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
1973/74/77/79 Westfakia "Bob The Tomato
www.pottsfamily.ca
www.busesofthecorn.com

On 21-Apr-07, at 9:29 AM, George Thorburn wrote:

> Joy wrote;
>>> Is there any evidence as to whether those "smart keys" actually
>>> reduce =
>>> auto theft?
>
> Someone tried to "hot wire" the Dodge Caravan parked in front of
> our house (company car) a couple of years ago.  They pried open the
> passenger side window and broke a bunch of plastic around the
> ignition lock.  They were not able to start or steal the van so I
> guess the smart key worked.  They did enough damage that I could
> not start the car with the correct key.  The motor would turn over
> and fire but would not run.
> Good thing I had the Vanagon in the garage so I could take my wife
> to work.  If I remember it cost $500 to $1000 to repair the Caravan.
> George
> '85 Westfalia