Keyless car theft - quick question
Discussion
Just a quick query, my wife has a 2019 BMW I3. It was not optioned with keyless entry, so you have to push the button on the key to open it - does this mean that it cannot be stolen by thieves scanning the key while it is in our house?
the 5th car this year has just gone walkies from our area....
the 5th car this year has just gone walkies from our area....
Sir Bagalot said:
Some people get drawn in with the keyless stuff.
Any locksmith worth their salt will pick the lock in ten seconds with time to spare
Also its the demand for the car. My Mustang GT is keyless, but i do not worry at all, as there is not a lot of demand for stolen mustangs in this country. Compared to Focus RS's/high level BMW/Audi's etc, its going to be the latter thats targeted irrespective of the key type.Any locksmith worth their salt will pick the lock in ten seconds with time to spare
V8 Stang said:
Also its the demand for the car. My Mustang GT is keyless, but i do not worry at all, as there is not a lot of demand for stolen mustangs in this country. Compared to Focus RS's/high level BMW/Audi's etc, its going to be the latter thats targeted irrespective of the key type.
Kugas and fiestas seem to be most nicked round here (and not STs, any spec)Automaton said:
V8 Stang said:
Also its the demand for the car. My Mustang GT is keyless, but i do not worry at all, as there is not a lot of demand for stolen mustangs in this country. Compared to Focus RS's/high level BMW/Audi's etc, its going to be the latter thats targeted irrespective of the key type.
Kugas and fiestas seem to be most nicked round here (and not STs, any spec)georgeyboy12345 said:
Don’t think anyone will be nicking an i3, they are after Golf Rs, M Cars, RS Audis and AMGs mainly
Famous last words, but agree. EV's arent the car of choice for being stolen.It will change of course, but the idea that you could steal an EV and it have only 25 miles charge in it - you cant just grab some petrol and leg-it from the station, you have to find somewhere to plug it in, assume that it hasnt been identified as stolen AND then wait for some time to get a decent charge - and forget high speed charging, as this isnt something that you can easily steal and its usually covered with CCTV.
And almost all EV's are connected anyway, so the owners can see where they are at any time, so as a car to steal or use as a getaway vehicle, its really not at the top of the list - and add to the list that the i3 is instantly recognizable too, yeah, its really not top of the list.... I think you will be OK.
georgeyboy12345 said:
Don’t think anyone will be nicking an i3, they are after Golf Rs, M Cars, RS Audis and AMGs mainly
The most stolen car in the country is the the Fiesta, then RR, then Focus. Then mostly SUVs, “exec” brands (not just the M/AMG/R models). By model, I think the various Range Rovers are high up in the lists.The ones you list get the headlines of course but statistically, there’s so few of them they probably feature highly on the nicked list,
However, I wonder what the proportions to their sales, i.e. what %age of models sold are nicked.
As above, you cannot use a conventional relay attack to gain entry to a car unless it has keyless entry. A normal remote (non-keyless) key does not transmit anything unless one of the buttons on it is pressed.
The only other possibility is that someone managed to scan the signal from your key when you unlocked it previously, although due to the rolling code system used in all modern remote keys, they would also have needed to have prevented the car from receiving the signal (codes are used once, then ignored by the car afterwards). This is obviously pretty difficult to do, and I would say so remote in terms of possibility that you can pretty much discard it.
Unfortunately, if they really want the car, and they need physical access to the key to take it, the easiest way is to get into your house and take it. Or relieve you of it when you're out and about.
Keyless theft is mostly performed by oiks rather than the professional criminals they often work for. They know how to work their relay box or snap a Euro cylinder to get into your house, but that's about it. Most of them can barely string a sentence together.
The only other possibility is that someone managed to scan the signal from your key when you unlocked it previously, although due to the rolling code system used in all modern remote keys, they would also have needed to have prevented the car from receiving the signal (codes are used once, then ignored by the car afterwards). This is obviously pretty difficult to do, and I would say so remote in terms of possibility that you can pretty much discard it.
Unfortunately, if they really want the car, and they need physical access to the key to take it, the easiest way is to get into your house and take it. Or relieve you of it when you're out and about.
Keyless theft is mostly performed by oiks rather than the professional criminals they often work for. They know how to work their relay box or snap a Euro cylinder to get into your house, but that's about it. Most of them can barely string a sentence together.
Chaps, thanks for the continuing responses, I think I can stand down any extra security on the i3, it just seems that everything that is not bolted down is disappearing at present in our neighbourhood . We bought the car second hand but whoever specified our I3 might have done us a bit of a favour as they seemed to tick just about every option (even blue seat belts for £150!) apart from keyless entry which we felt was odd but maybe they thought that this might deter thieves in the future.
I am sure that in the future cars like the I3 will start to disappear as 2nd hand parts are more in demand but maybe we are not there just yet.
I am sure that in the future cars like the I3 will start to disappear as 2nd hand parts are more in demand but maybe we are not there just yet.
Canon_Fodder said:
georgeyboy12345 said:
Don’t think anyone will be nicking an i3, they are after Golf Rs, M Cars, RS Audis and AMGs mainly
Missed a few out there George! Certain JLR products for a kick-off!Also here in Essex, the city boys mostly buy black RR/LR products, also with black wheels.
I’m safe.
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