Keyless entry - never again!

[monya]

The Mrs. went shopping in Finchley on Monday, parked in a road with no restrictions and many parked cars to return 20 mins. later to no car. Gone, vanished, stolen. As it’s a Auris hybrid Excel 65 plate with 28K on the clock it has keyless entry. I’ve read these disappear regularly as such cars can be easily defeated with a portable scanner and the Mrs. says there were a group of men nearby with a van.

Question is - keyless entry is usually bundled with more useful features eg. folding mirrors etc. When I get another car will I have to opt for a lesser spec. or can it be deactivated?

Also dear folk, how much payout should I be expecting from my Toyota insurance given it was in excellent order, fully serviced with pan roof? Major bummer.......

[smudge-1991]

Should always have a form of security on top of the usual setup with the keyless entry it's really easy to clone the key with a tool it may not have been a van it could have been anyone within 10 metres of the car. 

Someone sat opposite in a car with a laptop and a dongle. It's all you need and then an obd cable attached to the laptop to program the new key (the laptop) 

Normally they dump the car within a few streets or roads and come back after a few days for it incase its got a tracker. 

Just buy a proper disklok and a viper immobiliser

Instantly puts off the majority of thieves as they are near impossible to get off and bypass. 

[Mooly]

Sorry to hear about this. As to the insurance... I think you will receive the market value of the car i.e. what similar age and mileage vehicles of that spec are being sold for. The insurance should put you back in the same position you were in prior to this happening.  

[yossarian247]

I seem to recall that keyless entry and start can be turned off quite easily with Techstream? When I looked at this on my wife's Avensis I think it was simply a case of ticking a box in settings.

[Gerg]

8 minutes ago, yossarian247 said:

I seem to recall that keyless entry and start can be turned off quite easily with Techstream? When I looked at this on my wife's Avensis I think it was simply a case of ticking a box in settings.

I would be interested to know the Techstream option that needs changing, I had a quick look at this a couple of months ago and it wasn't obvious which option was the correct one, so it got left as it was.  If I remember correctly, there were 2 or 3 potential candidates on the Auris Techstream menu.

[yossarian247]

3 minutes ago, Gerg said:

I would be interested to know the Techstream option that needs changing, I had a quick look at this a couple of months ago and it wasn't obvious which option was the correct one, so it got left as it was.  If I remember correctly, there were 2 or 3 potential candidates on the Auris Techstream menu.

Next time I've got it plugged into the Avensis I'll have a look and report back.

[Gerg]

Ta very much!

[Notoyboy]

My commiserations to Robin, OP.

We've been conned/hoodwinked by car manufacturers and the SMMT, into buying modern cars with security which to my mind is "Not fit for Purpose".  Decades ago , some vehicles needed a Krooklock to secure the steering wheel, & it seems car manufacturers haven't really improved security since then.

I've read that a "Faraday" Box is recommended to store one's key/fob.  Why should anyone have to buy or carry such a device to make their car secure?  Absolutely ridiculous!

Good luck with your insurance, Robin.

[FROSTYBALLS]

As regards insurance, the settlement will be somewhere between trade and retail value. 

Retail value includes the profit margin the dealer is expected to make, and insurers won't pay for this margin. 

[Sidrat]

2 hours ago, monya said:

The Mrs. went shopping in Finchley on Monday, parked in a road with no restrictions and many parked cars to return 20 mins. later to no car. Gone, vanished, stolen. As it’s a Auris hybrid Excel 65 plate with 28K on the clock it has keyless entry. I’ve read these disappear regularly as such cars can be easily defeated with a portable scanner and the Mrs. says there were a group of men nearby with a van.

Question is - keyless entry is usually bundled with more useful features eg. folding mirrors etc. When I get another car will I have to opt for a lesser spec. or can it be deactivated?

Also dear folk, how much payout should I be expecting from my Toyota insurance given it was in excellent order, fully serviced with pan roof? Major bummer.......

I had the same year and spec Auris, now have the Design Corolla, it has all what the Auris had except the keyless entry, folding mirrors, rain sensing wipers auto dip mirror plus a whole host of stuff the Auris did not have, not having the keyless entry was not a problem for me.

