Keyless-Entry Cars Vulnerable to Silent Theft

what?!?!?!?!?!!!!!! maybe move to a better neighborhood.

 

"mysterious device?"

i don't think so: NYTimes writer gets his Prius broken into by keyfob amplifier | PriusChat

 

"...park your vehicle in a well lit area or one with surveillance security cameras....wait...that didn't help.."

Regrettable, but you almost have to expect that criminals will eventually catch up with technology, then the technology will change...and back and forth.

 

Kind of scary. If the criminal had observed a woman parking the car the perp could hide in the car and wait for the woman to come back and get in.

 

try keeping your keys in the freezer.

 

I thought we had established in the NY City Writers thread that this was a patently bad idea?

You know, electronics, freezing temperatures, humidity....

I think you start keeping you fob in the freezer, you might keep the thieves out, but pretty soon you'd be keeping yourself out with a broken/malfunctioning fob.

 

how exactly would freezing hurt electronics? are you saying nothing works anymore below freezing point? like cars are totally bricked after left in cold in winter? news to me.

 

If you think it's a good idea to put fragile electronics into a moisture filled freezing environment go right ahead. I'm not freezing my fob every night.

I'm sure repeated trips into a freezer wasn't a design aspect of the fob. At the very least I think you risk cracking the case. If any degree of moisture get's into it and freezes, I think it could be a lot worse. Plus it runs on a battery, I can't believe repeated freezing/thawing of the battery would be very good for it's life cycle.

But if anyone want's to test the long term viability of freezing their fob when not in use? I'd be curious as to the results. Do it at your own risk.

I googled the terms and it is being recommended with the caveat that you check with your dealer to see if the Fob is durable enough.

Personally, I think there has to be an easier, safer and better way to curtail the transmission range of the fob besides putting it in a freezer.
I experimented with the "Tin Box" and was disappointed with the results.

The article I read said, "Freezer, Refrigerator or Microwave"....I could see the Microwave accidentally turning into a real bad choice fast.

 

It isn't the freezing that really hurts, though many consumer items are not rated for operation below 0C / 32F.

Pulling the frozen device out into a humid room temperature environment, causing profuse condensation all over the electronics, is the real problem.

 

I'll agree with this.

Reading the other thread, I think I might be buying myself a metal cocktail shaker. The guy in the video was testing cell phone transmission but the cocktail shaker worked a lot better than the refrigerator which was just a fail.

 

much dew about nothing. maybe a humidor?

 

An expensive camera lens was removed from my Prius c on May 10th. Drove into a parking lot around 9 a.m. to go on a hike. The parking lot only had three or four cars and there were a few people in the area, either walking around or in a vehicle. I recall my friend asking "car locked?" and I replied yes. Upon returning, my car was unlocked and knew something was wrong. However, I didn't notice the missing lens, which was not visible from outside the car, until a few days later. I would bet money that someone used one of the amplifier devices as we walked away from the car.

 

i wouldn't doubt it, this problem is huge and growing. how much longer before insurance companies refuse to cover prius?

 

This is not a uniquely Prius problem, many car models have this system now.

 

A small and simple faraday cage is easy enough to build.

 

Much easier to either put yourfob/ keys in the microwave or wrap them in aluminum foil. I have my prius in an enclosed garage at night, so this is not a big issue. However if I take it to friends and park on the street or in their driveway, I just put my keys in their microwave. Never had an issue yet.

 

On principle, I try to avoid moisture and magnets when it comes to my electronics. YMMV

 

A keyfob amplifier will never see or hear your fob if it is in a microwave. Or like another poster stated, building a small faraday cage will also work.

 

Wikipedia has a nice monograph about faraday cages. It mentions

• Plastic bags that are impregnated with metal are used to enclose electronic toll collection devices during shipment to the customer, so that a toll charge is not registered if the delivery truck carrying the item passes through a toll booth.[citation needed]