Remote start - how doesn’t it get stolen?

[noahr]

This was probably explained in another post but I honestly didn't read them when I noticed all the sniping going on.

My Jeep Cherokee automatically locks the doors when you remote start it. Once in the vehicle I have to actually put the key in the ignition before I can put it in gear. So a thief can't just drive away even if they could get in.

I don't know how this works with proximity keys where you don't have to put a key in an ignition but my guess is that its more or less the same and if your close enough to the vehicle for proximity to matter then you're close enough to clearly see the thief breaking into your car.

still gotta have the key and still gotta hit the button and you cant do it unless the doors are locked. That is on every ford, I have driven a ton of them (since i work at a dealership i would know lol)

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[Raptor911]

All Fords require you to lock the door on the key FOB before you can remote start from the key fob.

Here's a neat safety feature. My son and I were going somewhere and I unlocked my Raptor so he can get in. Then I locked the doors and remote started my Raptor. Then my son who was already in the truck decided to open the door and immediately the alarm went off. I am sure the system recognized that the door was open without the key

Many systems require the doors to be locked before it will activate the remote start

 

[MacHudson]

Omg some do these post are just ??‍

hey, I don’t know what small town you’re in but my town has 50K people per sq mile. Organized car theft gangs load up in my area and then ship the stolen vehicles to Africa in containers for resale. If they’re not able to steal it they may just carjack it. (Go google Short Hills Mall, dude from my town shot dead for the nice car. Shot dead right In front of his wife.)


https://www.driving.co.uk/news/features/six-ways-thieves-can-break-into-a-car-and-how-to-prevent-it/

This is the National paper of England. Sounds pretty easy to me. Jalopnik has a similar story, as does CBC (Canadian national network).

My parking ramp, which is staffed 24 hrs and has cameras, has been home to two sexy hot cars stripped for their tires and left on blocks, like it was the 1980s. Yeah, inside the garage, while people are working on the ground floor.

so, instead of throwing shade, stop and ponder that some people live in places where security issues are a little more front of mind.

 

[Big Boss]

Many systems require the doors to be locked before it will activate the remote start

That is how it works on my wife's explorer. the doors have to be locked before the remote start will turn it on.

You have to press the lock button, then the remote start button twice on the key fob to use it

 

[Cookieck]

As others have said, there’s various security measures still in place for remotely started cars. Namely you can’t actually put it in gear without the car turning off if the fob/key isn’t in the car. There are still some flaws in some versions of it but none likely to make the car easier to steal. Though one interesting flaw I know of is more to do with the keyless aspect of it rather than the remote start(so not applicable to keyed ignition). Once started regularly(not remotely) if the key fob leaves the vehicle for any reason, the car will work like normal until you turn it off, then you can’t start it again cause no key fob. Coworker of my dads one time went to leave for work, started the car, realized he forgot something inside, went back inside(car on in the driveway, not remote start) and inadvertently left the key fob inside the house when he went back in. Drove to work, then realized his mistake after he already turned the car off. Had to get his wife to drive there to bring him the key fob. Lucky he didn’t stop anywhere between his house and work(like to get gas) and turn the car off or that’s where he’d have been stuck. No idea what make/model vehicle it was, but know he got crap for it at work for awhile.

On a somewhat similar note, one of my motorcycles has keyless ignition. Not remote start, but it checks for the key fob twice before you drive off, once before it’ll let you start the engine and a second time when you put it into gear to drive off. So you can go start the bike, leave it running to warm up, and go back inside(sorta like remote start), and if anybody wants to try to hop on and drive off, it’ll shut off as soon as they kick it into gear and the horn/alarm goes off. It is nice having the keyless though. On my other bikes, even before having one with keyless ignition, I’d always forget to get my key out my pocket and put in the ignition til after I was seated on the bike with gloves on.

 

[andi]

You never had a remote start or wut?

 

[Tonka1]

In my Wrangler when you get in with the vehicle running you must have the fob on you and you also must then push the start button to actually put it into run/driving mode, if you don't the vehicle will not go into gear. Now on the older F-150's with a key and remote start you must put the key into the ignition and turn it to run in order to drive away. So, engine running this way or not the vehicle is not any more susceptible to theft than any other time.

My wife's Dodge Challenger is the same.

 

[Brit]

As others have said, there’s various security measures still in place for remotely started cars. Namely you can’t actually put it in gear without the car turning off if the fob/key isn’t in the car. There are still some flaws in some versions of it but none likely to make the car easier to steal. Though one interesting flaw I know of is more to do with the keyless aspect of it rather than the remote start(so not applicable to keyed ignition). Once started regularly(not remotely) if the key fob leaves the vehicle for any reason, the car will work like normal until you turn it off, then you can’t start it again cause no key fob. Coworker of my dads one time went to leave for work, started the car, realized he forgot something inside, went back inside(car on in the driveway, not remote start) and inadvertently left the key fob inside the house when he went back in. Drove to work, then realized his mistake after he already turned the car off. Had to get his wife to drive there to bring him the key fob. Lucky he didn’t stop anywhere between his house and work(like to get gas) and turn the car off or that’s where he’d have been stuck. No idea what make/model vehicle it was, but know he got crap for it at work for awhile.

