Prevent theft from car

[Cindy B]

did you know you could use your cell phone to open a locked car?

I've done it and it works on my 1999 Jeep Cherokee but YMMV.

I have always had the bad habit of locking my keys inside my car by leaving them on the seat or on the trunk floor as I am loading/unloading. (I also lock by using the door so you can see how this happens)

Ok, I read that you could put your keyless remote next to a cell phone and place the phone near the key lock and the phone waves will transmit the phone to the door.

So we decided to try it in our driveway(DH and I). I locked my keys in my Jeep. I stood in the driveway with my cell phone while DH was in the house. He called my phone and I answered and placed it near my key lock -- right next to it.

He then pushed the unlock button on the extra Jeep remote in the house and the car unlocked.

We were shocked.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

According to Snopes it is an urban legend. The type of frequency emitted by the RKE is different from the type of frequency emitted by a cell phone so it will not work.

The RKE's work from quite a distance, more than once I have locked my car from inside my apartment because I could not remember if I had locked it. As the Snopes article says, many people try it out without realizing they are in range of the RKE, which is what sounds like happenedto you. The RKE frequencies are not sound based, so they will not transmit over a cell phone.

 

[taylor1293]

I have no idea if it's true, but my Sirius radio was stolen out of my car just last week. I could swear it was locked. I am really particular about locking my car. Fortunately, that is all they took. It's not even something that is usable since it has a serial number. Hopefully they'll be dumb enough to activate it.

However, a somewhat related story. In 2004, when we had our Dodge Caravan, we hit the remote on our van and a Lexus (or was it a BMW...can't remember right now) alarm in the parking lot near us went off. Thinking it was weird, we hit our remote again, and the alarm stopped. So, we did this several times and each time it turned their alarm off and on. It was so funny. We were going to sit in our van and wait until they came out to see their reaction (and then tell them), but we had someplace to be so we just left (after we shut their alarm off of course!).

 

[tbyg]

Or, you can leave the meanest, nastiest dog you can find in the car... with the windows open a bit and a bowl of cold water, of course.

Please no! Not even in jest. Opening the windows "a bit" makes virtually no difference in the temperature the inside of a car can reach. The water doesn't help any either. The only solution is to *never* leave a dog unattended in a car.

 

[diondublin]

There is one way that I thought of to protect what is in your car if you feel you might park it in a place where a thief would not want to spend long rifling through it to find something to steal.

On my recent tour of this sceptred isle of Great Britain, I simply took with me in the boot/trunk a number of filled standard bin bags (containing nothing smelly or decaying - just paper and plastic and so on) and placed valuables such as my computer bag underneath them where they could not be seen.

I reckon that a thief, if he got into the boot/trunk, has a good chance of simply running off in this situation rather than look underneath the apparent debris to see if there is anything worth taking.

 

[Huggles]

Or, you can leave the meanest, nastiest dog you can find in the car... with the windows open a bit and a bowl of cold water, of course.

Since I don't have a dog and the cats are not very fierce, I'll have to go with using the inside lock from now on. Thanks for the heads up.

Reminds me of the story from Glasgow, Scotland. In some areas where cars can often be vandalised whilst their owners are watching soccer games, small boys with entrepreneurial skills will often ask to 'Mind yer motor mister?' ( look after your car, sir). They get some money and you can be sure your car will be monitored to stop their friends vandalising it. On one occasion a guy with a really expensive car drove up, parked and the wee entrpreneur rolled up. " Mind yer motor, mister?" " No, it's ok. My savage Rotweiller in the back seat will look after it" says wealthy driver, smugly. "And can yer Rottie put out fires?" Exchange of small amount of money.
Entrepreneur 1 Business man 0

 

[rgf207]

Anytime any email says "Verified by Snopes" or "This has been checked on Snopes" it automatically means it is False and has not been checked on Snopes

 

[GeorgeG]

Please no! Not even in jest. Opening the windows "a bit" makes virtually no difference in the temperature the inside of a car can reach. The water doesn't help any either. The only solution is to *never* leave a dog unattended in a car.

Okay... I'll leave a mean and nasty friend with a gun instead.

 

[Charade]

Anytime any email says "Verified by Snopes" or "This has been checked on Snopes" it automatically means it is False and has not been checked on Snopes

Not all the time.

 

[OctMtnWoods]

Apparently it wasn't checked on snopes as, snopes.com says it is false.
http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/lockcode.asp

Rule #1 around our house. If you receive an email and it says its been verified on Snopes as being true, then check it out on snopes for yourself because its NEVER true. I then send it back to the person who sent it to me WITH the link to snopes telling them its false.

 

[Imzadi]

As said prior -- if they *really* want whatever, they will break the window and be done with it.

