Keyless cars

[Zizzagaaaaah]

I have my eye on a lovely car (2018) for my daughter
It's a premium edition with heated seats sunroof etc
I noticed at the bottom it also had a smart key " keyless entry stop start system"
All I've read is about these being always stolen
Do most cars have these systems now
Are they really insecure
I'm feeling that I would rather not buy it because of this

"Owners of keyless vehicles were twice as likely to make a theft claim as those with non-keyless cars, according to claims figures from 2020-22."

Aviva, the insurance firm.

https://www.aviva.co.uk/aviva-edit/your-things-articles/keyless-car-thefts/#:~:text=Keyless%20cars%20at%20risk,claims%20figures%20from%202020%2D22%20.

It’s absurd: a classic case of life-simplifying technology making life more complicated.

Remember also the “solution” to your car stereo being stolen? Make it removeable, so you can take it with you. (Face palm) So you have to lug it around all day.

Well I have decided not to get it.
As its 1st car, she would forget to put in in a pouch.
Not worth the risk or hastle
Insurance is stupid enough as it is, without the risk of theft

faraday pouches aren’t a deterrent with the latest their tech. They send signals to the car till it responds.

Agree though if they want your car then they’ll put the effort in. Cars can be picked up and taken away via low loader.

It’s just that with this new kit cars can be broken into in 30 seconds.

I've had keyless entry for 4 years, it's great. That said I have been known to leave my car unlocked too, not a high theft area. My parking is 150m from my house so it's simply not an issue regarding the key storage in my house

Yes, I'd rather have a key

I've had keyless cars since 2001. No one stole them because they weren't a BMW/Audi/Landrover.

Luckily enough people around me have those cars so the thieves are way more likely to pick one of those to steal.

Best advice I read on here was that faraday pouches wear over time as you pull your keys and become ineffective. I tested the keys to one of our cars and the pouch no longer worked so if you have one, please test that it’s still doing it’s job!
Immediately purchased a proper, wall mounted box to store all of our car keys in.

The new tech means they don’t need to find signal from the key. Just the car.

Ford Fiesta's are the most commonly stolen cars.

Do you mean that more Fiestas are stolen - or that, if you had a 1000 Fiestas and a1000 Range Rovers, more of those Fiestas would be stolen?

Not where I live 😂

anyway, I don't have one of those either so all is good.

Do you mean that more Fiestas are stolen - or that, if you had a 1000 Fiestas and a1000 Range Rovers, more of those Fiestas would be stolen?

This is a valid point.

I just find it amazing that you can pay £15000+ for a new car yet the manufacturers don't make them secure.
The thefts increase all our premiums.
I bet if the manufacturers had to cover the losses themselves they would soon make things better

For the sake of 1 sec to put a key in a lock!

You know that an actual key doesn't make your car secure right?

Unsurprisingly given they are the most common car on the road in the U.K.

Most popular car models on UK roadsAccording to figures released by the DVLA, the top ten most common cars in the UK are as follows:

1. Ford Fiesta – 1.54m on UK roads...

Evidently it makes it a bit more secure than a keyless system.

"Owners of keyless vehicles were twice as likely to make a theft claim as those with non-keyless cars, according to claims figures from 2020-22 "

https://www.aviva.co.uk/aviva-edit/your-things-articles/keyless-car-thefts/#:~:text=Keyless%20cars%20at%20risk,claims%20figures%20from%202020%2D22%20.

You write as though breaking in to a car and not working it wasn’t a thing…
Any car can be broken into. Key ones don’t even require the thief to have any tech.

True. But think it’s the ease.

I am also losing things constantly. With an ignition key I know where it is!

Ans if I’m honest I don’t really understand the advantage of key less. When the car is not in use owners are putting it in a faraday pouch. But then you’d have to find your key in pouch and remove it to unlock the car. What’s the point then?

Not relevant to the OP’s daughter, but to those people saying “What is the point of keyless entry?”- when you’re holding a wriggly toddler, a changing bag and all your own stuff, being able to just lean on the keyless entry button on the door handle instead of having to root through your pockets or bags to find your keys to open the car is a life saver! Similarly if you are trying to transfer a sleeping baby/toddler out of the car and into your house- no jangling keys to wake them up when you lock the car, just press the button on the car door! I love having keyless entry.

We have all car keys in a faraday box. It took several attempts to find a box which actually works, I lost count of the number of pouches DH returned.

We do have thefts of higher end cars but on the other hand they stole a 4 year Passat estate from us one year. The police said they often look for average looking cars for jobs, so maybe look for a car in bright orange or blue.

We have a keyless car (Mazda) and we tested how close you have to be with the car for it to open, you have to be stood next to the car. I stood in the house with the door open, I was only a few feet from the car and it wouldn't open.
In our area houses are broken into for the keys and then the car stolen so it doesn't matter whether it's keyless or not.

We do make sure the keys are not kept near the front door to deter the relay technique used to steal.
I didn't chose the car for the keyless option but I do like it. Its much easier when you have a lot to carry. I can tell if the car is locked as the wing mirrors fold in, I just have to touch the button on the handle to lock it whilst the keys are safe in my bag.

That was me that said that. And yes I agree. However isn’t it pointless if the car becomes less secure and then you have to keep the key in a faraday pouch. Don’t you have to remove it from pouch?

The new tech thieves have access to dont use relay. The device talks directly to the car so don’t need to be near your key to pick up signal.

I do get what you are saying and agree if you are unlucky it could be an issue.
However I once had my car stolen (you needed a key to get in) and the gang who stole it where in the are with a signal blocker so when I pressed the button on the key fob to lock my car it didn't actually lock it.

I only keep the key in a pouch overnight or when I’m in the house during the day. So I just take it out of the pouch before leaving the house and have the keys in my bag or pocket, as you would with a normal key.