What's it for?

[Haldex]

Car thefts in France are not nearly as common as in UK. Plus I live in an apartment building - our cars are 5 storeys below, in an underground garage- so I never used a faraday block. But I've seen here on the forum someone posted a motion-sensitive add-on (inserts below the battery..) which disables the key when not moving- quite an elegant trick.

KeithR56: I sold my last Volvo at 4 yrs old with the activity key still working - so the battery ain't that bad actually- but yeah, once it dies - you either replace it or you splice it open and replace the cell.

[Lancee]

Originally Posted by Lancee

You'll never find out what it's for from this forum now !

!!!!!!!

[SnineT]

Originally Posted by KeithR56

It’s a sealed waterproof key, so no way to change the battery without breaking it open and getting the soldering iron out. For most people this would mean that the key will only last as long as the battery. I might be wrong, but I don’t think they had motion technology either.

Its not that hard as long as you take it easy, I did mine and the worst part of it is it ended up needing insulating tape to keep it together as I wanted to retain the open factor as cells only last 2 years on average so I could re-cell it again later, this resulted in mixed results so I ended up zip tying it which for me wasn't an issue as it was riding along in it's own rfid case anyway, you do lose the clean aesthetics and waterproof factors but if it's hiding away in a rfid box and you aren't going swimming its not an issue.

[KeithR56]

I could never work out where you're supposed to keep the activity key if you're skinny dipping.

On the subject of Faraday boxes: My Niece had been keeping her Mercedes key in a box overnight. The thieves, who were prevented from using a relay to steal her car, broke in through her front door instead and ransacked her house looking for the key whilst she was asleep upstairs in bed. A bonus for the thieves because they not only got her car, but helped themselves to her handbag, cards and laptop too.

I'd much rather have my car stolen from outside my house than having my house broken into. If you're using a Faraday box, maybe you'll get lucky and they'll move on to your neighbour's house. But what happens when everyone in your street has a Faraday box? They're not going to hang up their boots and call it a day.

[S90]

Yeah thieves have balls!! My friend had his A6 stolen in Birmingham, broke in, stole keys, cards etc.

Utter scum!!

[ushes]

I find the little cubby is perfect for my sunglasses, lenses fit in nicely with the arms just hanging over the edge. Problem is the car's new to me and I can never remember where I put them!!!

[SnineT]

Originally Posted by KeithR56

I could never work out where you're supposed to keep the activity key if you're skinny dipping.

Surfboard for Mr Winky

[Caradoc1]

Trebor Extra Strong Mints

[Simmy]

Originally Posted by S90

Yeah thieves have balls!! My friend had his A6 stolen in Birmingham, broke in, stole keys, cards etc.

Utter scum!!

not balls they are just running on a mixture of cocaine and booze and dont care because they cant think logically

[KeithR56]

they are just running on a mixture of cocaine and booze and dont care because they cant think logically

They may well be on drugs, but if what I’ve read is true, the thefts are far from illogical. It is said to be run by international organised crime and the gangs that do the stealing are reportedly given a “shopping list”. It is said that they can be paid as much as £2k for premium cars and some gangs boast of stealing up to 95 cars in a “good” week. For a tax free income of up to £195k per week they’re going to be a pretty determined bunch. All of this MUST be true because I read it in the Daily Mail

The only good news is that in figures recently released by the DVLA, no Volvos are in the top 15 most stolen cars in the UK. That either means Volvo security is very good, or the thieves aren’t targeting them.