Keyless Entry Theft

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ktsennaf1

New Member
Joined
Jul 31, 2017
Messages
18
Car
c200
Hello Everyone,

I am new toi this forum and wanted to talk about my horrible experience.

I purchased a C200 brand new from Mercedes Benz Brooklands and collected the car in January 2016.

In May of this year the car was stolen from my drive without the thieves getting into my house and taking the keys.

Looking online and speaking to the police it appears these cars have a security weakness and it can be exploited with some simple electronic equipment. This means thieves can get into the car and drive it off without you knowing,

i have spoken to the dealership where i bought the car from and they are claiming that this is a very rare ocurrance. Looking online indicates this is happening quite a lot.

The car cost me £35000 and my insurance only paid me £23000. As i didn't have gap insurance i have lost £12000.


i wanted to hear of similar experiences from other owners.

Regards

Kyri
 
I have also raised my concerns about the security of these cars to the Head of Customer Services and the motoring ombudsman.

This was about 5 weeks ago and I haven't received a single response from MB Retail Group.

Angie Blacklaw
Head of Customer Services
Mercedes-Benz Retail Group UK Ltd
Brooklands Drive
Weybridge
Surrey
KT13 0SL
 
There's been a lot of press about keyless entry, and the fact that thieves can intercept the transmissions. At the end of the day though, if a thief is smart and really wants to steal your car, there's not much you can do about it.

I did a lot of research about Gap Insurance, so did get it with my car, but in all honesty I did this in case I had an accident; I didn't really consider theft.
 
I am sorry to hear of the theft but I do not understand how you have "lost" £12,000?

The car was 16 months old when stolen and would have depreciated by quite a margin, I believe that GAP insurance normally covers a total loss in the first 12 months of ownership.

Did you look at the price of comparative vehicles before accepting the insurance payment?
 
Sorry to hear about your loss. Of little consolation here. Be thankful that they took it by hacking the Keyless Go and did not do so, by breaking into your home and stealing the keys.

This type of theft is on the increase for 2 reasons:

1) We make more cars like this so more will be stolen like this.
2) Reporting is easier than ever to access (as on this forum). So we hear about it more.

As already said: No matter what you do/did to protect your property. If somebody wants it, they will eventually figure out a way to get it. Theft "with keys" is very worrying. If somebody is prepared to confront you? They are most probably prepared to assault you and yours.

Leave keys where they can be found and never hide them upstairs in the bedroom.
 
............
i have spoken to the dealership where i bought the car from and they are claiming that this is a very rare ocurrance. Looking online indicates this is happening quite a lot.

The car cost me £35000 and my insurance only paid me £23000. As i didn't have gap insurance i have lost £12000.


.............

Sorry to hear this, always distressing for the owner. The dealership is probably quite correct, in that as a percentage of cars sold those stolen in this manner is quite rare. The internet will always condense statistics, no one posts online how their car hasn't been stolen...

£12k after 16 months is not unrealistic, depreciation is massive in the early period of ownership.

You've been unlucky but to be honest if a thief wants a car there isn't much one can easily do to prevent it's theft. I for one would much rather they simply steal it from my drive without breaking into my home a potentially threatening my family.

Moving forward, these canbus immobilisers seem to be a promising solution?
 
Here is an earlier email response from Mercedes Benz Brooklands.

As you you can see they have made mofications to newer cars. I have asked them repeatidly if my car had this functionality and i haven't received a response yet.

i am very frustrated and disappointed. Looking at other posts on this foum i have found evidence going back to Jan 2015 where Mercedes were contacted about keyless theft and nothing was done.

The sales people should at least communicate the risks of leaving keys exposed to radio abuse. This is very frustrating.

i can't belive a premium product costing £35,000 can be driven off so easily.

For example, on our latest cars we now offer our customers the option of deactivating the radio signal with two clicks of the key in order to prevent abuse.


