Date:         Mon, 23 Apr 2007 08:35:02 -0700
Reply-To:     Mark Drillock <mdrillock@COX.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Mark Drillock <mdrillock@COX.NET>
Subject:      SMART Keys
In-Reply-To:  <B9A95A01-AAF4-406F-AEEB-C10B628276FE@pottsfamily.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed

This reminds me of a problem a friend had a couple years ago. He called
me one day and said his Westy would not start and could I come help him
find out why. He had experienced the problem a couple times but if he
waited it would eventually start but not this time. I arrived with my
multi-meter and in a few minutes determined that there was a missing
voltage on a wire. I traced the wire until under the dash I saw it went
into an added toggle switch. Ah ha, says I, what is this? He looked
puzzled and then said, "oh yeah. But I have not used it for a long
time". The kill switch was flaky and no longer making good contact
inside even though it was set to the run position.

Years before his Syncro Westy was stolen and he was lucky enough to get
it back. He actually tracked it down himself, located in the used car
lot of a VW Dealer. He added the kill switch then and 10+ years later
had forgotten all about it.

The ring of thieves were caught cashing the check from the dealer and
though he suspected complicity on the part of the dealership nothing
could be proven. The dash VIN had been changed but the chassis vins were
the original ones.

Mark



Greg Potts wrote:

> Hi Volks,
>
> There was an article in "Toronto Life" magazine a while back on car
> theft... There were at least three different theft rings exporting
> luxury cars and SUV's to Africa in containers.
>
> Apparently the advent of so-called smart keys simply pushed the car
> theives into doing a B+E to get the key. They break into your house,
> steal your keys and then drive away quietly. It didn't lessen the
> theft rate at all, it just put the owners at higher risk of personal
> injury.
>
> Automotive immobilizers are VERY easy to implement. A hidden kill
> switch on the fuel pump is all that is needed to accomplish the same
> result as a smart key, and the cost of materials is less than $10.
>
> Happy Trails,
>
> Greg Potts
>