Scott Austin's New Year's ski vacation was going great, until he got locked out of his car.

The locksmiths he called said that they couldn't make a key for his Nissan Pathfinder and that he would need to tow the car to a Nissan dealership. Unfortunately, dealerships in the area were closed for the holiday. The 26-year-old wound up getting his best friend to drive an eight-hour round trip to bring him an extra key from home.

"Being that it was New Year's weekend, he wasn't too happy about it," Austin said.

Such frustrating lockouts are a growing problem. Now that most new-car keys contain electronic chips, the car itself has to be programmed to accept new keys. But car makers increasingly are limiting locksmiths' access to the information needed to program vehicles and make new keys.

That means drivers might have no recourse at times when dealerships are not open, and getting a new key can cost hundreds of dollars, when towing and programming costs are added.

Car makers say that making key information more available would diminish the effectiveness of their antitheft systems. But with more dealer profit coming from service-and-parts departments than new-car sales, car makers also have an interest in directing consumers to their dealerships and to the roadside-assistance programs many car makers have launched.

Now, however, several states are moving to make it easier to get replacement car keys. A bill introduced in Maryland last month would require vehicle makers licensed in the state to set up a system by Jan. 1, 2008, to give auto owners and lessees 24-hour, seven-day-a-week access to information sufficient to make a key reproduction. Similar legislation is pending in Virginia, and recently was introduced in California.

Some new products try to solve the problem as well. Companies have come up with systems that enable drivers to unlock their cars with a Bluetooth device. In the low-tech zone, there are lockable "key vaults" to attach to cars' exteriors. And the locksmith industry has developed some tools to crack auto makers' codes.

While car makers oppose states' legislation, they recently have started working with the locksmith industry on another solution. A vehicle-security committee consisting of car makers and locksmiths, among others, is working on a system in which registered locksmiths who pay a fee and meet other criteria such as undergoing background checks could call or go online to obtain key information from car makers.

Today, the majority of new vehicles, and nearly all luxury cars, have sophisticated electronic key systems. According to Ward's Automotive Group, about 56 percent of domestic cars in model-year 2005 had antitheft ignition keys, up from about 44 percent of model-2004 cars.

Isn't a high fee and a serious bother part of the learning [punishment] process to be careful with your keys. I always carry a spare.

Car thieves are just mad and paid someone to sponser this right to easy work law. To become a locksmith and join their association is easy and inexpensive.

AZhitman wrote:Companies have come up with systems that enable drivers to unlock their cars with a Bluetooth device.

Now this is novel! Now that the OEM have a secure system, let's introduce an easily hackable, insecure technology for a back door!

Your luxury vehicle's security will be at the whim of every kiddie coder out there. Better be real nice on halloween or your car will be gone!

Great post, Greg. Sure do like my old tech. And I do always carry a spare when traveling.

maxnix wrote:Now this is novel! Now that the OEM have a secure system, let's introduce an easily hackable, insecure technology for a back door!

Your luxury vehicle's security will be at the whim of every kiddie coder out there. Better be real nice on halloween or your car will be gone!

Great post, Greg. Sure do like my old tech. And I do always carry a spare when traveling.

Yes, indeed!

I remember reading of some people who wrote software for their wirelessPDA to do exactly this. They cycled lots of testing to break some locks that were supposed to be used with wireless access. I forget whether it was bluetooth or 802.11!

Z

Im sure if that bluetooth thing gets big there will be programs for a cell phone to unlock the bluetooth thing! stealing cars couldn't be easier!

Everyone should learn where their fuel pump fuse is located..........or the hidden disco switch install.

I guess when they handed people the little credit card like card with the door keys in it they must have misplaced that too... I know it wont start the car, but at the end of the day if you lost your keys, you lost them! not having everyone know how to clone the keys is a good thing.

I also agree that the dealerships should have a way to get a key made at any time, and I thought that was possible with the roadside assistance package that comes with the car (or at least the upgraded one I paid for)...

anyways, its a small price to pay for the security...tk

Just so I'm clear, this isn't possible in the M right? The sales guy showed us how the doors wouldn't lock if the key was left inside... am I just misunderstanding the article?

just buy older cars

sean8564 wrote:just buy older cars

Ummm.. ok....