Few manufacturers respond
Keyless systems make it easier for car thieves
The German Automobile Club ADAC has been examining keyless start systems in new cars for years. Chairs: Car thieves can easily steal almost all of the 500 models now tested. Few manufacturers respond.
Publication date: 5:20 am
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Updated: 10:46 am
It’s every driver’s nightmare scenario: After shopping at the supermarket, we carry our bags towards the car. But wherever the car is parked, there is only an empty parking space. In disbelief, we search the rows – but there is no trace of scale. Have car thieves been hit?
Today it is especially easy for thieves to steal a car if it has a so-called Keyless-go system: the key only has to be carried in your pants pocket to open or close the doors and the luggage compartment – with this added convenience very few customers today without it.
Hardly any prior knowledge is required
Perfect for Thieves: Because they don’t need in-depth knowledge to hack or decrypt data, just a freely and legally available range extender with which they can unlock the car in a jiffy and then walk away without leaving a trace. These devices are available for around CHF100 in electronics stores.
For this near-perfect crime, the thief could be several feet from the car key with his device. His partner is standing near the car door with the second device – according to the German Automobile Club ADAC, radio signals can be extended for hundreds of meters. This even works “when the key is at home or the owner is sitting in the beer garden and the key is in his pocket,” ADAC explains to the specialist magazine Auto Motor & Sport.
No signs of intrusion
Once the engine of the bridge-connected vehicle is started, it continues to run until the tank is empty or, in the case of electric vehicles, the battery is empty. Particularly disgusting: since no trace of the break-in is left, a vehicle theft can even be suspected of insurance fraud if the stolen vehicle is later found with an empty tank.
Stealth protection is provided by cases that block radio waves from the switches. However, the driver always has to take the key out of his pocket and put it away again, rendering the keyless system virtually useless. On many vehicles, the keyless entry function can be completely deactivated – this is probably an unsatisfactory solution for most customers.
Few cars against theft
Significantly better: Ultra-wideband (UWB) keyless transmission. UWB chips measure the distance from the key to the vehicle. If a car thief uses a range extender, the system notices that the distance is no longer correct and keeps the car locked. BUT: Of the more than 500 vehicles inspected by ADAC over the past few years, only 24 have UWB keyless technology!
As the first large-scale manufacturer, Jaguar Land Rover has installed secure anti-theft protection on all of its models since 2018. Also some models of the Volkswagen Group – for example Audi A3 and the A5 G-Tron, Cobra FormentorAnd the Seat LeonAnd the Skoda Octavia And some VW models – equipped with UWB technology. All other manufacturers use the system only, if any, on individual models. In the full list of ADAC You can check if your car is protected against theft without a key.
ADAC Test: The 24 Models Checked Have UWB Technology
| car brand | Model | first registration |
| Audi | A3 | 07/2020 |
| BMW | iX xDrive | 09/2021 |
| Cobra | record | 02/2021 |
| Jaguar | E-Pace D180S 4WD | 09/2018 |
| Jaguar | I speed | 04/2018 |
| land Rover | defense | 09/2021 |
| land Rover | Discovery | 03/2018 |
| land Rover | Range rover | 02/2018 |
| land Rover | Range rover | 05/2019 |
| mercedes | S500 | 11/2020 |
| seat | leon | 02/2020 |
| seat | leon | 04/2021 |
| Skoda | elegant | 03/2021 |
| Skoda | Octavia | 08/2020 |
| Skoda | Octavia | 09/2020 |
| Volkswagen | the can | 12/2020 |
| Volkswagen | Gulf 8 | 11/2019 |
| Volkswagen | Gulf 8 | 07/2020 |
| Volkswagen | Golf 8 . variant | 10/2020 |
| Volkswagen | Gulf 8 | 02/2021 |
| Volkswagen | ID.3 | 07/2020 |
| Volkswagen | 4 GTX ID | 07/2021 |
| Volkswagen | polo | 09/2021 |
stupid customers
Conclusion: To date, most manufacturers have not complied with demands from auto clubs such as ADAC or TCS to systematically secure car models’ electronics, as is already the norm in many areas of IT. When theft actually happens, it’s the customers who are the idiots.
More about car theft
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