Unlock Your Car via Cell Phone ???

[Ed Csoltko]

I just got this email and was wondering if anyone knows it to be true?

If you have keyless entry on your car and you lock you keys in the car...and IF someone is at home where the "other set of keys" is....

If you lock your keys in the car. For those of you who have a car that can be unlocked by that remote button on your key ring: If you lock your keys in the car and the spare keys are home, and you don't have "OnStar," here's your answer to the problem!

If some one has access to the spare remote at your home, call them on your cell phone (or borrow one from someone if the cell phone is locked in the car too!)

Hold your (or anyone's) cell phone about a foot from your car door and have the other person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near the phone on their end.

Your car will unlock. Saves someone from having to drive your keys to you. Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away, and if you can reach someone who has the other "remote" for your car, you can unlock
the doors (or the trunk, or have the "horn" signal go off, or whatever!)


(Editor's Note * It works fine! We tried it out and it unlocked our car over a cell phone.)

[james-w]

Sounds like another internet hoax.

James

[mustangmendez]

Ed what are you drinking ??????

If not true Cobra Dude can make one ....
T

[mr0077]

Hoax...see this link
http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/keyless.asp

[Jim Kellogg]

Tried it at work.... (I am a Service Manager at a Toyota Dealership) with my Master Technician.

Nice idea, but it DOES NOT work. In theory, it "could" work, as we are dealing with RF signal from the transmitor. Anything that would change the frequency of the signal would cause it not to work - and there are many ways that the signal could get corrupted in the process.

I wouldn't be surprised if it worked once in a great while, but I wouldn't publish this as a "tech tip".

Jim Kellogg 887
Elmira, NY

[mr0077]

Won't work. Cell phones send audio signals and the remote sends RF signals...cell phone 1 near the distant remote can't receive or convert the RF signal, only audio, so it can't be transmitted to the cell phone 2 by the locked car, and even if it was, it couldn't be converted there to RF and then transmitted from phone 2 to unlock the door.

But Jim, have you run into this one?
http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/vin.asp

[wizard]

Totally Impossible.
The unlocking "code" is modulated onto a Radio Frequency carrier which is transmitted to a receiver in the vehicle. The cell phone is designed to pick up only audio frequencies and reject other RF frequencies which could and would disrupt it's operation.
If the unlocking mechanism is infared (my wife's 95 SL), it's point and shoot like a TV remote and again, a signal not capable of modulating a cell phone.
I suppose it's theoretically possible if the unlocking remote uses straight audio frequencies but I know of no such animal.
Who starts these things, anyway?

[mylesdw]

You CAN get an alarm/tracking system that does this. You lock your keys in the car, give the central monitoring station a call, give your security details and they unlock the car remotely.

[Turk]

Maybe it works in a Toyota once in a while...It is NOT even a nice joke, much less a "nice idea"..
Stick to oil changes, not RF signals..

I should know. I am a General Manager in a Chevy dealership..
I hope your guys are NOT on flat rate..
This wasn't one of your drivability techs who actually ran the test, was it?

[EarlsflyinCobra]

It really works, "BUT" you must be standing on your head at the rear of the vehicle and the person on the other end must be wearing a hat, made of tinfoil, and have one foot in a "metal" bath or wash tub. Really, try it, you'll see, it works. he-he

[Ron61]

Ed,

Why not avoid all this and just not lock the keys in the car in the first place?

Ron

[Jim Kellogg]

Hi, Turk

Hey, lighten up a little

Must be the fact we omitted the tinfoil hat is why it doesn't work on Toyotas......

Yep, we are a flat rate shop, but also try to mix some "fun" in with the work!! After 25+ years as Service & Parts Director over 6 GM franchises, multiple stores, (including Chevy), I am now working at a single line Toyota store. Having much more fun (less stress) at work now. The SPF is icing on the cake.

Can't wait for a day with clear roads to get out for a winter drive with the SPF. Been snow on the roads the last week

best regards,
Jim Kellogg 887
Elmira, NY

[Jim Kellogg]

Ken,

Most manufacturers have very rigid conditions that a dealer must follow (and document) before a duplicate key will be cut from code. Over the last several years, the auto manufacturers have made it very clear to the dealer body that the dealership is held responsible to make sure the vehicle and ownership has been verified before a duplicate key is cut. The liability falls on the dealership if a code cut key is given to a non-owner.

It is very difficult to establish ownership - there may be a very recent husband/wife split, for example and the other party is looking for keys... and on and on.

I think you would find it pretty difficult to get a set of code cut keys from a dealership for your own vehicle these days....

In addition, most newer vehicles use a "chip" in the key that must be programed to the vehicle computer in order to actually "start" the vehicle. The code cut key will open a door, turn the vehicle over, but will not start.

As the snopes reference says, most thieves will not bother going that route any more.
http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/vin.asp

take care,
Jim Kellogg
Elmira, NY

[mr0077]

Yeah, Jim, I agree, it isn't likely to happen to private vehicles. Years ago (late 80s-early 90s) I went one for two, had two occasions to ask for a code-cut key, the Buick dealer gave me a key for my Pontiac, no questions but how much...later the Chev dealer asked for proof of ownership...actually a comforting thought.
Later
Ken