Well still have just under three months of the original four to wait for my new Ibiza Xcellence Lux. Never had a keyless before and was edgy when I ordered the car due to newspaper articles on 'relay theft'. Edginess increased today after reading article in Mail which says that there are now devices which can be readily bought which can communicate direct with the car and do not rely upon a key being in close proximity or relaying. Are others concerned about the apparant security issues of keyless? Are farady cage pounches and separate steering wheel locks effective and worthwhile? What else can be done to safeguard the car?
Keyless Entry / Ignition
- Thread starter Jagger
- Start date
I always use a faraday pouch and then keep the keys when not in use in a metal tin far away from the car .
More distance = less signal.
KESSI should prevent many ne'er do wells by sending the keys to sleep mode when not being moved.
Unfortunately rogue tech keeps on advancing so...
Keep Em Peeled...
More distance = less signal.
KESSI should prevent many ne'er do wells by sending the keys to sleep mode when not being moved.
Unfortunately rogue tech keeps on advancing so...
Keep Em Peeled...
Stuck with the keyless. I do wish it had been an optional extra and I would have not chosen it. Faraday pouches look cheap enough, although many reports that some fail after a very short time. I've got a metal tin with my biscuits in so that is cheap enough.
Firstly, apologies for the lengthy post but hopefully, you’ll find the content useful.
Is this the article you’re referring to?
Car thief reveals how he can steal ANY vehicle in SECONDS
Former dirt racer Mark McCann hired a real life car thief to show him how he would steal a £60,000 Range Rover from a Tesco car park in an alarming video that lifts the lid on how the criminals operate.
I think realistically, these good for nothing low-life’s are more likely to be targeting higher end premium vehicles rather than a smaller segment B car such as a Seat Ibiza so I don’t think you should be overly concerned. Presumably non-keyless cars are also at risk of theft with this latest technology; the heading of the Daily Mail article is ‘Car thief reveals how he can steal any vehicle in seconds………’, therefore maybe every car owner should be concerned and not just owners of cars with keyless entry. On the subject of keyless entry in general; over on the VW Golf R forum, its worth bearing in mind that only one or two forum members whose cars have keyless entry have had their cars stolen. However, there‘s been quite a few more members on that forum who’ve had non-keyless cars stolen where the perpetrator has broken into the owner’s home and stolen the car keys.
My 2020 VW Polo GTI+ came with keyless entry / keyless start as part of the car’s standard spec. Like you, if it had been an extra cost option I’d never have spec’d it when I ordered my car. Keyless entry / keyless start is one of those features that I could very easily live without as I’m more than capable of pressing a lock / unlock button on a key fob and inserting the key into an ignition key slot to start the car. With my car, I can temporarily disable the keyless functionality - it does have to be done each time I lock the car, but I don’t mind having to do that as the process is very quick and simple. I think on some newer VAG vehicles it’s possible to disable keyless entry permanently in the vehicle setting menus, so maybe this will be possible with your new car.
As for steering locks and faraday pouches - I think anything that would make it more difficult for a would-be car thief is worth considering. Many amateur car thieves will be looking for easy pickings, so a visible theft deterrent may mean they move onto an easier target. Faraday pouches can be a cheap and effective method of blocking the signal transmitted by a keyless key fob. However, as you’ve said, they can fail so it’s important they’re checked every so often to ensure the the key fob signal is still being blocked (put the key fob in the Faraday pouch, take it to the car and try unlocking it; if the door unlocks, the Faraday pouch needs replacing). None of these devices are 100% fail safe though, especially where determined professional car thieves are concerned.
Other considerations to help safeguard your car;
- Home security; consider upgrading door / window locks and installing exterior security lighting / CCTV monitoring, to make it difficult for a would be perpetrator to break in to your home and steal the car keys. Exterior lighting is also a deterrent as a thief would prefer not to be seen.
- If you have a garage that’s used as a dumping ground for unwanted items, have a clear out so the garage can be used to park the car in. I always garage my car, and I keep items such as lawnmower, cycles etc. in my shed. I never cease to be amazed how many people keep a £100 lawnmower securely locked away in their garage but happily leave a high value, desirable car on their driveway, although I accept many modern cars won’t actually fit in a garage! However, the Ibiza is a small car so should fit into most garages (my Polo GTI+ which is pretty much the same size as the Ibiza fits in a small single 1980’s garage), and out of sight is out of mind of would be perpetrators.
