Car theft - leave it open?

[1198]

A friend of mine had his 2016 Focus ST stolen from a large supermarket car park on Friday mid morning. It’s the type where just having the key in the vehicle allows it to be started and run. He obviously locked it with the remote when he went in.
I presume the thieving scumbags used a reader of some sort to ‘remember’ the code when he locked it then replayed the same to gain access and steal it?
I’m wondering if when I park there would better not locking my car to prevent mine being cloned too? I’m a bit surprised they stole it to be honest, it seems high risk for a relatively standard car, although despite the area being cctv covered the police could not give less of a shit.

[BTTD]

I thought the code to lock was different to unlock, however a fancy code reader would 'ping' the key for an unlock code and replicate it to the car. My limited understanding is that is how all those Range Rovers worked and why they were so easy to steal.
Probably being driven around the next city over on cloned plates rather than shipped to Albania, but who knows.
Also, the fact that the Police aren't interested means it's a very low risk crime. Sad times.

[Easy-X]

My wife has a Ford of the same era with keyless ignition. AFAIK the locking/unlocking is a separate function to ignition. Pressing the buttons is a relatively long range request one sends to the car whereas starting and running is a short range periodic query of the key by the car.

The former you could probably set up a van in the centre of the car park and sniff out most of the lock/unlock codes but the ignition one would probably mean following someone around to relay/boost the signal to the car. (Loads of videos of Range Rovers being stolen this way from driveways.)

As you say, seems like a lot of bother for a car that isn't really worth much in Current Day. More likely there's some flaw in that car's security system and it got stolen because someone sells a purpose-built "black box" for the job. Criminals are very lazy ppl.

Thanks for the heads up though, might buy the wife a steering lock or something.

<edit> lol, I had this typed up and hit Submit later so pretty much repeating BTTD
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Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[Robby]

There are multiple systems in use across manufacturers and years. Some are as simple as a single fixed code (which is unforgivably shit), some are more complex.

It annoys me because this is an easily solved problem. Rolling codes are a better solution, public key cryptography is better still. Unfortunately car manufacturers only spend money on security when forced by laws or insurance companies, and they're not interested in features that dealership salesmen can't explain.

You should still lock your car. If nothing else, you want your insurance to pay out if your car is stolen. They may be hesitant to do so if the car was unlocked.

[Easy-X]

Eventually it'll just be a case of walking up to your car while it quietly does a face and walking gate biometric scan, auto unlock and off you go. Manual override with an app on your phone. Teslas pretty much do that now.
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Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[A100man]

[MarJay]

My understanding is that the cloning has to happen on the key end, so the standard thing seems to be to lock the car and place the key in an RF proof box of some sort, essentially a faraday cage.
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British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[blurredman]

I don't know why people buy modern cars.
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CBT: 12/06/10, Theory: 22/09/10, Module 1: 09/11/10, Module 2: 19/01/11
Past: 1991 Honda CG125BR-J, 1992 (1980) Honda XL125S, 1996 Kawasaki GPZ500S, 1979 MZ TS150.
Current: 1973 MZ ES250/2 - 18k, 1979 Suzuki TS185ER - 10k, 1981 Honda CX500B - 91k, 1987 MZ ETZ250 (295cc) - 39k, 1989 MZ ETZ251 - 50k.

[to v or not to v]

[Ste]

[to v or not to v]

has anyone ever thought about making a gadget like a 6 inch square of upturned rusty nails with a cloth over the pointy bits to disguise them.

it could be left on your car seat when parked up.
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current bike Yamaha Thunderace.
Moto Guzzi V7.

[panrider_uk]

[Easy-X]

[rpsmith79]

Once access is gained to a car, there are many than can be started simply by plugging a device into the ODB port, so leaving it unlocked would simply make it even easier to steal
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Current Bike: Honda CG125 ES4 // Honda CB600FS Hornet // Triumph Street Triple R

[A100man]

[Ste]

[rpsmith79]

[to v or not to v]

its almost like manufacturers couldnt give a damn about theft once the vehicle is sold.
____________________
current bike Yamaha Thunderace.
Moto Guzzi V7.

[bugeye_bob]

My mate got done for making the rear of the door handles electric, wasn't a high amperage but it gave you a good belt,
Also someone set a trap for a would be car thief, using a few syringes under the drivers seat, they also got done,

The key cloning is easy, gear cost about 90 quid, I can lock VAG drivers out there cars with a 16 quid temu transceiver for a laugh,
Only thing you can do is use a faraday pouch, same in your home, or pop ya keys in the microwave (don't switch it on lol).

I caught two would be thieves trying to get a clone of the neighbours new Jag Xpace thing, they came down the first time I guess to scan, second time to take, but they failed, neighbour had no idea until I told them to check on their cctv.

[Ste]

[sickpup]

[A100man]

[A100man]