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Not sure if this is becoming an issue here in the US but I was reading on another forum about guys having their Audi's stolen in a very short amount of time. Apparently thieves have a hacking tool that they are plugging into the OBD2 port and disabling the alarm / cloning a key with a few min. Might be a worthwhile investment.
I would think a simple cordless cutoff wheel would make short work of this.
The bottom line is if they want your car they will take it. This device stops/slows those who will break a window to gain physical access to the car. If they're sophisticated enough to use a key cloner they'll probably be able to just tow the car.
There is some use for that, though not so much what you mention in my opinion.
The reason to lock out the OBDII these days may have more to do with ins. co's. Insurance companies are absolutely not your friends on stuff around this. An insurance investigator in an accident or fault question scenario will have pretty easy access to most cars at body shops or even your own front yard if you aren't savvy. Ditto with LEO's on scene. Most vehicles now have event data recorders (EDR's) and if so they can access w/ right tools. Audi is actually a laggard here, which I prefer. But estimates are now up to 99% of new vehicles sold have some EDR capability.
My own position is it takes or should take a warrant if someone wants it and I don't want to consent. But leave the port unprotected and they are in and out of there in minutes, leaving the lawyers to duke it out after horse was stolen from your barn back at step one.
Meantime, on theft the lowlife with any tech awareness (or awareness of their friends, suppliers, fences and the rest of the criminal element) are now able to basically remotely grab the signal from your keyless entry remote. That gets cloned effectively and then no need to force entry/break glass etc. Why the OBDII lock is much cruder, even assuming you could do it technically. Started getting noticed a few years ago. Old std. law enforcement response w/ out the veneer was dumb *** owner left car unlocked. But now with more security cameras around in neighborhoods, some have caught what was really going on. Most any keyless entry car is vulnerable, definitely including Audis. The manufacturers have variously been trying to deny it, trying to avoid news or other coverage, trying to upgrade the security form relatively crude levels without any recall or retrofit to old ones, and refusing to notify owners of the risks. Unfortunately the hardware needed for lowlifes to do this apparently has gone from hundreds of dollars to tens of dollars, and the clowns can get it in shadowy or even other places.
I would think a simple cordless cutoff wheel would make short work of this.
The bottom line is if they want your car they will take it. This device stops/slows those who will break a window to gain physical access to the car. If they're sophisticated enough to use a key cloner they'll probably be able to just tow the car.
While agreed conceptually, I doubt most lowlife are walking around with a cut off tool like this for the random OBDII or other plug. At least here in CA, at least the 80 watt or so lowlife apparently realize to only carry stuff with somewhat explainable other purposes to avoid charge enhancement or felonies. Sort of hard to explain a cut off tool in your pocket, though no doubt someone has tried.
See my other response though for why I think the issues are mostly different for both this OBDII thing, as well as how the cars--Audi's included--are being accessed due to tech. weaknesses left by manufacturers and their component suppliers.
If there was a way to clone a key, all these people looking for a cheap way to get an extra key would have one. Perhaps some of the older models could be compromised this way.
Another interesting article although not through the OBD port. On one of the U.K. S5 forums multiple member with new models posted about having their vehicles stolen.
There are some simple solutions to that kind of theft, but it's up to the manufacturer to implement them. Given how easy it is to engineer in a key verification system, I'm surprised they haven't. Seems like a kind of theft much more likely in a big city.
Fortunately statistically a D body Audi, at least the last two generations, is among the very, very low risk theft cars. I remember almost as a joke one year when D3 was still current, S8 showed up as a car with a high loss rate. Turned out, a grand total of...one...was stolen. Yep, one. On a denominator of like rounding error.
Much more likely are the A/S 4's and 5's, and probably the Q5 to come--variously where the chop shop and now eBay and CL type parts markets are in droves, plus the "kids" car profile. Even there, I can guess you would have to multiply the loss rate by several x to get to the notorious Hondas, a few Toyotas, some domestics and a lot of trucks. Hardly a market big picture for anything D body. Net, I don't lose much sleep over this, other than the attempted break in and body type damage. As more than a few low lifes may know, not so easy to break through Audi acoustic glass as it turns out either.
Not sure if this is becoming an issue here in the US but I was reading on another forum about guys having their Audi's stolen in a very short amount of time. Apparently thieves have a hacking tool that they are plugging into the OBD2 port and disabling the alarm / cloning a key with a few min. Might be a worthwhile investment.
06-05-2017, 12:49 PM
OBD Locking Device
