Immobilizer general discussion

jenkinskg · Post by **jenkinskg** » 19 Mar 2016, 08:05

I think there needs to be some legislation to force car companies to fully remove immobilizers at the request of the owner, an min cost.
And after a car hits 10 years old, give the ability for the owner to fully disable it.
It is an immense cost if you think about all the time and effort of people with all types and brands of cars the amount of money being spent on keys, chips , immobilizer repair, errors and codes, stuck on the road events, and just general problems with cars that have theft systems preventing their owners from using the cars.

There is no other product produced today that has a feature that cannot be removed that causes the product to become worthless.

Let me know what you think

My thoughts are, universal ECU, with adapter plugs, programmable to any number of cylinders, can be used to upgrade motors, replace motors, and fully remove any theft system at will.

PS78 · Post by **PS78** » 19 Mar 2016, 09:30

I agree with you on pretty much everything you stated. The trend seems to be more and more of the same with other companies following suit. Honestly it kind of comes down to the question, who really is the owner of the vehicle?

Post by **cn90** » 19 Mar 2016, 09:34

If the rest of the world is honest and doesn't steal, then there is no need for immobilizer.
The Immobilization system was invented b/c people steal!

I agree that the owner should be able to disable the system at his/her own wish.

Some car immobilization systems are very robust, lasting the life of the car, some other vehicles are just headache.

Post by **j-dawg** » 19 Mar 2016, 10:29

I used to own a Nissan Maxima, which was, for a time, a hot target for theft. The 99+ cars came with immobilizers. You can look up the stats on the NHTSA website - the 99 Maximae are stolen at about half the frequency (relative to production numbers) of the 98s.

Our cars are not such hot commodities, but the device certainly serves a purpose.

PS78 · Post by **PS78** » 19 Mar 2016, 11:17

I'm curious as to how the incorporation of android and apple products will affect theft considering their advertised abilities to control vehicle systems currently such as unlocking doors, starting engines etc. That convenience may very well become a weak security point. As for the transponder keys, there has been a good response from the aftermarket with duplication and programming for a pretty broad range of makes and models.