Dear Mr XXXXXX

It was nice to talk to you today reference your concerns about Keyless Go security systems, and have enclosed a statement from Mercedes Benz.

As a business, Mercedes-Benz Cars UK are of course disappointed to learn about customer experiences resulting in theft in relation to keyless entry/start systems.

I am sorry you are unhappy with the comments and explanations provided from our Customer Assistance Centre. I can confirm however, that the information they have provided to you is correct; we are not aware of any of these examples that have been caused as a result of a manufacturing defect.

All Mercedes-Benz Cars have extensive security and anti-theft protection systems in place. Data security, data protection and anti-theft protection are important elements in our research and development activities. The development of protection and safety mechanisms is continued over the entire life cycle of our cars. When enhancing our protective mechanisms, I can assure you that we take into account the latest knowledge about criminal methods and attacks on security systems. To offer further assurances, all our cars undergo strict development and investigation to ensure they meet the relevant insurance requirements and EU Regulations. Preventative actions are now available, For example, on our latest cars we now offer our customers the option of deactivating the radio signal with two clicks of the key in order to prevent abuse.

As I am sure you can appreciate, this technology is available throughout the motor industry and we cannot guarantee that criminals may try to gain entry and therefore cannot be held responsible for the actions of criminals. Please rest assured, we are continuing to work with the relevant authorities to continue to improve the security and safety of our customers.


Kind Regards

Joe Reeves

General Sales Manager
Mercedes Benz Brooklands
Brooklands Drive
Weybridge
Surrey
KT13 0SL

Tel: 01932 373000
Mobile:07766696980
 
What do you expect them to say? They would never make a comment that could lead them to be liable for vehicle thefts. Their position is no different from any other manufacturer.

Whether your car hoad the double click deactivation is irrelevant if you didn't use it. It would be detailed in the owner's handbook.
 
I don't have my C200 anymore. It was never recovered so couldn't test their claim. I have no reason to doubt that this new functinality would work on newer cars. my car was a 65 plate and less than 2 years old.

It's all well and good making changes to the locking system but doesn't a manufacturer owe it to the customer to tell them to keep their keys safe?

I wasn't made aware of the risks of keyless entry and couldn't make an informed decision about whether to take out gap insurance. At the end of the day i was thinking like the other forum member about the car being writtem off in an accident.

I am annoyed and frustrated as the police told me 100s of cars are stolen like this each week and manufacturers are not doing enough to warn customers and make enhancements to security systems.

For premium vehhcles it shouldn't be that easy to steel them.
 
I don't have my C200 anymore. It was never recovered so couldn't test their claim. I have no reason to doubt that this new functinality would work on newer cars. my car was a 65 plate and less than 2 years old.

It's all well and good making changes to the locking system but doesn't a manufacturer owe it to the customer to tell them to keep their keys safe?

I wasn't made aware of the risks of keyless entry and couldn't make an informed decision about whether to take out gap insurance. At the end of the day i was thinking like the other forum member about the car being writtem off in an accident.

I am annoyed and frustrated as the police told me 100s of cars are stolen like this each week and manufacturers are not doing enough to warn customers and make enhancements to security systems.

For premium vehhcles it shouldn't be that easy to steel them.

With respect, do you really need to be told to keep your keys safe regardless of which type of key it may be?

Taking out GAP insurance or not surely was not contingent on the potential for the car to be easily stolen? Although as stated, GAP insurance is usually a limited product in terms of the time it covers.
 
I wouldn't vent to much at car manufacturers. They obviously do the best they can, with the technology available at the time. But, a thief is still a thief. Maybe vent more at the Courts for the pathetic sentences given to car thives, or the lack of interest police forces have in following up car thefts. And £100k cars get nicked like this as well, all the time.

My choice about theft actually was referring to having a tracker fitted to my car or not. As someone else said on this very forum, what would you like? Your car back which may have been ruined by some oily snot driving it like the clappers for days before it was recovered, when Tracker managed to locate it, or the cost of Gap Insurance?

