I miss Smart Entry....

[Mincey]

I was out this morning cutting the grass as I tend to do on a Saturday if the weather is nice. If it's a bit inclement, I'll do it on Sunday or one of the following days, but that's by the by. As I was shutting the mower down, I became aware of a whistling sound behind me. The whistling then turned into an "oy!", so I turned around to see a neighbour who I'm on nodding terms with standing on the other side of the road making "come hither" gestures in my general direction. I checked the road for non-existent traffic and made my way over to him, maintaining a suitable social distance of course.

Anyway, he mentioned that in the early hours, some ne'er-do-wells had visited someone a bit further down the road and relieved them of their X5. Some might see this as a bit of a blessing, but there's all the insurance palaver to go through isn't there. This made me a bit worried as my car is left on the driveway all the time. So, after telling Mrs Mincey about the news, I set about deactivating the Smart Entry to the car, despite having keys in Faraday pouches - you can't be too careful you know. After about 20 minutes (slight exaggeration here) of searching through the menus, I found the Smart Entry off option. 

Oh my God - you forget what life is like without it. I'm not too fussed about pressing a button on the remote to unlock the car, but starting it is a pain in the derriere and having to remember to unlock the car before using the button to unlock the boot? Give me strength. I'm sure I'll get used to it. Now all I've got to worry about is weighing up having the car spirited away with Smart Entry enabled, or having some thugs break the front door down and asking for the keys in a less than polite manner.

[Herbie]

As the old saying goes, 'prevention is better than cure', which is why I use a great big yellow Stoplock Pro Elite steering wheel lock.

It's not pretty and it can be a bit of a pain to keep putting it on and taking it off, but the whole idea is to make the ne'r-do-wells take one look at the car, think that it's not worth the hassle, and move on to an easier target. And it works, as you'll see from the video below.

I'm not soft but I'm not stupid either; if someone breaks into the house and comes barging into the bedroom for the keys, not only will I hand them over but I'll tie them up in a presentation bow as well if it stops either of us being attacked, but as I said, the whole idea is to deter the scrotes and make them move on. The reviews for the Stoplock I use said that it took more than five minutes of attacking the thing with hammers, chisels and saws before it was defeated - that's five minutes of noise and aggro that the scrotes don't want.

 

 

[dutchie01]

Great idea and seems to work. There is also a bearlock system jamming the gearbox mechanically. Same idea, yellow bar clearly visible on the gearlever cant get the car in drive. Too complicated to steal. I always have all windows engraved with the licence plate number. Also this makes it complicated to sell a stolen car on as they have to replace all windows.

It wont stop them from breaking in and ripping everything out of the car however. This now happens more than driving off with a stolen car. Airbags, satnavs, wheels etc etc mostly stolen on order!  

[ColinBarber]

5 hours ago, Mincey said:

despite having keys in Faraday pouches

have you tested these work? If so why not just use them rather than disabling the system. The other option is to disable on the key itself when at home but the first unlock activates the system allowing easy starting etc.

[Mincey]

Yes they work "at the moment" but I think I read somewhere on here that they can stop working. I'm using my wife's car as a sacrificial test case. Disabling the system on the key is a better option, but there's always the chance I'll forget to switch it off. I'm just surprised at how much I took the smart entry system for granted. 

[Mincey]

I like the clear deterrent angle. @HerbieOne of these will be heading to Mincey Towers in the coming days

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stoplock-Professional-Steering-Secure-Anti-Theft/dp/B003S51WII/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3LXMPDDHR205U&dchild=1&keywords=stoplock+pro+elite&qid=1588486566&sprefix=stoplock%2Caps%2C157&sr=8-2

[Mincey]

3 hours ago, Mincey said:

I like the clear deterrent angle. @HerbieOne of these will be heading to Mincey Towers in the coming days

(and yes, I have seen the photos of sawn-through steering wheels....

[Mincey]

This is the view which any potential thieving scroat will see when he approaches my car:

Smart Entry: Re-enabled
Key deactivation procedure upon leaving car: Enabled
Key in Faraday pouch just in case?: Check

Note to new users of crooklocks: be prepared to set off the horn when you fit it for the first time. I managed this twice. Scared myself to death.