Car Theft

[barry1010]

I have just watched a doorbell video of a car theft near me - it was a keyless car and took less than 10 seconds to relay the signal and drive off.

What happens when the car is parked up? How do they get it going again? How do they open the doors if the car is automatically locked?

[elliemay1]

I also have a keyless car for the first time and love it, though I now wish that I had bought an automatic

[davebro]

//you have a little curse before you realise that you've left your key in your other trousers and have to go back into the house to get it.//

As you would if you forgot your non-keyless car key!

[Barsel]

Can this only be done with a keyless car?

[EdmundD]

Keyless plus the strongest Crook Lock I could find works for me (so far).

[bhg481]

dave - yes, but you get to the stage where you completely tune out the need for a key because you "never" handle it.

[gingejbee]

My keys go to sleep (ie stop emitting the signal) after about 20 secs of being static, so even if I left them just inside the front door- no signal, no problem.
Oh, my car is in a locked garage too!

[gingejbee]

...and, as bhg says, you never handle the key (mine's clipped to a belt loop and hangs inside a pocket) so you're much less likely to lose it.

[davebro]

and the car warns you if your key battery is getting low!

[barry1010]

I've never lost a car key yet.
I use a crook lock on my car, too.

[barry1010]

davebro, my car isn't keyless but the fob tells me when the battery is getting low.

[davebro]

a crook lock can be got off in 10 seconds

[barry1010]

But a crook lock will deter the casual thief, davebro

[Barsel]

Barry can you have a look at my question @ 16.18 please?

[jennyjoan]

In times of very bad troubles here - I had 3 cars stolen. A brand new one was 3 days old and I had a secret lock somewhere? don't want to say - at the wheel. The fellas (I knew them) couldn't get it to start and broke the window and pushed it to an entry. Window was obviously broke and wheel was mangled. Incredible outside your own door.

The next one was outside my door where I live at the moment - I had left the house door ajar and keys were in the hall (I know exactly who was responsible for that too) - anyway about 7.30pm of a Friday night - key was taken out of the hall and it was found in Ardglass 6 months later. I didn't find out until 10.30pm when I was putting Maxie out for his night pee.

The third was outside a restaurant and it just went - the young ones knew what to do to spark the ignition. Couldn't believe that.

I would never want a keyless key nor do I want a contactless debit card - just would be afraid of losing them and somebody else stealing again. My 11 year old with 26,000 miles will be raked into the ground.

[barry1010]

Barsel, I've looked at your question at 16:18 but can't answer it as I don't know what you are referring to. As I don't have a keyless car I don't know if I could answer it anyway :D

[barry1010]

We had a rake of car thefts round my way a good ten years ago - thieves were just lifting them on to a recovery truck and driving off with them. No damage caused to the car - just a quick lift and gone. They managed at least 10 before they were caught

[Barsel]

I just wanted to know if you own a car that you need keys for like mine, can those keys be cloned or whatever it is they do.
Or to put it another way, if I left my car key in the hall, can someone copy that key with a device from outside my front door.

[jennyjoan]

If a bad guy wants a car bad enough - they know ways and means of getting it. I used to chain mine up with a lock every night for years and then I got fed up.

[barry1010]

Barsel, if your car is not keyless then the fob/key is not emitting any signal unless you press the button, so no, the key cannot be cloned whilst it is sitting on your hall table :)

It could be fished out with a fishing line, though - that was happening a lot a while back

[bhg481]

Barsel - your key only transmits when you push a button on the fob. With keyless entry the fob transmits all the time so that, when you get near to the car, it can be opened. ginge pointed out that more modern keyless entry fobs only transmit if they are being moved (in a moving person's pocket/handbag) so are more secure that the early ones.