- If you have more than one vehicle, block your new Ibiza in by parking another vehicle behind it.
- Consider getting a dog (
); on a serious note, a barking dog can attract attention and deter unwanted ‘visitors’ to your property. - Get GAP insurance so if the worst does happen, you’re not left out of pocket financially. Don‘t but Seat branded GAP insurance though as it’s very expensive; there are much cheaper GAP providers - e.g. ALA and discount code MSE25 should give a discount off the screen price.
Biscuits are always good.
Quality Steering wheel locks are a good deterrent but also a deterrent to driving the car.
Get in car KEYLESSLY, unlock the big yellow smartie with a KEY. Try to stow big yellow smartie somewhere in cabin.
Fail to find anywhere big yellow smartie fits safely.
Open boot with button on key or door, stow big yellow smartie, close boot.
Get back in car and now you can drive.
Kinda defeats the object of Keyless really!
Quality Steering wheel locks are a good deterrent but also a deterrent to driving the car.
Get in car KEYLESSLY, unlock the big yellow smartie with a KEY. Try to stow big yellow smartie somewhere in cabin.
Fail to find anywhere big yellow smartie fits safely.
Open boot with button on key or door, stow big yellow smartie, close boot.
Get back in car and now you can drive.
Kinda defeats the object of Keyless really!
Thanks SRGTD and WS for response. Yes I guess I am over thinking. Probably far more chance of having it keyed or rammed by a shopping trolley. I think it is because I will be getting something I really do not want. I am pretty excited though about getting the car. Think I will use the biscuit tin at home and get a pouch.
We have to assume that all electronic security measures can bypassed now, seems like a professional thief with a £15k investment can steal almost any keyless car. So now we have to look at measures that will make it harder like a steering lock - I'm under no illusion it won't stop them if they REALLY want the vehicle however there is so much choice in the way of vehicles that have no security devices at all that they could simply move on to an easier target.
To SRGTD's point above - if you have external doors including conservatories that have those multi-point locking systems and a door lock barrel that sticks out about 5mm from the surface of the door and there is no BSI stamp on it then you are vulnerable to a burglary - as happened to me last year when my Audi RS was stolen from a locked garage. I was followed at some point and the scum were after that particular car - was on Ebay in bits 3 days later. You need 'anti-snap' door lock barrels - they aren't even expensive.
The real kicker isn't just the loss of the vehicle but what happens to your insurance afterwards, the renewal goes through the roof, if you a named driver on other policies the insurer declines cover (totally clean licence) - happened to me. You have done absolutely nothing and then you are penalised for being a victim.
To SRGTD's point above - if you have external doors including conservatories that have those multi-point locking systems and a door lock barrel that sticks out about 5mm from the surface of the door and there is no BSI stamp on it then you are vulnerable to a burglary - as happened to me last year when my Audi RS was stolen from a locked garage. I was followed at some point and the scum were after that particular car - was on Ebay in bits 3 days later. You need 'anti-snap' door lock barrels - they aren't even expensive.
The real kicker isn't just the loss of the vehicle but what happens to your insurance afterwards, the renewal goes through the roof, if you a named driver on other policies the insurer declines cover (totally clean licence) - happened to me. You have done absolutely nothing and then you are penalised for being a victim.
We need to bring back the stocks.This would also boost the economy as sales of rotten tomatoes and bad eggs could be taxed.
""We need to bring back the stocks"". Yes, but tomatoes in tins would be more appropriate.
All those considering using the biscuit tin option are more than welcome to send their 'homeless' biscuits to me.My pouch goes in my biscuit tin.
In terms of what tin is best for KESSY key storage, I recommend one of these:
The tin is TBF a tad bigger than it needs to be for key storage; they just happen to be my fave bikkies
This would also boost the economy as sales of rotten tomatoes and bad eggs could be taxed.
The sale of pokers would also increase, but sadly few people have the facilities at home to make them red hot anymore.
Cor even cold would bring tears to your eyes
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