Do You Have A FOB?

"Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
Starts when you're always afraid
Step out of line the man comes
and takes you away!"

My car has a proximity key. It's great... when I leave the key in my golf bag and slam the trunk, the horn beeps twice and unlocks the trunk. When I'm next to the car and touch the door handle, it unlocks. When I touch the outside, it locks. I just have to press a button to start the car, but I have to be sitting inside the car. Being outside and letting someone else press the button doesn't work. When the battery was getting low, I started getting the message that no key was found. Eventually the car wouldn't start. Time for a new CR2023 battery.

Funny story, these were company cars, and when we first got them, a fellow named Jeff had developed a habit of leaving a spare key in the console of his car. The old cars had the entry codes on the door, so if he lost his main key, he could still get in and drive with the spare. When we got the proximity fob, he dropped the spare in the console and walked into his office. One of the guys in the lab asked if he could check out the car. He went outside and touched the door and it unlocked and opened. So he got in, saw the start button and pressed it. The message pops up on the dash "press brake to start car", so he did. The car fired up, so he backed out of the spot, and proceeded to move the car to the far end of the parking lot. At the end of the day, Jeff walks out and..... WHERE'S MY CAR??? We all stood at the window laughing! Lesson learned.

I did hear about a couple of local ladies who were playing golf. While they were away from their cart putting, a couple of thieves jumped in their cart and took off with their clubs and bags which held their wallets and keys. They drove up to the parking lot, started punching the key until a car beeped, then they jumped in the car and stole it. It made the local news, they found the car some miles away, minus the money and credit cards.
 
TalismanRich said:
I did hear about a couple of local ladies who were playing golf. While they were away from their cart putting, a couple of thieves jumped in their cart and took off with their clubs and bags which held their wallets and keys. They drove up to the parking lot, started punching the key until a car beeped, then they jumped in the car and stole it. It made the local news, they found the car some miles away, minus the money and credit cards.
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You've been able to do that since the early '90s, when the keys started having the lock buttons on them. If you left the key somewhere where someone could get, they could press the button and find the car. With the key in their hand, they could start it.

Anyone who is willing to invest the time and effort to steal something will find a way to get it done. If they have invested in the tech to drive past a house and clone a key, they are obviously professional thieves that would find a way to take your car even if it had an old-school key.
 
She calls. She got out of the car to pump gas. She had left the keys in the ignition, she's just going to be right there, pumping gas. The keys are in the car, with the dog, while she pumps gas. It's okay to leave the dog in the car, she won't be long, pumping gas. The dog puts its front paws on the arm rest to get a better view, a better view of her, pumping gas. "I got out of the car to pump gas", she says, "can you come, the dog is in the car with the keys, it's hot out here, and I'm locked out. I don't understand it, the doors are not supposed to lock with the keys still inside!"

"Sit", I says, as I pushes the button. "Down", I says, "Sit!", as I pushes the button. "Get your fucking foot off the button!." I pushes, we're in.

Modern technologies. :facepalm:
 
Slouching Raymond said:
The holes have to be less than half a wavelength.


Also, if the fobs are always transmitting, do they transmit while you're driving?
I could drive along next to your car, suck up all the data, and follow you home, before stealing your car.
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I can very well be wrong, I asked the original question. If the fob was always transmitting, once the thief drove a few miles the car would turn off it's no longer near the fob. I "think" it's a transmission that unlocks and starts the car. I certainly hope it's not just a code that can be gotten and kept by thieves to be used at a later date. I would also imagine/hope that once the thief stopped the car, it couldn't be started again without the fob. I wish I didn't have this fob. A key is fine.

TAE said:
Good question there.... IDK BUT I have had a FOB where the battery was getting low , got the car started and then as I was driving the warning came on no FOB detected...hmmm? Maybe once you start the car you can stick the FOB in a metal case so that it can not get copied / hacked while driving ..I'll try it today and report back... Such a shame there has to be low life's in this world that think it is OK to steal from another...IMO folks like that are like a mosquito sucking blood and should be dealt with similarly WHACK! C-ya bye ya piece of worthless shit..
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Since the beginning of time there's been good and evil. Unfortunately, you have to make your own Utopia. There's so much beauty and wonderful things in this world, you can't ignore the evil and wrongs. But, guard yourself and family. That's the best you can do. Even that isn't always enough.
spantini said:
Ok. Now you've knocked me out into left field. When I was around... 10 -11 years of age, mom packed us all up and we drove from Maryland to Iowa to spend a week with relatives. I don't recall the town name. Man that place was an idyllic small town. No traffic lights, and the local stores were all lined up on Main Street, as small as it was. Several had outdoor coolers for sodas at their entrances. NOBODY locked their doors in that town. Anyone could just walk over to a neighbor, walk right in without knocking or otherwise announcing, return something borrowed or borrow anything in the house... anything. In fact, weather permitting, most everyone just left all their doors and windows wide open and regarded the whole of the town as their house.

Locks tale ended :D
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I hear all the time "we didn't lock our doors growing up". In those cases, they were only LUCKY they weren't robbed, raped or murdered. Crime has gone down as a whole over the past 100+ years. It's just become more idiotic these past twenty. In NYC (I'm sure other parts of the country) morons just walk up and punch a person in the head, or slice them with a knife. They don't rob them, they just assault them. It's an actual game for these assholes. Of course they do it when the time is right, no one to protect or help the victim.

In Philadelphia seven kids all under the age of 16, beat a homeless 70-year-old to death at 2am. Will they just get slaps on the wrist, or will they spend the rest of their miserable lives in prison where they deserve? Their useless parents should be sitting right along side them. One or two of them were girls.

My brother likes to say "civilization is doomed". I say, it's just new problems that popped up after we fixed other problems.

I can not understand how car manufacturers have created fobs without considering the risk over convenience. My car has a monitor for music, movies, phones, maps. That's not dangerous. I can watch porn as I'm driving.
 
Refrigerators - Microwaves are just weird. So much can go wrong.

I'd recommend you try it, to make sure it works. Most homes have these. We have extras. Doesn't this seem to have a little more common sense?
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My chances of having my car stolen while I'm out are slim. As it is for everyone. But, it does happen. I'm looking at Faraday key holders, and most seem like they're crap. If you read into the specifications, they say "make sure not to get wet. Make sure the key is all the way in or waves can escape." There are a few in the UK that have great ratings. But, I decided to try my own remedy till I find the perfect one. This is an old metal waterford case that didn't work till I added the foil under the casing. It will probably stop working when the foil completely tears off. The waves had to be escaping from the sides, the top and bottom are metal. It works and it didn't cost anything.
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TalismanRich said:
"Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
Starts when you're always afraid
Step out of line the man comes
and takes you away!"
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It's not paranoia when the threat is real. If it still grates on you after you've taken every precaution you can, then you can call it paranoid.
Farview said:
Anyone who is willing to invest the time and effort to steal something will find a way to get it done. If they have invested in the tech to drive past a house and clone a key, they are obviously professional thieves that would find a way to take your car even if it had an old-school key.
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The old fashioned way, jimmie the door and hotwire the car. These new fobs make it that much easier.
 
Snowman999 said:
The old fashioned way, jimmie the door and hotwire the car. These new fobs make it that much easier.
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With the old fashioned way, any mope with a $10 dent puller and a screwdriver could start your car.

It's not really any easier with the fob, it's just more convenient and less messy for people who invest in the key cloning equipment.

It won't be kids out for a joy ride, drug addicts fleeing from cops (that aren't there) or general opportunists.
 
My vehicles have been sitting in my driveways unlocked with the keys in the ignition for going on over 40 years now lol.
 
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