Someone broke into my car last week in downtown Vancouver, Canada and I actually didn't even notice it till I came back to Seattle (didn't drive much there).

Upon return I found that the security system of the car wasn't arming and the locking of the doors was a little messed up - on unlocking (using the remote) the driver side would unlock and then a few seconds later all the other doors would unlock automatically. And on locking, the doors would lock but the security system wouldn't arm.

I thought something might be wrong with the remote and tried using the key to lock/unlock and noticed the following - there were lots of scratches along the (metallic part of the) key hole and it was tilted to the side and the key wouldn't go in all the way through. I managed to turn it to a vertical position and the security system starting arming and the locking/unlocking behavior went back to normal.

This seems like a surprising weakness of the car, where the security system can be disabled by messing with the key hole (to make it think the car is unlocked). Once the security system is disabled any simple mechanism could have been used to get inside the car (I had a few things taken, but luckly nothing quite valuable). Seemed like a very professional job and they thief knew exactly what they were doing for the car.

 

Good thing you didn't lose anything and the car is not damaged. These guys must know something with the 2nd gen car.

 

Yes, they must know something about these second generation cars.

Any ideas what those things might be that make them so vunerable?

Thanks.

 

I gotta be careful where I park mine now after reading this ....

 

im really getting worried about all these 2gs getting broken into, and i live in toronto, i am so doomed

 

Actually I don't even know now what a safe place is to park in downtown Vancouver. I had parked in the underground parking at the Hyatt ($24 a day) thinking it would be a relatively safe place. Have been there many times before with no problems, maybe just got unlucky this time.

 

Not exactly a "professional" job. A pro job would be not leaving any marks. What they did was use an M key or hook and pincher to push the pins up and twist, with the M key being thin enough to pull out once it was set in a certain position. It's not a weakness limited to your car. This tricks the car into thinking that you're standing there with your key turned and holding it to unlock all the other doors. The same effect can be done with your actual key, turning it to unlock twice. This problem is inherent to the design of traditional locks and was taken care of when the keys with patterns drilled into them were introduced. Whomever did this to your car obviously had alot of time to do it without risk of being caught. Were you parked on a level that was relatively quiet?

~Cheers~

 

There were many cars parked at that level, and the car was very close to the elevators also.

I am just surprised how easy it was to disable/bypass the security system. Is it possible to get the newer keys (with the patterns drilled into them) in these 2nd generation cars?

 

^ To a passer-by, it would've looked like he was going into his own car. Anyhow, anything's possible, I've seen a soda machine type lock for one dude's daughter's ignition. I believe he was on the forum at one time, if not this one, another one I frequent. Her car was stolen 5 or 6 times, hehe.

~Cheers~

P.S. There are usually security cameras by the elevators. Are you sure none of them saw anything?