AlanHo Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 A friend in South Africa has Emailed me about the latest method thieves are using for stealing contents from cars.They are using a garage or electric gate remote control to prevent cars from locking when the driver presses his key plip as he walks away from his car. A favourite location is supermarket car parks. Many drivers walk away without checking that the car is actually locked - and the thieves then help themselves to the contents inside.When the driver returns to his car he finds the doors unlocked and the car empty. Their insurance claims would fail as no force was used and it is assumed the driver was negligent.Click HereHowever - being curious - I did a test with my car and my wifes car using our garage door remote control to see if it stopped the doors from locking. It didn't. My neighbour joined in with their two cars and garage door remote - all four cars locked OK. I wonder if this is another subject for Snopes.Any members here care to test their cars? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 I always check the door handle before walking away. Couldn't find anything on Snopes.B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 I can't see how this could work. There are gazillions of codes available for remote locking devices and for a blanket code to be available as this item suggests doesn't ring true.Having said that, though, I recall some years ago that my car (a Merc) would unlock with the signal from a neighbours Metro remote and I have once seen a car alarm triggered by someone else's locking remote - don't know how that worked! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted May 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 I just tried another experiment - I don't know why I didn't think about it yesterday.I tried locking my car as usual with the remote - but pressing the remote for my wife's car at the same time. The car did not lock. I did the same with my wife's car to confirm that if both remotes are pressed at the same time the car does not lock (or unlock).Hence there must be substance in the story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 Check the door handle before walking away.B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gandalph Posted May 3, 2011 Report Share Posted May 3, 2011 I know that garage door controllers work in the 4.5Mhz band but I can't really say what frequency car remote controllers work at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted May 4, 2011 Report Share Posted May 4, 2011 Remote keyless systems operate by broadcasting radio waves on a particular frequency. Most RKEs work on 315 MHz in North America and Japan, and 433.92 MHz in Europe.From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_keyless_system Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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