New rumor - Ford going away from key fobs and returning to physical keys

13MikeH

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Call me a 1st world problem diva but one of the must haves on when looking for a new vehicle was to not have to remove my keys from my purse. Love this feature and luckily, we don't have a huge problem with theft around here so not too much to worry about.
Nah I think most people love this feature/tech. Just have to be aware of risk. Bottom line...they want it they WILL take it. The metal key, just hotwire it. Criminals will always work harder to do wrong rather than be....you know...productive instead
 

Bronco II

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I don't like the Ideal I have a key for my 2019 Ranger and I hate it. The damn thing is always popping open in my pocket and I'm afraid it's going to get bent. Press button start is the one feature I miss the most from my 2013 Escape.
 

Rumanchoo

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In this instance, old late 1980's tech of "The Club" works just fine against a "high tech" thief.
Ford Bronco Sport New rumor - Ford going away from key fobs and returning to physical keys Screenshot_20210718-114142-491
Saw a guy outside my house in the 90’s break one off of an 80’s Buick Regal in approximately 2 minutes. Didn’t even realize it wasn’t my neighbor until the next morning. The device will only slow them down a little but certainly may be a great option for those that don’t want to take the extra time, effort and make a little noise.
 


magicbus

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Living on an island we don't have a whole lot of car stealing going on and so, unless my wife informs me her wallet is in the console, we rarely lock our cars :sunglasses:. In the winter the police would catch it at the ferry, and in the summer the thief couldn't get a boat reservation to get off!
 

ZeroCool

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Saw a guy outside my house in the 90’s break one off of an 80’s Buick Regal in approximately 2 minutes. Didn’t even realize it wasn’t my neighbor until the next morning. The device will only slow them down a little but certainly may be a great option for those that don’t want to take the extra time, effort and make a little noise.
Yeah my grandparents used to have that. May not have deterred a pro, but could cause an amateur to move on to a vehicle without it. They had a 1994 silverado and traveled with a camper half the year. They always used that thing. I think they look funny.

Penguin even hacked the batmobile in batman returns. None of us are safe if they got batman.

Ford Bronco Sport New rumor - Ford going away from key fobs and returning to physical keys FD6B6798-B374-46EC-90E5-90967635C8B4
 

afizzzzz

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would kill for this, honey I blew up my keys with this gigantic fob. Been living in the past with my regular-degular 2000 Ranger key and would love to return to that standard.


lol
Penguin even hacked the batmobile in batman returns. None of us are safe if they got batman.

Ford Bronco Sport New rumor - Ford going away from key fobs and returning to physical keys fd6b6798-b374-46ec-90e5-90967635c8b4-jpe
 

Tom 5778

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You'd be surprised...local problem is now people showing up and removing parts. The most recent, a driver door from a brand new dodge ram. Picked the lock, removed the door, clipped the wires. A motivated criminal stops at nothing
Not a recent trend. Over 25 years ago we had someone remove the turn signal assembly from my wife’s Honda Accord. They left the lens on the ground with the screws neatly placed inside the lens. Dealer said it happens all the time. In the same timeframe, the doors off my neighbor’s Jeep were stolen when they came for them three night in a row. The neighbor managed to stop them (car alarm was blaring) the first two nights. Too slow on the third.
 

PugDad

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Locks and security measures are only for honest people.
Thieves live by the motto “what’s yours will soon be mine.”
 


coopny

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IMO, I prefer prox fobs, but let's consider the scenarios of theft.

Prox fobs unlocks the door - this is a huge convenience to not get the keys out to unlock them. The con is that if a thief amplifies the signal of the remote, they can get the code from the fob to unlock the door and enter your car, and take any items of value. I haven't heard of this occuring where I live, but I've been warned by relatives who are in relatively dense suburbia (walkable sidewalks, but a lot of separation between residential and commercial means a car is practically a necessary) in NJ that people take advantage of this, and when I visit them they have a key holder box that is effectively a faraday cage.