Actually the sound of breaking a window creates attention. A real professional can use a "slim jim" and open the door in a few seconds. Anyone happening to walk by once he has the door opened wouldn't look twice and simply think he was taking his own laptop out of the car.

 

[rgf207]

Not all the time.

90% at least

 

[ChristmasElf]

We recently had keys stolen to our cars and when replacing them, had to take the car to each dealer as well to get new keys made. There was no way to have it done unless the car was there. If stealing a VIN number was all that was needed, no one would ever be able to take their car anywhere.

 

[Imzadi]

We recently had keys stolen to our cars and when replacing them, had to take the car to each dealer as well to get new keys made. There was no way to have it done unless the car was there. If stealing a VIN number was all that was needed, no one would ever be able to take their car anywhere.

VIN numbers are on the corner of the windshield on every car in full view. When stolen cars are abandoned without license plates, or the plates are stolen, that's how cops find the VIN number. It's not hidden in the car.

When you are buying a car from a private person, not a dealership, you also need to check that the VIN number on the title actually matches the car (and the Carfax if you use it.)

 

[jennypatel]

Good to hear such nice security facts and how we can prevent our car from theft. I will always remember these tips and may be these tips help me in preventing my car.

 

[dawson5]

Our HOA sends out email about things happening around the neighborhood. We just got an email yesterday:

On 8/22:

While visiting from out of state, my daughters car was broken into and her sons DS (electonic game) and many associated games were stolen by some low-life dirt balls. This most probably occurred in the early morning hours today (Sunday), according to the St Joseph County Sheriffs Officer that responded.

The officer could tell by where the window was smashed and the pattern, that they used a tool that the police are familiar with. It does not make a loud noise. A neighbors bedroom window is less than thirty feet from the spot. Plus that area of our drive has four area lights that shine on it. This was a bit of a bold action by the thief. I also had two cars parked beside her new Buick Enclave that were not damaged, but I do not keep anything in them.

According to the Officer, their normal MO is to drop someone off and let that person run down the street and case parked cars. While driver pulls away or keeps watch. Out of state cars are of particular interest because the thieving low-life dirt balls assume, that "travelers" have valuables in their vehicles. The Deputy also said with Notre Dame classes starting up, there are that many more out-of-state travelers in our community and that the smash and dash crime increases along with that.

They recommended, of course, never leaving anything valuable in your vehicles and also do not lock it. Personally I have a little fear of not locking my vehicles. And if you have out-of-state visitors, please let them park in your garage.

It's not always loud.

did you know you could use your cell phone to open a locked car?

I've done it and it works on my 1999 Jeep Cherokee but YMMV.

I have always had the bad habit of locking my keys inside my car by leaving them on the seat or on the trunk floor as I am loading/unloading. (I also lock by using the door so you can see how this happens)

Ok, I read that you could put your keyless remote next to a cell phone and place the phone near the key lock and the phone waves will transmit the phone to the door.

So we decided to try it in our driveway(DH and I). I locked my keys in my Jeep. I stood in the driveway with my cell phone while DH was in the house. He called my phone and I answered and placed it near my key lock -- right next to it.

He then pushed the unlock button on the extra Jeep remote in the house and the car unlocked.

We were shocked.

Too funny.

My mother in law was one to lock her keys in her car. She has a '99 Ford Escort. When this happened, she would call us. Thankfully hubby still worked at the dealership she bought the car from and I was able to call and they could pull her information for me. They gave me the key code and she was able to take that information to the dealership where she lived and they could cut a car key on the spot. Things are a lot different now. She still has that car though and I've kept the key code in the lockbox for a "just in case" time. I am pretty sure she just has the keyless entry fob with an emergency alarm

 

[Scurvy]

What's the deal with new posters bumping old posts today? It's like a time warp!

 

[Jennasis]

What's the deal with new posters bumping old posts today? It's like a time warp!

In this case, the poster who bumped appears to be trying to promote a security business of some kind. They've posted on 3 threads all with the keyword "security" in the title and are likely trying to rack up enough posts to be able to put in pictures or something. Hopefully the mods will monitor and take appropriate action should it turn into spam.

 

[sorcerormickey]

In this case, the poster who bumped appears to be trying to promote a security business of some kind. They've posted on 3 threads all with the keyword "security" in the title and are likely trying to rack up enough posts to be able to put in pictures or something. Hopefully the mods will monitor and take appropriate action should it turn into spam.

I was wondering what the deal was too.....If you are right Jennasis, that is SO LAME!

 

[rgf207]

In this case, the poster who bumped appears to be trying to promote a security business of some kind. They've posted on 3 threads all with the keyword "security" in the title and are likely trying to rack up enough posts to be able to put in pictures or something. Hopefully the mods will monitor and take appropriate action should it turn into spam.

Yep. Spammers. After they get enough posts, they will add links to their signatures for the product they are spamming.