According to a report from the British consumer group Which?, a new study has revealed that keyless activation cars are more prone to being stolen.
The study conducted by the German General Automobile Club (ADAC) included 237 car models currently in the market, four of which are part of the Top 5 best-selling cars in Britain. The four best-selling cars that were deemed prone to theft included the Ford Fiesta, Volkswagen Golf, Nissan Qashqai, and Ford Focus. These four cars made up about 262,000 vehicle registrations in 2018 alone.
Unfortunately for keyless car enthusiasts, 230 out of the 237 models were found to be highly susceptible to theft. The simulated test revealed that thieves could easily “trick these cars into thinking that the key is closer than it really is, enabling them to unlock and start the car.”
This is definitely alarming, as statistics say that every 7 minutes, one car is being stolen in England and Wales. This number has been rising by 39% in 2017/18. What’s even more alarming is that the test also revealed that a keyless car can be stolen in just 18 seconds.
Car manufacturers all had a different say regarding the matter. Ford released a statement reminding keyless car owners to “take extra security precautions.” Nissan acknowledged the keyless entry’s weak point, saying that they are “constantly working to protect our customers to tackle the ever-changing security requirements.” Honda and Hyundai basically said the same thing, as well as Volvo, though the latter did add that this type of theft is “extremely rare.”
