Keep keys in the freezer to stop car thieves

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cthisbear
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Joined: Sun 29 Jan 2006, 22:07
Location: Sydney Australia

Keep keys in the freezer to stop car thieves

#1 Post by cthisbear »

Why keeping your keys in the freezer can stop thieves breaking into your car

http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/cons ... mm25p.html

" Last week, I started keeping my car keys in the freezer, and I may be
at the forefront of a new digital safety trend. "

Chris.

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Flash
Official Dog Handler
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Joined: Wed 04 May 2005, 16:04
Location: Arizona USA

#2 Post by Flash »

Hah, an "amplifier" wouldn't work with my 2011 Nissan's wireless key fob. The piece of crap won't work at all when it's cold out and only works when it feels like it when it's warm. The car acts the same with both of the fobs that it came with, even with a new battery in them. The dealer wants $125 just to look at the car, whether he can find the problem or not. If the problem is in the car's receiver, the cost to replace it would be more than $500. Fortunately, the people who designed the stupid thing knew enough to make sure I could drive the car even if the battery in the fob was dead, and that, at least, works reliably. :evil:

You wouldn't have to keep the fob in your freezer, just wrap it in aluminum foil.

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ardvark
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Location: USA

#3 Post by ardvark »

Wow :(

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Ted Dog
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Location: Heart of Texas

#4 Post by Ted Dog »

or in a mylar filmed potato chips bag, with the high humidity in Texas the keys would be dripping wet seconds out of the freezer. Did not know about the door handle will need to try that.

rokytnji
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#5 Post by rokytnji »

Ted Dog wrote:or in a mylar filmed potato chips bag, with the high humidity in Texas the keys would be dripping wet seconds out of the freezer. Did not know about the door handle will need to try that.
As another Tx resident. No Humidity here in the desert.

I tried it.

Even Have 6 ankle biters.

But they still stole the parts off my lawnmower.

Welcome to the Wild West. 8)

To give another personal take on this. When I lived in Elpaso Tx.
I pulled the distributor out of my 67 F100 Ford PU.
Then hopped on the bike and went to Sturgis South Dakota.

When I came back. The Truck was gone.
The Law told me they think they used a tow truck to steal it.
They found it stripped and burnt in a Colonia named the Sparks.

One mans neighbourhood tricks won't work in another mans neighbourhood.
Location, location, location. :lol:

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Burn_IT
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Location: Tamworth UK

#6 Post by Burn_IT »

That is one reason why I drive an old banger.
If it gets nicked it has saved me the cost of paying for it to be removed and scrapped!!
"Just think of it as leaving early to avoid the rush" - T Pratchett

wboz
Posts: 233
Joined: Wed 20 Nov 2013, 21:07

#7 Post by wboz »

Do you guys pay a ton in auto insurance? From what I'm reading theft must be truly widespread in your area ...

Up here thievery is pretty limited. At least for post-coded-key cars. Popular cars nationwide are the slightly older stuff that can easily be started.

But the technological limitations of those automated-range-based-unlocking systems are real. As described. If someone wants to get into your car, they can.

What I don't know is, can you turn those automatic unlockings off?

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8-bit
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Location: Oregon

#8 Post by 8-bit »

Evidently, those keys work on proximity to the switch. When I got a used PT-Cruiser, I went out and had a regular key make that did not have the electronics.
It would start the car and then the car would shut down shortly thereafter.
But after getting a key with the electronics, I tried using the one without them. They were both on the same keyring and the car worked fine. So the proximity of the electronic key is all that is needed.
Also, this key seems to have a molded part with no provision for replacing any battery. And if the key does in fact contain a battery, what happens if I am in a no-service area and that battery goes dead?
Our Pontiac has a replaceable battery on the key that looks like a computer wafer battery and if I use a computer as a reference, the battery should be replaced every 5 years.

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mikeb
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#9 Post by mikeb »

I found the best way to avoid car theft is to not have one..seems to work 100%.

I did used to go for the old banger approach but they where so incompetent that I was simply left with a mess down the street for me to fix up rather than joyous insurance payments. Curious that I never had any problems with vans unless you include the contents of one I borrowed that the owner forgot to mention the locks were totally shot.
As for motybike thieving... well that was below contempt...

mike

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