How safe is your car?
Police have issued recent warnings that there has been a spate of thefts from vehicles where there has been items stolen with no signs of a break in and owners convinced they had locked their vehicle.
Virtually all vehicles now use a remote fob with 1, 2 or 3 button on it.
What thieves are doing is using a simple “car key jammer” that can be bought off internet via various suppliers, usually for less than £50 and works up to 30-50 meters – basically covering the majority of most car parks!
When you go to lock car with your own fob, because it operates via a radio wave, common frequencies between 315/433 MHz for most vehicles, the car thieves lay in wait and press their remote jammer as you are locking your car. This confuses the signal and leaves your vehicle unlocked – without your knowledge.
Its back to basics, the only real way to be sure your vehicle is locked and secure is to physically try to open door before walking away and make sure it is locked !!!
It’s even more tricky if you are using Bluetooth to automatically lock and unlock as you are approaching as no way of knowing unless you turn your Bluetooth off which renders app useless.
It is very unlikely you will be able to claim from insurance for any items stolen from vehicle as majority won’t pay out if vehicle was technically left open.
Car thieves are getting more techie, there are ways of obtaining cut keys in advance, and once in possible to then programme a new remote key via the On Board Diagnostic port so effectively they can drive the vehicle away as well!
It could be back to old fashioned steering wheel and gearstick locks again I hear you say.
Remember to choose Timpson’s for Car Keys – the UK’s No 1
At Timpson’s from selective branches nationally we can cut and program car keys, also many of the mobile locksmiths operating around the UK are trained and will come out to program a new key at your home, useful info which would help us identify if it’s a vehicle we can do is, make, model and registration number from which we would be able to quote you a price, lead time, and nearest branch to you.
