What to do If Your Car Keys Are Stolen

Ok, so now you’ve realized that your keys are missing. You were shopping at the local shopping center and figure that you probably dropped it somewhere. You retrace your steps through the shopping center but find nothing. That is until you realize that when you were paying for your things someone walked past you and “accidently” pushed you. It seemed like nothing at the time but you know now that the dodgy person probably stole your keys. You note that everything else is still there, your car is still there. What should you do now?

The worst thing is that you realize that that dodgy individual probably knows where your car is now since you showed it to him by walking up to it. You can’t possible leave your car now? He might just run up to it and steal it if you leave the scene. So, you call your spouse to come down with the spare set of keys immediately. You drive home still worried. What happens if the dodgy individual follows you home? So now he knows where you live and also can have free access to the car too. It looks like it’s all going downhill.

Here is an important motto from the vehicle theft department of the police: “If a thief wants to steal your car, he/she can usually find a way to do it”. Quite grim but it’s a fact that we can’t deny. Your job is to make it very hard for him/her to steal so he will drop your case and move on to the next victim. You have to make it so it’s not worth his/her time.

The first thing you have to do, even before you go down to the cops to lodge a report is to drive down to the your dealership to look at the different options that you have. Be sure to have someone look after your car while it’s outside. Most car thieves are non confrontational so will not try to steal your car when there is someone in it or looking after it. If your car is an older model then you might not have any choice but to change the locks and ignition barrel of your car. This can be quite an expensive exercise so be ready. Newer cars have electronic immobilizers which can be re-sequenced so that the thief’s set of keys won’t work anymore. This is by far a cheaper option and is the preferred way to approach this problem.

Car theft is a huge problem and car manufacturers know this. Cars are coming with increasingly elaborate security systems that sometimes can be quite annoying for the car owner. For most owners, they will only fully appreciate the security system when it successfully stops a thief from taking away their car. Most new cars, even the lower spec models will come with chips that contain a 32 bit code. Along with the key, this 32 bit code must also be supplied before the car will start. Even if you have the key, all you will get is a drained battery as the computer in the car will refuse to start without this 32 bit code.

What happens is when you insert the key into the ignition barrel, a 32 bit code is immediately sent to the computer to verify that it is indeed the correct key that is used. The computer will immediately allow the car to be started when the owner turns the key to start the engine.

Ok, let’s say that your keys were stolen at night. You can’t go to the dealership at night and expect them to re-program or re-fit the cars locks. You’ll have to wait until the morning to get it done. The best thing you can do now is to drive the vehicle to the police station, lodge your report and ask the police to keep an eye out for your car overnight. This has proven to be quite safe as the thieves rarely want to do something so blatant as to steal a car under the watchful eye of the police. In the worst case scenario where you live in a small town and your cops don’t run a 24 hour shift, you should park your car at home, take the battery out of the car and also take one of the driving wheels off. Take the battery and tires to your friend’s house for safe keeping overnight. This is one way to really put a wrench in the works. Most thieves will not go so far as to get batteries or tires just to steal the car.

Remember, the best defense is prevention. Be very careful where you put your keys and try to your very best to not have your keys stolen. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If you are unfortunate enough for this to happen to you then you need to make things as difficult for the thief as possible. They will use their common sense and move on to easier targets.