[monya]

Appreciate the replies folks. Waiting on the insurance company now. I expect my car to be leaving a roll on ferry in Eastern Europe  very soon.....

[FROSTYBALLS]

If you wish to buy a steering wheel lock (disklock or similar), have a look at the Sold Secure website for products which have been tested and which meet a reasonable standard of security - soldsecure.com.

Thatcham no longer test manual steering locks.

[marlinleg]

Reference Faraday pouch I have one , you get 2 in pack

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07M83YP5B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[monya]

My dealer tells me that the keyless entry can be disabled. That would be most useful when I get a replacement as the folding mirrors, sensitive wipers etc are most helpful.

[Heidfirst]

On a 2012 Avensis even with the original Touch head unit you could disable keyless (if fitted) in the vehicle customisation screen on that, you didn't need Techstream. I suspect that you could too on your 2015 Auris Excel. 

[monya]

22 minutes ago, Heidfirst said:

On a 2012 Avensis even with the original Touch head unit you could disable keyless (if fitted) in the vehicle customisation screen on that, you didn't need Techstream. I suspect that you could too on your 2015 Auris Excel. 

Yes indeed, hindsight is a wonderful thing......

[Nessy1943]

Keyless entry

STOP thieves in there tracks !!!!!

I have a 200 series Land Cruiser with keyless entry.

There is a simple way to STOP thieves in there tracks.

Simply take the little key that is fitted into to key-fog and get 2 normal size keys cut, then take the Battery out of the key-fog, now the key-fog doesn’t transmit and signal.

To start your car put your foot on the brake pedal as normal hold the key-fog next to the start button listen and you should hear a beep, press the start button and the vehicle will start as normal.

The downside is that you have to lock and un lock the vehicle manually like in the old days. Very little inconvenience against having your car stolen. 

The fog now does not transmit any signal for the thieves to scan, perfectly safe and cheap, 2 keys around $90, that’s it. No labour costs either.

Nessy. 

Note:  there will be a warning light on the dash to advise you that the key fog is not present, simply ignore the warning light as it normally appears when your key-fog is removed from the vehicle (motor running). It’s only a warning light and has no other purpose.  This system has now been working faultlessly for over 6 months.

[jcps001]

I know this system is getting people to steal cars easily, however, keyless system is what I miss so much. After trading my Yaris mk2 (with keyless) for an Auris mk1 (without keyless), I didn't think I would miss it as much. I did and still do.

[Mojo1010]

2 hours ago, jcps001 said:

I know this system is getting people to steal cars easily, however, keyless system is what I miss so much. After trading my Yaris mk2 (with keyless) for an Auris mk1 (without keyless), I didn't think I would miss it as much. I did and still do.

My previous MK3 icon had keyless start button, my new MK4 design doesn't. The first few weeks I'd jump in the car trying to press a non existing start button, cursing a lot then. Had new car for 5 months, still missing the start button a lot, even worse those of u with keyless entry. 

[TonyHSD]

The best extra in any car and a signature one within top spec Toyota’s. 
Will never trade in keyless entry and push start button in exchange for any added security. Once you are used to it is difficult to go back.
Maybe for those who only drives occasionally, or use only once , twice a day not a dealbreaker, but for someone who opens and closes, locks and unlocks 10 times a day this and some other extras are must have when buying a next car. 👍

[Wooster]

17 hours ago, Nessy1943 said:

take the battery out of the key-fob...  hold the key-fob next to the start button listen and you should hear a beep

How does this work?  With no Battery in the key fob, how does it 'tell' the car it is present?

[Cyker]

You can also disable the fob transmitter by holding LOCK and pressing UNLOCK twice

You can also disable keyless entry in the car (On mine the setting is in the infotainment settings, but it may be in the dash settings on others), but it also disables keyless start

 

I didn't like push button starts either, but with the hybrids it feels much more natural than starting with a key twist.

When I had the Icon, which had a key, it was really weird starting it like a normal car but not getting that roar from the engine starting when you twist it to position 3, and I'd hold it there too long  

With push button starts, you naturally just push the button once, but in a normal car sometimes that doesn't let the engine start enough and you have to do it again, but accidentally put it into aux mode, then have to try again properly etc., so a key felt much more natural there, as you'd hold it in position 3 until the engine actually started.