So, I went for Gap Insurance.
 
That's awful to have a car stolen and then lose so much money on a claim.

We buy new cars in the knowledge that a steep depreciation is normal.

Not much use to you now but should you get another new car forget GAP and insure through the police scheme as with new cars you get 2 years in which should you be unfortunate enough to suffer total loss a new car like for like is supplied.

Other insurers may do this but I'm not sure.

Robin


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
I am sorry to hear of the theft but I do not understand how you have "lost" £12,000?

The car was 16 months old when stolen and would have depreciated by quite a margin, I believe that GAP insurance normally covers a total loss in the first 12 months of ownership.

Did you look at the price of comparative vehicles before accepting the insurance payment?

There are a few different types of gap insurance, the best one is "back to invoice value". I have this version on a 3 year policy.
 
What frustrates me is that I went back to Brooklands to see if i could order another car and was told that my case is very rare and they haven't seen it before.

I have read the press and spoken to police and there seems to be a wide disparity between what is happening in the real world and what Mercedes staff are allowed to say.

it looks like they are muzzled just in case they say the wrong thing.
 
This method of theft has been well documented lately on many forums & the main news. I've two cars with keyless go & bought "faraday pouches" from e bay to keep the keys in when at home.

With the keys in the pouches I can stand next to the car and it will not open, so no one is getting a signal from my keys by standing outside the house with a laptop. If they want to break in for the keys, there are two dogs here before they get anywhere near the keys.

Russ
 
What frustrates me is that I went back to Brooklands to see if i could order another car and was told that my case is very rare and they haven't seen it before.

I have read the press and spoken to police and there seems to be a wide disparity between what is happening in the real world and what Mercedes staff are allowed to say.

it looks like they are muzzled just in case they say the wrong thing.

This is common practice at Merc dealers where they simply deny any responsibility for anything. Usually it's to do with recurring faults where the reply is along the lines of..."never heard of that happening before guv".
 
I posted on the forum about buying Mrs M a BMW X5 4.8is to find that we could not insure unless we spent a small fortune on a variety of additional security devices including an "active" tracker, additional steering lock, car garaged when at home - the list went on. My insurer advised that BMW X5's and Range Rovers are now the most stolen vehicles in the UK with most never seen again. hey are stolen to order by well organised gangs with access to the latest technology that keeps them one step behind the manufacturer but several steps in front of the Police.

I repeat. Do not be tempted to try hiding the keys in your home. These people are there for your car and not you. Should you get between them and their target, they are unlikely to simply turn and run off. Remember it is not one opportunist guy, they are usually well teamed up and prepared for you putting up a fight.
 
Here is the other discussion thread on this subject in 2015.

AMG theft - recent rise in keyless theft around the UK - Page 2 - MBClub UK - Bringing together Mercedes Enthusiasts

As i said I have an open compliant with MB Retail Group and I am going to raise my concerns about selling practices to the motoring ombudsman. Mercedes have been aware of this problem for a while now.

At the end of day the manaufacturer is interested in selling as many cars as possible. When a customer has a concern about security of a premium vehicle and the selling practises we are not taken seriously.

They don't care about customers.
 
"Preventative actions are now available, For example, on our latest cars we now offer our customers the option of deactivating the radio signal with two clicks of the key in order to prevent abuse."

Your car might well have this, mine, which was bought in 2015 has it. It really isn't a function of the car, it is a function of the key.

However, unless you know of the issue, why would anyone think of deactivating the functionality ?

This theft is known about and involves amplfying the keyless (not the regular remote opening/closing) functionality by using a booster. I bought a £8 protective pouch on eBay, which my keys go into an night, which solves the issue for me.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/222043788555?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
is the one I bought

This thread has a video, showing it happening.
https://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/general-discussion/223403-keyless-car-theft-how-its-done.html


 
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