Fiesta stolen from our driveway without keys, Birmingham

[blearyeyedboy]

So said:

Someone really needs to invent a system that isn't keyless. Perhaps with a key that physically needs to integrate with the vehicle to work. A really smart design would be one where there was a hole in the dashboard to keep the key when in use and better still the key could be turned to start and stop the car, thus removing the need for a separate button.

Crazy talk I know.

We could patent it, and call it keylessless drive.

[wolf1]

So said:

Someone really needs to invent a system that isn't keyless. Perhaps with a key that physically needs to integrate with the vehicle to work. A really smart design would be one where there was a hole in the dashboard to keep the key when in use and better still the key could be turned to start and stop the car, thus removing the need for a separate button.

Crazy talk I know.

It's no longer just keyless vehicles that are being stolen. They are now just drilling out/pulling ignitions so they can get the ignition switched on and are then plugging in to bypass the immobiliser . Customer of mine has had a few vans go to this method with only one recovered which we repaired the damage and replaced the locks and moved the eobd ports.

So having a traditional key type system is no longer the safer bet.

[resman]

hello, my ford focus st was stolen on the 26th may. lucky for me i had a tracker installed and the police found in 2 days later 20 miles away smashed up, iv'e been in touch with ford about this issue, since talking to the police and being told this is now 90% a ford problem. the response i got from ford was as you can imagine, they see no problem and take no responsibility for this. like myself if you had you car stolen due to fords push start, key less entry i'm sure you very annoyed and angry. and want something done about it, its about time companies like this where held accountable. at least 5 cars have been stole in my area in the past few weeks all fords, we need to band together and make ford hear us.

[Ahbefive]

It's certainly not just Fords and certainly not 90% Fords.

[boobles]

I really dislike these "keyless" entry cars..... I personally would do my very best to make sure the vehicle was blocked in some way or by one of these bolt to the road bollard things.

[riles131]

Petoz said:

Some bottom feeders broke into and stole (without keys) my other half's Fiesta from our driveway in Bournville last night, while we were in the house. And by last night, I mean sometime between 8:30-9:00pm. Car details:

BV15 KCX
Ford Fiesta Titanium
3 door
Deep Impact Blue

To rub salt into the wounds, by better half had only just filled the tank! We cannot quite believe this happened. I can't help but think the car was targeted given the risk of stealing it where/when they did. It's a relatively busy road, we have a security light, neighbours are close, and it was bin night, so people are typically in and out on the street through the evening.

A few friends have commented on facebook (in another attempt to raise the profile) that this has happened to a few fiestas with keyless entry recently. Is this a thing?! And if so, what will the car be used for?!

Needless to say, please keep you eyes peeled and DM me, or contact West Midlands Police should you spot it. And if you have a Ford with keyless entry, maybe consider a steering wheel lock!

Hey mate, was this ever found?
If not - How long was it before the police declaired it unrecoverable?


I've had one knicked today from Asda Minworth, 12:15, broad daylight
Caught on camera, they drove up to the car, and was in it and driving it away within a minute

Reported to the police

Red 5dr titanium
BT14 TAV

[Petoz]

riles131 said:

Hey mate, was this ever found?
If not - How long was it before the police declaired it unrecoverable?


I've had one knicked today from Asda Minworth, 12:15, broad daylight
Caught on camera, they drove up to the car, and was in it and driving it away within a minute

Reported to the police

Red 5dr titanium
BT14 TAV

Sorry to hear about the car!

Ours was never found unfortunately. Sorry to say that the police have been very little help at all. The only contact we’ve had was the incident support people, as opposed to anything to update us on the theft.

Insurers declared it irrecoverable after a month, and paid out.

[Billyray911]

Unfortunately,there’s not a lot for the Police to go by in lots of these matters.The thieves have it down to a fine art.Theyll arrive in a cloned car and the newly stolen car will be on false plates in minutes.With them being a common car,they easily vanish to be either broken down or resold with false plates.
Thefts of Fords are at the same level as E90 BMW’s were,a few years ago.

[riles131]

My car WAS found, Police followed it, it had fake plates on, police pulled driver over who sped off, police gave chase, my car ended up in a lampost - written off

The car had been completely cleaned out - no belongings etc, crooks got away

[So]

riles131 said:

My car WAS found, Police followed it, it had fake plates on, police pulled driver over who sped off, police gave chase, my car ended up in a lampost - written off

The car had been completely cleaned out - no belongings etc, crooks got away

When my Range Rover was stolen there was a bag of sportswear in the boot due to be returned to DW sport. The Lithuanians who nicked it were themselves nicked and when their photos appeared in the local paper one of them was wearing my Adidas hoody.

[Who me ?]

Thread on another site suggests that only way of baffling the keyless entry lot is to put keys in a metal box when parked up at night to stop key signal being read externally.
My neighbour had his van broken into with keys in house, but I'm not certain if his is keyless.
How long before keyless entry car have to be fitted with additional alarm & immobiliser systems. by the insurance trade. Rather makes a mockery of keyless entry though .

[Nickbrapp]

topless360 said:

The exact same thing happened to my BiL's keyless Fiesta (14 reg) in Birmingham.

Someone came up to the door whilst it was parked, did something, drove off, came back 15 minutes later and the car just opened for him and started.

Scary that it's so easy to steal these cars. Surely Ford (and other manufacturers) should have done a recall by now to close what I assume is a software issue.

Sadly because of the EU competition laws, the moduels that are used to program keyless keys are no longer just avaliable to dealers, you can get them off eBay, smash the window, plug into the OBD and program a new key, takes less than 5 mins in most cases.

It’s very common on fords, especially STs and RS models but happens to standard focus and fiestas all the time too.

[Who me ?]

Nick- simpler than that. From my understanding, transponder communicates with vehicle ( must have some sort of proximity device in the chip to unlock vehicle ) every so often. Thieves simply look for certain models that will be keyless and search for code.
Old story- make things too easy and someone will find a way to disable them. Som other makes did suffer from this theft problem, but the maker got a fix out fast.
One other solution is to have a secondary immobiliser button on transponder ,which needs a human to disable immobiliser.