The same attack in most cars with prox fobs, as most cars with prox to unlock/lock door fobs are also push button start. The car can be started with an amplification attack, and will drive even when the key loses signal. The problem of course becomes that once you're out of range and you want to ever stop the engine, you won't be able to start it again. 2016 onwards US Fords use an incode/outcode system for programming new keys that hasn't been cracked and requires dealer access to FordETIS, meaning even if a crook got valid access to FordETIS, they're now logging into a system that's logging them making keys for cars that would be reported stolen at some point (either before the key is made or shortly after).

If you eliminate proximity and go back to metal keys, you at least would have to find a locksmith to break into cars, which would require substantially more effort for a low skilled attacker (they would have to have the knowledge on how to measure the key bitting from the cylinder, or to lockpick it, assuming a competent ignition cylinder design [Unlike Kia/Hyundai...]; Ford's newer keys are also laser cut, which many locksmiths and dealers don't even have [dealers that don't have the key cutting machine would order the keys pre-cut from Rotunda.])

However, none of this has ever completely stopped car theft, and indeed, if the goal is parting the car, there is now a keyless form of car theft- CAN Injection. The article details how such devices are offered for multiple brands on the Darkweb, and highlights an example where a car (a Toyota, bear in mind that the article does say they are not the only automaker impacted) in the UK was hijacked without any key at all... how, you might ask?

To try to condense a boring long technical explanation... your car has many communication buses that it uses to communicate with different modules - engine control, your radio, the ignition, etc... modern cars are so wired and communicating that headlights are no longer just a few simple power wires, the headlights actually communicate data to and from other modules in the car. The attack essentially defaced a headlight (tearing it out, slightly destructively, but not anything that looks too different from a minor parking lot mishap and doesn't set off the alarm) to get access to its wiring. From there, the "black box" spams tons of garbage data, until the ignition control notices a key start signal from the wrong bus [headlights and ignition aren't on the same bus]. The ignition assumes with the garbage data it's a huge amount of electrical interference, and allows the door unlock/ignition start. Keyless car theft.

-------------------------------

Anyways - if the OP rumor is true and Ford is axing prox fobs for chips, these are special purpose chips that they buy from third party vendors, they can't just use the chips they were going to put into keyfobs for window switches or something. Most likely it would be to mitigate a supply constraint and that would be segmented by vehicle make (more expensive vehicles preferred) and trim (more expensive trims preferred for prox fobs). Things like liftgate sensors that are foot near tailgate activated and proximity unlock/push button start are viewed as more luxurious and convenient by consumers...
 

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I prefer the trunk monkey.

 

Goinbroke2

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On my mustang I put a quick disconnect on the battery , takes a second to relearn while I’m driving but I’m good with that.
 

Bronclahoma

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I guess specifically in my area the dodge brand is the big target/easier to enter but your point is valid unquestionably.

If cars must be kept outside the easiest fix is keep keys in RFID shielded box or sleeve. They actually make fabric pretty cheap. Thieves can even steal the code staked out in a parking lot. So long as your FOB is in proximity of their device and your car it's gone in 60 seconds. Brand irrelevant
Or if you must park outside, just use an old-fashioned club that locks the steering wheel. The number one crime in most communities now is carhopping. Night time thieves that search for unlocked cars and just take what's inside. More and more though they are breaking windows. Amazing how many people leave valuables, even guns, in their cars.

These code thieves can target you because of your ride and just walk up behind you while you are shopping and steal your code and vehicle.

I haven't followed the Kia debacle about how easy their cars are to steal. But, a group of insurance companies have a lawsuit against them. I'd like to see technology and convenience stay ahead of the thieves, but physical keys are a potential solution.
 

13MikeH

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On my mustang I put a quick disconnect on the battery , takes a second to relearn while I’m driving but I’m good with that.
I'd say if you lived in a high theft area probably well worth it. My son is at the Warren Ram plant. You can't have a charger on the lot. It's gone before you leave work.
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