trackers

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Just thought - a good example is the BMW keyless thefts.
Are you saying it was better to keep this story under wraps that you could nick any keyless bmw with a laptop and a couple minutes?
Just because there would be people going "coor! I can do that".

No - absolutely not. Otherwise BMW would never have changed anything or even admitted the problem.

[swannny]

I remember seeing that on watchdog, and was shocked at the time, especially from a company like BMW!

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I remember seeing that on watchdog, and was shocked at the time, especially from a company like BMW!

yeah... they tried to blame the EU's requirement that you can't have anything tied to the manufacturer so by EU rules any back street garage needs to be able to supply new keys.

However the EU doesn't say the OBD port needs to be within easy access of the front corner sidelight and that the said side light should be out of range of the interior alarm sensors... <sigh>

I do think the EU need to back out on this one and say that car manufacturers can supply one time codes for a specific vehicle that must be used within 10 minutes for keying the lock (The code is tied to the car dealer and the car's id)
Also anything plugged into the obd port when the alarm is activated should activate the alarm.
Might also be worth having another part of the code in the owners book.

TBH lots of different ways of doing this as cryptologically speaking it's nothing that hasn't been done before.

[chunky79]

Just thought - a good example is the BMW keyless thefts.
Are you saying it was better to keep this story under wraps that you could nick any keyless bmw with a laptop and a couple minutes?
Just because there would be people going "coor! I can do that".

No - absolutely not. Otherwise BMW would never have changed anything or even admitted the problem.

No, but all you had to say was the Trackers aren't hidden very well. I have had to sign the Official Secrets Act due to fitting trackers so can't say too much.
It's also like the thread where people have posted how to copy keys, yes you can google it bit just don't put it here.
Have you posted where your Tracker type unit is on your car?

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No, but all you had to say was the Trackers aren't hidden very well.
I have had to sign the Official Secrets Act due to fitting trackers so can't say too much.

All I'm saying is that there are far too many lazy tracker installers and companies that install huge boxes in an obvious place.
My opinion is that this needs to be made public for two reasons.
1) people on this forum who decide to have a tracker fitted might insist that they don't just take the installers word for it and have it put somewhere where they will actually stand a chance of getting the car back.
2) installers and manufacturers start doing something about their rubbish practises. Many bang on about how they have lots of different places where they can put them but they just simply never bother.

Have you posted where your Tracker type unit is on your car?

Which one? I have a few. The joys of doing R&D. However I will say 100% that it is not behind the glovebox.
One is of the aforementioned military IP cigarette box sized units so is mounted outside the car. One is slightly larger (ok, about the size of a small house brick) and has no wires or anything but will last at least 5 years pinging away (the demo box has lasted 7 years). There's also a a conventional one to use as a frame of reference. The issue was locating this one was a royal pita once you discount the normal place.

But anybody relying on a gps based system as a security device is pretty much wasting their money.

[sweegie]

My opinion is that this needs to be made public for two reasons.

Completely agree - ignorance is not bliss & if information helps legitimate owners make better informed choices, it can only be a good thing.

As for not putting information here, well I guess we could post things on car thieving web sites, but they already know that 10 year old immobilisers are a joke and trackers are normally hidden behind glove boxes by lazy installers

[chunky79]

My opinion is that this needs to be made public for two reasons.

Completely agree - ignorance is not bliss & if information helps legitimate owners make better informed choices, it can only be a good thing.

As for not putting information here, well I guess we could post things on car thieving web sites, but they already know that 10 year old immobilisers are a joke and trackers are normally hidden behind glove boxes by lazy installers

If they already know it, no need to post it again is there?

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Apart from the reason I've already said that if an rs246 member wants a tracker then at least they know to insist on not having installed in the obvious place.
To me that's a pretty good reason.

[sweegie]

If they already know it, no need to post it again is there?

Indeed, but rather than pay Audi £200 to code an outdated and insecure immobilizer key, and pay a lazy Tracker installer £400 for something that's trivial to find, people can now make better informed choices here regarding their car security. The £600 some might spend on a tracker and a key, goes a very long way to an excellent aftermarket alarm for example.

[bam_bam]

...or a kill switch.

[mavada]

...or a kill switch.

yeah, will that kill the robber?

[bam_bam]

Depends, I'm sure something could be designed that way but would you want your car back after a dead robber's bowls had let go in it?

[mavada]

well, it could be designed to kill if he hasnt cooled the engine/turbos after an spirited drive...he should have a change to survive...

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRNVxHPJ0hM

[500bhp]

All
Firstly I am going to declare a interest in this subject as director of www.trackaphone.com

All i can say is that you get what you pay for and there are a whole range of location technologies, protection equipment, Alert Panic buttons and recovery support available in the market. We have a very experienced team and would be happy to discuss what is possible, but never online.