Currently it's a London issue with luxury cars going missing, but maybe worth considering the implications if you're considering ordering a new car as the police believe it will filter down to every day cars at some stage.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-29786320

Read that article yesterday and it's not just a London issue, it's been happening for years, but has only just been acknowledged by the car manufacturers as a problem. It effects Range Rover, Audi, BMW and VW (I'm sure others too, but these are the luxury brands that are being targeted)

The equipment can be picked up on eBay if you know what to buy. BMW updated their software last year or the year before, but it's already been broken again.

I don't know all the technical details on how it's done, but in my small county a car is stolen without keys almost every day

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

If the Audi / VW system has been broken then that means the same issue for SEAT and Skoda.

 

HV inverter to a fake ODB connector is the answer - fry their equipment when they plug into the car.

 

Just have to remember to use the hidden one for VCDS and warn the dealership.

I remember seeing this happening with the new Fiesta when the thieves blocked the central locking with a radio transmitter so the owner walked away thinking the car was locked when it wasn't. Tney then just sat in the drivers seat and plugged into the OBD port and off they went. So if that's the same modus operandi tney are using on others looks like it's more widespread than I thought. The journo on the telly drove off in an Audi, though they didn't say if they were getting nicked as well.wITH THIS

Doesn't need a radio transmitter as such. All you need is a remote unit for something like a HIAB. (As used on the trucks builders merchants use to deliver merchandise to site).  This one disables all remote functions for a distance on all cars. However at a glance I'd say simple solution to the problem is to only energise the OBD port ,when a valid key is present, or  make access to the port password protected.

If the Audi / VW system has been broken then that means the same issue for SEAT and Skoda.

 

HV inverter to a fake ODB connector is the answer - fry their equipment when they plug into the car.

 

Just have to remember to use the hidden one for VCDS and warn the dealership.

I like this idea - also the idea of entering a password on the touchscreen when trying to access the REAL ODB.. Skoda should do this second bit! But then I think there should be a password before the engine starts at any rate.. two for the price of one!

The unlock from the handle is disabled for a few seconds after you lock it, so you can check. It's done exactly for this purpose.

 

Or you could just try the back door?

 

Checking the back door certainly works on the Mazda system which is handy for a quick confidence check.

 

The keyless system isn't one I would have been specifically looking for but I do like it and I don't live in a high risk area nor is the car one that's attractive to thieves.

Grand Theft Auto UK,  is on Channel 5 now.  

'One-off documentary exposing criminals involved in stealing cars'

so will be on Channel 5+1 at 11.00 PM

Cheers George.

I always lock mine with the key, not the remote when leaving it anywhere remotely risky. They can try and jam my fingers.

I'm new to keyless systems as our Mk1 Fabia doesn't have it but we've just bought a Lexus GS300 which does,  I don't know about the thieves but the dealers have just robbed us of the best part of £300 to have a spare key made.  Apparently, they claim that the Lexus system is more fool proof than most keyless systems as it needs a combination of the master key containing the unique key code plus OBD accessed ECU coding.  They claim that if I had lost the master key, the car would have been practically useless as they couldn't have done anything for us (hence getting a spare soprted as soon as we bought the car which is used).  What bothers me is where the spare key has gone.  Previous owners have so far not responded to a letter asking if we could have the spare as supplied from new sent to us. 

Lexus will just code the old key out. Makes it useless other than to gain entry to the car if it has a hidden key inside.

I'll ask them about that, but they told me that the old keys are all the same;  it's just the coding that's unique to the car, so anyone floating around with an old Lexus key, knowing what car it belonged to could gain entry, start it and drive off.  Not saying that'll happen or is likely though but just uncomfortable with it.  My master key plus the new master key spare are identical and both start the car.  Apparently, there are car thieves about (mainly London) targeting prestige vehicles using their own pirated OBD devices to access the ECU and simply start the car and drive off.

Yeah, but each key is unique to a car. Your 2 keys will look the same and yes there will be someone with a key the same but Lexus can uncode that key so yes, they could gain access to your car by putting it in the lock but the lock/unlock buttons wouldn't work and the car wouldn't start.