Does your car have a keyless entry?

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SleazyRider

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Mine does, and it nearly cost me my Winchester Model 12, so please read and heed:
Just returned from a 2400-mile business trip from New York to Iowa and back, bringing along an unloaded and cased shotgun locked in the trunk of my car. If time permitted, I planned on shooting some clay birds at a range just outside Des Moines. ( It didn't.)
To avoid raising eyebrows by carrying a shotgun case through the lobby of the motels at which I stayed, I thought it best to leave the gun locked in the trunk of my car. So perhaps you can imagine my surprise when I walked out to my car one morning only to find that the trunk was wide open and---as I later deduced by the dew on the inside of the trunk lid---had been all night! Cripes, did somebody break into my car and grab my Model 12?
Imagine my relief when I found it safely stowed exactly where I had left it in the back of my trunk. Apparently, in my haste that previous evening, I carelessly tossed my car keys in with the other flotsam and jetsam in my travel bag, which depressed the button of my remote trunk opener, causing my trunk to pop open from the comfort of my second-floor room at the Holiday Inn Express. Miraculously, nobody touched a thing!
It is said that a wise man learns from his mistakes, but a wiser man learns from the mistakes of others. So learn from my mistake, and be careful with your keyless entry!
 
I have 4 vehicles with keyless entries and 3 of them are keyless starts. It doesnt matter what types of locks, none are secure. I could be accused of being extremely paranoid when it comes to traveling with firearms in which I do weekly. In my case I make it a point not to leave firearms in a vehicle if I leave them unattended. Bad things can happen as it doesnt take 30 seconds to break in and steal stuff from a car/truck.

When traveling I take firearms in the hotel/motel with me. Just last month I had a barreled action that I was doing some machine work on with me and had to overnight in a hotel, I placed in on top of my duffle and it spent the night with me.
 
dubbleA said:
I have 4 vehicles with keyless entries and 3 of them are keyless starts. It doesnt matter what types of locks, none are secure. I could be accused of being extremely paranoid when it comes to traveling with firearms in which I do weekly. In my case I make it a point not to leave firearms in a vehicle if I leave them unattended. Bad things can happen as it doesnt take 30 seconds to break in and steal stuff from a car/truck.

When traveling I take firearms in the hotel/motel with me. Just last month I had a barreled action that I was doing some machine work on with me and had to overnight in a hotel, I placed in on top of my duffle and it spent the night with me.
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Agreed.
 
One interesting feature of on my BMW is that if the trunk is "popped" with the key fob it merely is unlocked and doesn't rise up. If you do not open the trunk and drive off it relocks. So far it's been a good feature in that if you do pop the trunk inadvertantly the trunk lid does not lift up exposing it's contents.
 
The batteries are dead in my little thing. Turns out after 3 weeks of locking it manually... I kinda like it.
 
I had that problem with my trunk popping open so I unplugged it at the latch. Only a key can open it now.
 
Another down side to "keyless entry" devices is that there are now devices commonly available that allow a thief to "read" the code from your fob when you lock the vehicle and will allow them to unlock your car after you walk away. Of course no lock is totally secure and almost all car door locks can be picked by a 5th grader with a little training and practice. Anything that is valuable to you should not be left in a vehicle if you can help it.
 
Outside of New York and NJ, not many people will give you odd looks. NEVER leave a gun in a car.
 
Sometimes I have to leave my gun in my car so I have a nano vault under my seat. I always keep my car clean so any smash-n-grab punk don't see anything in there.
 
Mine are manual, I just don't feel like spending the money on a keyless conversion. I'd much rather buy holsters, magazines or ammo. ;)

Although I will say I have seen them deter odd fellows from people's cars. Some goblin/goblins hanging around your car? Hit the panic button and they scatter.
 
I have a belly band that I use when running. If I toss my keys in the tight pockets, I have to be wary of this.

Manual door locks were much simpler.
 
I've returned to my truck one morning at an overnight stay in the hospital to find all doors were unlocked, front windows rolled down, dew on the inside of the windshield!

Usually I have my AR stowed under the rear seat, fortunately even my $200 Raybans were sitting in the console. The front windows roll down when the unlock button is depressed for a few seconds.
 
I have never accidentally popped the trunk or unlocked my car, except if I pushed the wrong button (and then I was immediately aware of it and able to correct it). Well, there was one time I was driving a company van and popped the hood instead of taking off the parking brake (I don't know why they make me drive, me and cars are like Barny Fife and guns). But I never have had a button go off while in my pocket.
 
Another down side to "keyless entry" devices is that there are now devices commonly available that allow a thief to "read" the code from your fob when you lock the vehicle and will allow them to unlock your car after you walk away.
Click to expand...

They are all very long rolling code chips that change the actual code after every use (think like over 20 bits).

If you push the button enough times out of range you can lose code sync between the fob and the car and have to reset everything.

The code is around 40 bits long, and changes with every use.
The car is set up to find around 64-128 possible codes around the last code.

tat leaves gives about 2,000,000,000,000 codes for the next opening.

You are NOT going to find it in your lifetime, with all the computers in the world looking.
 
Never had that happen, but a good tale of caution. Luckily my trunk only rises up like a half inch when I pop it, so hopefully it wouldn't be readily apparent to a thief.

Outside of New York and NJ, not many people will give you odd looks. NEVER leave a gun in a car.
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Ya know, I hear some people talk about having a "trunk gun" and I always wonder about the wisdom of that. Seems like the odds of getting broken into and stolen outweigh any chance of actually needing it to save your life. But that's just me. Sometimes I HAVE to keep a few guns in my trunk though, if I am planning to go to the range after work, and my job has a no-guns policy. I still get nervous though, and park nearby and check on it from the window.
 
Skribs said:
I have never accidentally popped the trunk or unlocked my car ... I never have had a button go off while in my pocket.
Click to expand...
Nor have I ... until a few days ago. That is precisely the point of my post. Believe me, it can happen! Though I'm going to see about having it temporarily disabled for parking in questionable areas, I'll not leave a firearm in my trunk ever again.
 
There are actually fewer different keys to the car than you would believe.

Locksmiths cut every possible key code and make a set of keys up (usually fills about a 3 inch ring most of the way).

All they have to do is start trying till the find the correct one to open a car.

There are usually well under 200 key patterns for each model or keyway.
 
Brickeye, there's a difference between hardware keys and software keys.

Holden, the trunk gun is usually cheap, something that wouldn't be too big of a loss if the car gets stolen or broken into.
 
I haven't popped the trunk, but I HAVE set off the alarm a few times...ask Mrs. Foggy how many :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

actully, DON"T ask..her answer is nowhere near "the high road"
 
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