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Drivers locked out of their cars at Royston Tesco

bbc.co.uk

81–90 of 102 posts

Re: Drivers locked out of their cars at Royston Tesco

#81
post #13

What's stopping people from physically inserting the key into the lock/ignition?

Cars not having physical locks on doors or for ignitions anymore is one, I assume.

Having just had to spend £380 to replace the receiver on my Ford I thought it did not have a physical key at all, then the nice dealership assistant lady told me on the phone "you need to open you keyless fob, there is a key inside"... I never knew!

Re: Drivers locked out of their cars at Royston Tesco

#82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does such car exist? (Tesla Maybe?)

my 6 year old nissan doesn't have a physical key. most keyless cars you can open the door but not start the engine without a functioning wireless key

Are you 100% sure? My car (12yo Toyota) has keyless entry and start, and the fob has an RFID chip inside. If the car can't detect the fob (e.g. the battery is dead) you can hold it against the "Start" button which has a RFID reader. I ask, because this feature is not advertised other than a few sentences in the manual, and it seems a pretty badly designed feature to not have a backup.

The fob also has a physical key hidden inside - although that's a bit more obvious as there is a key hole on the drivers door.

Re: Drivers locked out of their cars at Royston Tesco

#84
post #51
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not that uncommon actually. Even at my car dealership this is a common problem. A couple hundred cars with the same keyless entry system parked in the same lot. All those cars are actively scanning for their key fob, which causes all sorts of RF collisions. I've gotten used to having to use my physical key when picking up my car at the dealership.

the cars are transmitting? are you quite sure?

For keyless entry, cars are always transmitting. They look for a response of a key. In case of my car, if a keys comes close enough, it lights up the doors and doorhandles.

Re: Drivers locked out of their cars at Royston Tesco

#85
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not that uncommon actually. Even at my car dealership this is a common problem. A couple hundred cars with the same keyless entry system parked in the same lot. All those cars are actively scanning for their key fob, which causes all sorts of RF collisions. I've gotten used to having to use my physical key when picking up my car at the dealership.

What brand of cars are these? It's not an issue in any car park I've been to.

Lexus / Toyota

Re: Drivers locked out of their cars at Royston Tesco

#86
post #65
post #5

There is nothing 'mysterious' about this, this is just how radios work. Neither does it have to be malicious. Most car key fobs work in the 433MHz range, if there is something in the area transmitting at said frequency, it will cause the relatively weak signals from keys fobs to be blocked. This it why we have electromechanical compatibility (EMC) certification for any electrical devices being sold. With the market b…

I believe you meant eletromagnetic compatibility (EMC).

Yes, you are right. That was a typo

Re: Drivers locked out of their cars at Royston Tesco

#87
post #55
post #2

> "I thought it was some kind of alien phenomena." Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. For some (a lot?) of people, keyless entry seems still to be an advanced technology.

I have an EE degree and I firmly consider even the simplest forms of radio communication insane magic.

Monopoles.

Re: Drivers locked out of their cars at Royston Tesco

#88
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lot of them actually have a real key "hidden" within the digital fob, see example: https://www.bimmer-tech.net/blog/item/105-about-bmw-key-fob I have never had to actually use it, but looked into it when I got low battery-warnings to make sure I would not be locked out. Assuming this is not a legal requirement I am sure there are models where this is not possible though.

those are for opening the doors but you cannot use them to start the engine

From the link: > Once inside your vehicle, insert your remote key fob in the ignition slot or, if your car doesn't have one, hold it against the key markings on the side of the steering column. You'll then be able to start your BMW with the start/stop button on your vehicle's dashboard, even if your key fob is dead.

Other cars probably have other solution. It was possible in my case as well (not BMW) but do not remember the process.

Re: Drivers locked out of their cars at Royston Tesco

#89
post #38
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

maybe they bring out the huge car sized faraday cage

If you build a structure out of supermarket trolleys around the car, would that be sufficient? I love the idea of a car size foldable Faraday cage btw.

Serious answer? Maybe. It would depend on the frequency the keyfob is using, and the spacing of the grid, and the metal they're made of.

There's a good chance a cage made out of shopping carts would block HF and below quite effectively. UHF and microwave will go straight through it though. Any holes need to be significantly smaller than the wavelength.

Re: Drivers locked out of their cars at Royston Tesco

#90
post #8

It'll be someone using a 'jam, listen, and replay' device to unlock and start keyless cars so they can drive them to a port and steal them. Pretty much every week a car is stolen this way from my street. I now always take the engine management fuse out of the fusebox when parking my car so at least the car can't start when a thief pulls this... They tried anyway though!

Where do you live that a car gets stolen from your street every week?

Police just don't care about stolen cars. It's the same people who do it each week. They live at the end of the road at number 110. None of the stolen cars have ever been recovered, but they're all insured against theft so most people don't care and just buy another car till they get a model that's harder to steal.
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