I don’t understand how that would help prevent car theft. It seems like as long as the owner doesn’t press any buttons on the key-fob, there’s no need for a signal to be transmitted by the fob; therefore no way for a thief to record the signal and use it to open the car door. If the owner wants to open the door they have to remove the key-fob from the FC anyway, so it is of no use then either.
Or is there a way a thief can send a signal to cause the key-fob to transmit the secret code? If so, it seems like the better solution is to just not allow that function. What am I missing?
Proximity FOB. The car just knows when it is close. So it is always communicating. My Chevy Volt has one. I just leave the FOB in my pocket. I walk up to car, push tiny button on handle. Pretty handy but now thieves have devices to intercept that signal.
My 1999 Monte Carlo (and 2006 HD Electra Glide) had the older push button FOB. Ironically more secure than the PF.
+1
I haven’t measured it precisely, but I think that my car senses that I am present when I am ~6 feet away. No buttons need to be pushed. All I need to do is to pull the now-unlocked door handle in order to open the doors, or do a “kick” maneuver underneath the rear bumper in order to open the rear hatch.
… and that is why I keep both of my key fobs and the “card key” in a Faraday box.
For my Toyota, I just need to Hold the unlock button and press the lock button twice to turn off my FOB, doing that also makes the FOB battery last longer, to turn the FOB back on I just have to press any button.
Can my car be stolen , sure that is why I have insurance . I park in the drive way when working in the garage . The Proximity FOB is hanging on a hook in the garage about 20 feet a way . I can’t open the doors by touch so this is one of those things I just don’t worry about .
I will leave the worrying to George who will never have such a vehicle anyway.
Key fobs use an 80-bit encryption key. The manufacturers thought this would be secure enough. In reality it’s not that secure. The cost of memory has decreased drastically over the years. If this car theft problem gets worse, then the manufacturers may use a bigger encryption key. 128 or even 256 bit encryption key. Those both have been proven unbreakable so far. Wouldn’t be worth it for someone or some company to even try.
Another consideration for this fact… Proximity also drains the car’s battery. If you park in your garage and hang your keys just inside the door, the car thinks you are ready to drive so the various ECUs stay “awake”. This draws much more power from the car’s battery. Throw in short trips and the battery eventually goes dead.
Yup!
For the grand sum of $13.99, I got a nice looking faux leather covered Faraday Box that prevents needless drainage of the batteries in both the fob(s) and the car. And, of course, it prevents would-be thieves from being able to hack into the security system.
I dunno, my garage is my pouch. I just don’t think the fob has much of a range but maybe I’ll find out for being security sloppy. I don’t have a security wallet either so my cards can be read in a crowd. But I avoid crowds too. Don’t wanna catch anything.
If each fob has their own encryption key that’s pared with the vehicle, then the encryption would be very useful. Impossible to break or decipher. Each device would need to know the key.
Every time it is parked? When parking at 7-11 to buy a Big Gulp, do you have to cage the FOB for that? Or do you mean you only cage the FOB for parking over night at home?
