To buy a faraday box?

[stopmefeelingsick]

For my car keys to protect them from thieves intercepting the signal and stealing my new car?

I don't really want one (would look a little out of place by the door and we're on a frugal living push so avoiding unnecessary expense) but it would be interesting to know if other people use them and just how widespread this type of car theft is?

Switch off keyless entry
Ghost immobiliser
If it's a Land Rover 2018 onwards there's a security update for them

I love my Faraday box, I used to lose my. keys constantly, but now I always know where I put them. (Misses point of thread)

@CrapBucket I came on to ask the same thing! There is nothing to wear out, so Howell do they stop working? Unless they have cheap foil type linings which tear easily (thinking of the pouches)?

10 years ago I had the contents of my car, (2 suitcases, 1 over night bag and most painfully my iPad) stolen at a motorway service station by some scrote who must’ve jammed our locking signal. The police don’t care. If there is an easy fix to avoid any theft I would do it.

This type of theft is extremely common where I live. We have a pouch and then I put that in a tin or in the microwave as the pouches are not fail safe and do degrade over time with the opening and closing. I will buy a box at some point but can’t be bothered at the moment and I have loads of tins!

The key pouches are lined with a metal mesh, not metal lined, so that they are still maleable and you can put your keys in and out easily. Presumably the mesh can tear or break down or get large holes in it over time with use that stops it being as effective. I don't know what the boxes are made of but metal lined would be heavy and mines isnt so perhaps they are metal mesh lined too and can degrade.

I don’t understand how people are saying that the pouches stop working. There is nothing to fail. It’s literally just anything that’s completely metal surrounding it.

As an aside I’m getting a new car that doesn’t have this problem as it’s got a card like a hotel key card. The thing with keyless entry is that the key is powered and is sending out a signal. The thieves use a device to find the signal. They then use that to open the car.
You need to block the signal being sent from the key. To do that you put it inside something metal.

I can't see how a faraday cage would degrade, but it's easy enough to test its effectiveness, i.e put the keys in it, stand next to the car and try an open it.

Also worth being aware many key fobs now automatically sleep when they haven't moved for a couple of minutes making faraday cages completely redundant. I believe all Mercedes keys sleep after 2018, but worth checking with your dealer etc.

You can often turn the keys off as well, usually by holding a button down for a few seconds. Always a good idea for spare keys anyway.

I've gone back to using a steering lock, I thought those days were long gone...

A lot of people don’t realise you can actually switch your key off for some makes so it’s no longer sending signals that could be intercepted and you don’t need a box/pouch.

For example Mercedes - you double click the button to lock the car and a red light blinks on the key to show it’s off. See manual for details.

Take the switched off key to the car and you’ll see it doesn’t work at all. Or if you really need convincing, open the car again with your spare key and take the switched off key into the car and try to start the engine (make sure the spare key is back in the house). The car will say “no key detected “.

Becomes second nature to double click and no ugly box needed!

Use a steering wheel lock as a visual deterrent

This is likely a silly question but how to the thieves continue to use the car? Looking at the video posted up thread they used an ariel to first unlock the car then again to start the engine. Then they drove off. What happens next though? The keys are with the owner in the house as nothing taken just the signal intercepted. So how does the thief stop and start the car again with no keys?

It'll usually end up being shipped off somewhere else in a storage container

We’ve recently bought an old-fashioned steering lock. We live in a busy part of London and I think the objective is just to make your car a less attractive prospect than the next one. Surely staging home invasions is limited to really high-end cars? I can’t imagine most thieves would want to added complication and risk of breaking in to a house and threatening the homeowner, unless the pay-off is substantial? They’d just move on down the street to the next vehicle they can more readily liberate, wouldn’t they?

QUESTION for people with working brain cells..

I have a Ford Focus 2015. It's not worth a lot, but I can't work without it, plus she's my wee girl. I don't want her stolen! She's 'keyless' but I need to press a button to lock/unlock.

i though as I needed to do that it wasn't emitting any signal, so I don't need faraday boxes/pouches.

but it does say 'key not in the car' (or something similar), if you go to drive off.

so now I'm confused. Do I or don't I need them?!?!

TIA

An expensive car on the next street to me was stolen. The owner didn't use a pouch but now has one and a parking bollard. Were just off to check our pouch as didn't know they don't last..thanks for that whoever posted

A biscuit tin is fine indefinitely. Apparently the pouches can fail as the mesh can wear out or get holes from the keys being taken in and out.

Oh and on our local FB group someone posted CCTV footage of their house being 'scanned' by potential thieves.

They were on a drive in between two houses and scanning the wrong house

This is likely a silly question but how to the thieves continue to use the car?

Our last car got stolen - was silliness on our part it was on drive and gate was open. There was a small windows and we suspect house was being watched.

it ended up recovered in Easter Europe. The police told us it would have been on the shipping container that night.

That was when they also told us that we should leave keys by door. The car was probably stolen to order and preventing that happening would have put us at risk. A neighbour was woken up in bed by someone wanting her car keys. I would never risk that.

We have a faraday box but you need to shut it properly for it to work. Also don't keep your keys by the door.

Using what's left of my brain cells....she's not keyless?

I'm guessing you can drive a bit without the keys in the car - enough to get it towed.

You do need a Faraday cage, I think.

I hate all this stuff. I no longer drive but was using an ugly steering wheel lock and a pouch.

Regular keys were so much easier!

If the key has a battery then it is emitting signals. The best thing to do is either keep the key in a biscuit tin or the microwave.
But, most of the cars being stolen are being stolen to order. It’s the expensive Range Rovers that are in trouble.

Sorry, I didn't make it totally clear ...the parking means the car could only belong to one of 2 houses...ours or the neighbours.

It doesn't help that ours is the more immediately visible of the two

My mini has a motion sensor key. It goes into sleep mode when motion isn't detected so in theory should be safe. I still use a box though.

Can you still buy nice cars with a physical key?

Seems bonkers that manufacturers are making them less secure and not footing the responsibility if they get stolen with an easy hack. When the banks opted to make debit cards less secure they at least agreed to take the hit

@OneTC oh I didn't know the banks did that.

@RiverCartwright the fob is still hackable, so they'll disrupt the sleep mode

you are right to use a pouch.

bloody tech. So sick of it and I don't drive any more. If I start again, I'm guessing a non tech key system no longer exists.