About 45 seconds.

[Lola's Mom]

Today I took Lola in for an oil change .... the service writer left my fob on the seat and shut the door ..... opps.

Before I could find OnStar in my contacts, my service tech had the door unlocked and my keys in his hand. He said he hated to show me how easy it was to break into my car ..... he had this square sort of thick vinyl thing that was attached to a tube ... he pushed the square btw the 2 pieces of driver side window molding ... 'pumped' air through the tube which in turn thickened the square which pushed the window out just far enough for him to insert a long (about 4 ft) hook-end stick down to the side of the car seat, pulled up, and voila! the door was open .... I SWEAR literally before I could make the call.

So ... this may not be news to all of you - but it sure was a wake-up call for me. Now I know how that 3rd row of seats got stolen out of the Escalade.

 

[richardyoo]

You can buy one too:

Pump Wedge - Auto Lockout Tool

and they probably had this hook

Long Reach Auto Opening Tool

Here's a youtube video demo'ing how it works:

How to Retrieve Keys Locked in a Car : Wedge Tool for Auto Lockouts - YouTube

 

[First Robin]

Today I took Lola in for an oil change .... the service writer left my fob on the seat and shut the door ..... opps.

Before I could find OnStar in my contacts, my service tech had the door unlocked and my keys in his hand. He said he hated to show me how easy it was to break into my car ..... he had this square sort of thick vinyl thing that was attached to a tube ... he pushed the square btw the 2 pieces of driver side window molding ... 'pumped' air through the tube which in turn thickened the square which pushed the window out just far enough for him to insert a long (about 4 ft) hook-end stick down to the side of the car seat, pulled up, and voila! the door was open .... I SWEAR literally before I could make the call.

So ... this may not be news to all of you - but it sure was a wake-up call for me. Now I know how that 3rd row of seats got stolen out of the Escalade. [/QUOTE

That sounds wierd, when I take "Little Bugger" in for service I just leave the fob in the cup holder so the tech can get in and start it up. No one, including me has ever been locked out when I do that.

 

[Lola's Mom]

That sounds wierd, when I take "Little Bugger" in for service I just leave the fob in the cup holder so the tech can get in and start it up. No one, including me has ever been locked out when I do that.

True Robert ..... the tech told the writer to always put the fob in the cupholder - the fob is out of reading range when slid to the back of the passenger side seat .... he also told the writer to never put the top down without the engine running .... I'm sure this was the writers first experience with an XLR.

 

[First Robin]

Thanks for posting the breaking in part. I always felt safe to leave things in the trunk at a motel overnight, guess I won't do that anymore. If they can get the door open then they can hit the switch to open the trunk. Will be changing my packing method for my trip next week.

 

[Lola's Mom]

That's exactly what I said to Ray! Honest to God .... if I had not witnessed that break-in I would never have believed it possible. I don't know why I don't know these things. Opening the trunk would be a piece of cake .... you can see that switch through the window. Yep - nothing of value will be in our trunks anymore .... on any car. We now have decided that when we travel we are going to leave the Escalade's seats at home .... this, of course, has to be how they got into our car. Way, way, way too simple.

 

[firstone]

Today I took Lola in for an oil change .... the service writer left my fob on the seat and shut the door ..... opps.

Before I could find OnStar in my contacts, my service tech had the door unlocked and my keys in his hand. He said he hated to show me how easy it was to break into my car ..... he had this square sort of thick vinyl thing that was attached to a tube ... he pushed the square btw the 2 pieces of driver side window molding ... 'pumped' air through the tube which in turn thickened the square which pushed the window out just far enough for him to insert a long (about 4 ft) hook-end stick down to the side of the car seat, pulled up, and voila! the door was open .... I SWEAR literally before I could make the call.

So ... this may not be news to all of you - but it sure was a wake-up call for me. Now I know how that 3rd row of seats got stolen out of the Escalade.

Check page 3-75 of your owners manual "Passive Locking" When this feature is engaged and you leave a transmitter in the car and shut the door, it won't lock. I leave this "on" all the time so I don't accidently lock my fob inside.

 

[hawkeye372]

Thanks for posting the breaking in part. I always felt safe to leave things in the trunk at a motel overnight, guess I won't do that anymore. If they can get the door open then they can hit the switch to open the trunk. Will be changing my packing method for my trip next week.

or you could always activate the valet switch from off to on in the trunk. During the hotel nights. just a thought. Yes it is kind of scary how they can get into the cars so easily. Talking about breaking in. hate to say it but did you hear the new way a thief can break into your house? I saw this in a email awhile back. a person stopped in at a rest stop and locked the car doors with the fob. (don't know what kind of car it was) but the fob transmits a signal right when you hit the lock button. a person was in another car and was able to find the signal using something to search for the signal. The crook used that signal to open the doors. search the nav system (non factory installed) and copy down the persons home address. They also copied what ever else personal stuff the car owner had.
So the moral of the story here is clear your nav from any "Home" locations that you have stored on it.

 

[BoughtTheXLR]

If the fob *isn't* in the car or in range, doesn't opening the door with the pull lever set off the alarm?

 

[BoughtTheXLR]

So the moral of the story here is clear your nav from any "Home" locations that you have stored on it.

Yeah, that'll work. As long as you have also securely locked away your registration card, insurance card, and any other piece of paper with your name and address...

Oh, and those of you who like to explore the bit about a thief capturing a transmitted code might like to see what snopes has to say:
snopes.com: Code Grabbers and Remote Keyless Entry

 

[hawkeye372]

Yeah, that'll work. As long as you have also securely locked away your registration card, insurance card, and any other piece of paper with your name and address...

Oh, and those of you who like to explore the bit about a thief capturing a transmitted code might like to see what snopes has to say:
snopes.com: Code Grabbers and Remote Keyless Entry

Very true. Thanks for sharing the link. We need to protect our priceless babies, Our irreplacable toys.