Thieves Break Into Cars Using Mysterious ‘Black Box’

CBS Chicago ^ | 2/27/14

[E. Pluribus Unum]

That’s why I like my bottom-of-the-line Yaris with manual everything.

[Disambiguator]

I remember cars with starter buttons on the floor (still have a pickup with one—and the crank behind the seat), and the lock was only something you used when you went to town—if you remembered to bring the key.

The funny thing is, that retro technology would probably stump most car thieves today. Most of them can't even drive a stick shift.

[Neidermeyer]

I was a witness to car thieves in my neighborhood last July ... they were using a blackbox device and were able to access all cars except newer Mercedes and BMW ... I know from researching Mercedes and BMW that they are the ONLY car companies that haven’t released the codes/algorithms associated with their electronic keys... That’s both good and bad... a replacement Mercedes key is $500 at the dealer, all other electronic keys can be duplicated by a locksmith... or with a simple copying tool sold on eBay and other websites that is made in China...

[IYAS9YAS]

I remember cars with starter buttons on the floor (still have a pickup with one—and the crank behind the seat)

I had a '51 Chevy pickup with a floor starter. Some cars even had the starter underneath the gas pedal, not just next to it. You'd pump the gas a few times, then push the pedal all the way down to start the car, at the same time ensuring a full squirt of fuel and open butterflies on the carb.

[COBOL2Java]

Maybe they should use a mechanical locking mechanism.

You mean like this?

[Smokin' Joe]

Most of them can't even drive a stick shift.

Yep, and it has one of those, too.

[Tallguy]

Having looked at it from my perspective in sales (of Video Slot Machines) it just looked like it would be simpler to rob a bank than to try and ‘cheat’ a casino. LOL!

My marketing manager had a string of loose-leaf binders on his desk. He’d point to them (his background check) and say, that’s pretty much everything I’ve done since High School.

My sister-in-law applied for a secretarial job at the FBI — her background check, I’ll wager, was not much more than a phone canvas. (They called me and I had only just married her elder sister). At that point I barely knew the girl.

[itsahoot]

What a font of total misinformation

There are probably other methods as well, but I can tell you for sure that I can open my car over a cell phone.

[from occupied ga]

There are probably other methods as well, but I can tell you for sure that I can open my car over a cell phone.

With an APP?

[TheErnFormerlyKnownAsBig]

The hard part is mounting the toll reading equipment on the bike when you dont have standard handlebars because you are using a recumbent bicycle cuz you have compleetely swallowed the lure and think recumbents are the advanced bike technology of the future.....dont forget your orange pennant in the long fiberglass pole so the buses see you.

[Myrddin]

The telematics control we had in 2003 would permit remote start, lock/unlock of doors, headlights on/off, honk horn. Could interrogate GPS on the vehicle bus as well as engine diags. No active control of steering. I'm confident things are much more sophisticated today. Active suspension, collision avoidance. I've been out of that loop for a bit.