Why I don't believe in 'car alarms' anymore.

[wolfwings]

They just plain don't work, and give insurance companies a reason to deny your claim if you get your car swiped.

News flash: Honda's not the only company that stuffs handbrake-and-ignition codes into their cars. Just about all newer cars have these sorts of funky 'codes' to disable or enable various features such as stability control, or in this case, a VIN-specific code to bypass the built-in key-ID system. One that I'm willing to bet isn't highly unique and that someone with some brains could reverse-engineer or find a pattern in pretty easilly.

But this is all another reason why I look at car security as pointless once someone is inside your vehicle. You might as well just remove the ignition key entirely and replace it with a simple kill switch under the dash and a push-button wired to the starter. Nothing you can do will deter a criminal once they're inside your car.

Comments

[aerowolf.livejournal.com]

Never mind that the standard lock has 6 tumblers, and 6 positions for each of them...

And unlike low-duty door locks...

[wolfwings.livejournal.com]

...it's possible usually to cut 'jiggle' keys that'll unlock just about all the doors on a particular manufacturer of car because they put so much slop in to account for ten years of multi-daily insertion and removal wearing the key down instead of making the key and lock out of better-quality materials.

So it doesn't matter if you have 6 tumblers or 16, a single 'worn down' key jiggled in the lock usually pops em' all free on automobiles if it's the right key-body.

[shepherdwolf.livejournal.com]

Poor Honky. :( Good article, though!

I've long held the belief that the more advanced features there are on a car, the more difficulty they're going to give you. :) Maybe it's because I'm technologically inept, but honestly, if you need to hear what I'm talking about, try taking a car with Daytime Running Lights or autoheadlights to a drive-in movie. >_<

I'd come to the same conclusion you did - no security feature is going to stop someone from swiping your car - but I didn't realize it could get you screwed by your insurance. Then again, the cut-rate insurance companies mentioned in the article will probably try to fuck you over any way they can. -_-

Frankly, I'm happy with my $15,000 no-frills Toyota...though the Vehicle Stability Control scared the crap out of me the first time it kicked on. o_0 Like I said...the more features, the more problems. :)

[lironess.livejournal.com]

I saw an anti-theift program at work once. They also said the only thing that works is a kill switch, hidden somewhere.

Insurance companies suck.

[aerowolf.livejournal.com]

The problem is "hiding it". If it came as a standard feature, it wouldn't be hidden.

[lironess.livejournal.com]

Yeah, they said to install it yourself, aftermarket, as most cars don't have one now. This was also a long time ago. The program also came in handy when my exboyfriends car was stolen. The pulled the ignition out so I told him to borrow a screwdriver from the tow guys to start it...and he was shocked when it worked. He is one of those guys who knows everything, but he didn't know about that. It was pretty funny.

There is one other thing that works...

[wolfwings.livejournal.com]

...and that's Ravelco though in effect that's a massive delay device. It runs most of the important wires in the car in identical colors to a single multi-pin plug.

Personally, I'd remove the ignition cylinder, put one of those in since that can be wired to control the accessory switch. So it'd be 'insert wierd fob thing into dash, push button on dash' to start the car. :-)

Re: There is one other thing that works...

[(Anonymous)]

Sounds cool to me! I am not to worried about my old car, it is almost off of the blue book. But someday I will have a good job and I will get a new car.
Wanna help me anti-theft it? Are you still in CA?