's pretty much standard on any premium brand vehicle and many lower down the scale too.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Yeah, I know I sound a bit trenchant, but it's because I've researched this and get annoyed at lazy journos who just get everyone in a frenzy with the same limited set of theft videos and faulty logic.
It can seem as if I'm suggesting resigning yourself to taking no countermeasures at all, but it is certainly reasonable to do something if it's easy and minimises your risk. If your garage is filled with the kid's junk and your premium car is on the drive, then chuck that junk out and garage the car overnight - your insurance premium should reduce if nothing else. If you can't do that then as mentioned, a driveway bollard is a good 'not worth the hassle' deterrent. On my owners' forum a lot of people have uprated their physical home security, which is a good thing anyway, to put breaking in into the same 'too hard' category. By default, it seems that even relatively expensive front doors and windows get fitted with almost laughably poor locks.
And there are local 'hot spots' for particular models, apparently. So I'm not saying to ignore local feedback that your model is a target. In one case, a particular city had a very high rate of BMW M135i thefts for a while, because they had become criminals 'go to' car for robberies etc. Then it switched to Audi S3/RS3. And so on.
Reading all these posts reminds me of one of the reasons I live in a small village in the Swiss alps...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
@Chaletbeauroc It's actually a load of hype. Thank social media for working everyone up into a frenzy. Cars are now much more secure than they ever were and thefts have been going down for years. The exception are the top 5 stolen cars which are all premium SUVs (BMW X5, Range Rover, Discovery etc) and a couple of the Audi S and RS models. For everyone else the chance of theft is less now than it used to be. Even within the top 5, it's the #1 stolen car that gets taken at twice the rate of the #2-#5 vehicles. Its just that hack journos have latched on the the clickbait readability of keyless access and know that when the annual theft stats are released they can get a bit of money for rehashing the same article, with a bit of video thrown in. And then add in people who sell tracking and security products, who have a vested interest in working everyone up, and you get all this noise.
This is not to diminish the impact personally of a car theft, and particularly if it involves a break-in, and especially if it includes violence in order to obtain the keys. But it needs to be kept in proportion, and needs to be emphasised that having keyless access doesn't make you any more likely to be a victim and conversely, not having keyless access doesn't reduce the chance of a theft either.
Personally, statistically I'm much more concerned about burglary. I'm much more likely to be a victim of this than car theft. And I can do a lot to obviate the risk of that by installing better low-level physical security on doors and windows. (btw CCTV comes a long way down the list of cost-effective home security measures). Better door equipment also makes it harder for anyone who wanted to get in to get the car keys, as well, so that's a bonus.
After all it is free
After all it is free
@JohnS4, most of luxury and premium cars become spare parts. This is much more lucrative business than selling the complete car.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
@LaForet, It's a bit more than hype.
Research from Aviva showed you were twice as likely to make a theft claim if you have a keyless vehicle than a non-keyless one and it's the most common break in method now.
Car theft stats fell regularly till 2014 because of better car security, but they have risen in subsequent years.
And for what ? It wasn't exactly a hassle having to press a button on the keyfob to open the door, it's a convenience that I'd rather do without.
Ski the Net with snowHeads
Ski the Net with snowHeads
I have a neighbour who permanently keeps his roof box attached to his late model Range Rover as a countermeasure against theft as he thinks thieves can’t be bothered with the faff / hassle of removing it
Mercedes keyless fobs can be physically turned off, as to not receive and transmit a signal, by double clicking the lock button.
FAQ
Poster: A snowHead
). Seems hard to believe he's been tracked that closely three times and never noticed! Much more likely that they've scanned the key through the front door at 4am when no-one's about but impossible to say for sure without CCTV or similar.
