Would this help stop the recent trend in car theft?

[Andy G]

Hi guys

I'm in China and Hong Kong at the moment looking for new products at various trade shows and one has caught my eye I after reading on here about some of the cast their thoughts and attempted car thefts and wondered what you thought about this product idea?

The product in question essentially is fitted to the car connected to the ECU and essentially locks the engine of the car using a secure app on your phone which means that even with the vehicle keys present the car will not start unless there is also been unlocked on the users phone.

I'd really welcome everyone's thoughts on this as on first appearance I figured this could be a very good solution to the problem of people breaking into houses to steal khakis to steal cars. Thoughts?

[Stephen]

Sounds good but what happens if you loose your phone or it goes flat?

[thinfourth]

I prefer the other chinese solution to car thief

Take them round the back of the court and shoot them

[robin]

If the device is installed inside the ECU then I can imagine it would be quite tricky to defeat.

If the device is external to the ECU, what's to stop the thief simply disconnecting it?

My other concern would be that if the thieves know that your phone unlocks it, once they have the physical keys, they'll come upstairs to get the telephone ...

Cheers,
Robin

[Corranga]

I remember discussing this sort of thing before (maybe on SELOC?) Robin's fear was the greatest.

I think the reality is that if someone really wants to steal a car, what lengths will they stop at before stealing it...

The other thing is, if they get to the car and it won't start, will they just walk away, or will they trash the car anyway?

Chris

[Dominic]

The problem is, the most unpleasant part of having your house broken into for keys, and the car nicked, for most people, is having their house broken into. This would not solve that. My sister recently had her house broken into in order to get the car keys. It's the thought that these guys were in their house that is the most upsetting part.

This device would probably hinder / halt the opportunist thief (the one's fishing keys through letter boxes), but would not stop determined thieves IMHO.

I had wondered about getting an auto-electrician to wire in a simple removable motorsport cut-off switch somewhere subtle.

[GregR]

I'd be petrified of some sort of ECU add-on that wasn't OEM approved deciding to kill my fuelling whilst on the motorway. I'd be far happier just letting them take my car - that's what insurance is for. I'm not saying I'd make it easy for them to nick the keys but if they're so determined to take the car that they're in the house... I want them out ASAP.

[Sanjøy]

Think of the scene from Lock Stock where they are lighting toilet paper between their toes asking them the combination....

If someone is juiced up enough to come in to my house for a car they can have it, I pay enough insurance. Wife and kids dont need them coming up to our room demanding a code.

[campbell]

Yup. I'm out.

[douglasgdmw]

Better system would be for the code to be activated so that the thief does not know your car is enabled.

Let them get a couple of miles away and then activate the code and the car is then grinds to a halt with an engine warning light. Gets them out of your house and avoids the immediate threat.

George

[Sanjøy]

Better system would be for the code to be activated so that the thief does not know your car is enabled.

Let them get a couple of miles away and then activate the code and the car is then grinds to a halt with an engine warning light. Gets them out of your house and avoids the immediate threat.

George

Reminds me of the B'stard episode with his remote detonating wallet.

[kerryxeg]

I'm not sure how many people would be interested in fitting a device which affects the ECU. People who know nothing about cars would be concerned about affecting warranty etc. It would mean the thief now has to find keys and a phone, but he won't know that initially so it's not a deterrent.

I just had a tracker fitted for the first time, and have to say it's been very effective during unplanned testing. They can also shut the car down remotely. It's not cheap, but certainly works. I think there has to be a market for a low cost tracker option.

[graeme]

As above, definitely wouldn't buy one. So many negatives.

I agree with Kerry. Lots of very cheap GPS trackers around. Finding a nice balance between cheap to buy and good features (geofencing, phone app locator etc) would be a good shout.

Also, dash cams are getting popular. If you see anything new on that front (mainly a neater install than having a box stuck to the windscreen) that could be interesting.

[r10crw]

Id hoped this was a product akin to one of the Robocop movies when I was a kid. Mayeb high voltage door handles, agree that it would do nothing other than give them a good reason to beat the crap out of the car, at least in Robocop it was terminal.

[pete]

Car crime is at an all time low...

But I bet youd sell it to the fast and furious generation. it lets their phone TALK to their CAR.