On a somewhat similar note, one of my motorcycles has keyless ignition. Not remote start, but it checks for the key fob twice before you drive off, once before it’ll let you start the engine and a second time when you put it into gear to drive off. So you can go start the bike, leave it running to warm up, and go back inside(sorta like remote start), and if anybody wants to try to hop on and drive off, it’ll shut off as soon as they kick it into gear and the horn/alarm goes off. It is nice having the keyless though. On my other bikes, even before having one with keyless ignition, I’d always forget to get my key out my pocket and put in the ignition til after I was seated on the bike with gloves on.

My BMW was like your Coworkers vehicle. I could start the car, then leave the fob behind and then be dead in the water when I turned the car off. I almost learned that lesson the hard way. I wasn't going to work though, I was leaving on a road trip. I was going to be a full tank of gas away before I realized the key wasn't on me. Luckily the bag I'd left behind with the fob in it also had some Cheetos I wanted about a mile down the road. A couple years ago they did a software update and now as soon as the fob leaves the inside of the car a warning comes up on the dash that the car can't be driven without the fob inside the car.

 

[aplm7]

For remote start key can be outside the vehicle, but to actually start the vehicle so it's driveable, and drive off, the key needs to be inside of the vehicle. It detects as soon as it enters the perimeter walls.

 

[MacHudson]

You never had a remote start or wut?

Nope. Never had one. After reading some news articles, I don’t want one either.

My Ford key fob stopped working correctly years ago. It won’t unlock the doors, though I can use it to drive. I paid money to have it fixed. It worked for about two weeks and reverted to not working. People want to charge me big bucks to create a new key fob.

If the Bronco fob stopped working while I’m out in the woods, or on an epic road trip like I plan to do, I’d be screwed! That’s a bug, not a feature. And I can’t leave one hidden underneath the vehicle if people can steal the code remotely. Can it be spied upon, like a chip credit card? Now we all need anti-theft wallets?

I’m a follower of Commander Adama here. Not a fan of the computers and depending on technology.

 

[Bronco4lyfe85]

It’s way less prone to theft than any other way. In Colorado it’s illegal to warm up your car without a remote start having the doors locked. You likely won’t get in trouble if you do this but cops can ticket you.

 

[andi]

Nope. Never had one. After reading some news articles, I don’t want one either.

My Ford key fob stopped working correctly years ago. It won’t unlock the doors, though I can use it to drive. I paid money to have it fixed. It worked for about two weeks and reverted to not working. People want to charge me big bucks to create a new key fob.

If the Bronco fob stopped working while I’m out in the woods, or on an epic road trip like I plan to do, I’d be screwed! That’s a bug, not a feature. And I can’t leave one hidden underneath the vehicle if people can steal the code remotely. Can it be spied upon, like a chip credit card? Now we all need anti-theft wallets?

I’m a follower of Commander Adama here. Not a fan of the computers and depending on technology.

Lol ok

 

[deejay08]

Remote start - assuming that most folks live in suburbs and cities, and not in the woods ... how doesn’t this wind up getting your car stolen? I gotta think that thieves would be savvy to the idea of nice new cars sitting unguarded in the driveway warming up. Why not jump in, drive it away and stow it in a hiding spot where the rest of the crew makes a pirate key and chipset for it?

doors stay locked and without key in proximity you cannot put it into gear. If they wanted to steal it they'd need the key and if they have the key remote start isn't really the problem.

 

[MacHudson]

Remote start - assuming that most folks live in suburbs and cities, and not in the woods ... how doesn’t this wind up getting your car stolen? I gotta think that thieves would be savvy to the idea of nice new cars sitting unguarded in the driveway warming up. Why not jump in, drive it away and stow it in a hiding spot where the rest of the crew makes a pirate key and chipset for it?

Did some research. Indeed, thieves have figured this out. They capture the fob signal and then repeat it to the car.

Locked doors won’t help - sometimes they can unlock them, and hey - aren’t a lot of us going soft top anyway?

Two smart ideas- take the key fob deep into the house with you. Don’t leave it near the doors. And a faraday cage for the fob. Something metal around the fob will foil the thieves, no pun intended.

probably also disable the remote start feature if you have a soft top or live in an area where this is a likely attack.

For your viewing pleasure, San Antonio TV news story.

 

[ZackDanger]

Somewhere a 4:30pm News Broadcast is airing a piece about how urban teenage computer hackers with dyed hair and funny names are going to gain access to your Cadillac’s OnStar, take over control of your car, and drive you directly to a pro-socialism rally and drop you off.

All this proximity key cloning, while possible, and certainly more likely in some areas rather than others, are exceedingly rare and typically saved for very high end targets, or brand new vehicles on a car lot that they can grab 10+ at a time in the middle of the night.

And all that is to say: I’m getting remote start and I’m not going to lose an ounce of sleep over it.

Nobody with access to that technology is going to waste their time on my used Ford.

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