Your car can be hacked

[Assasin]

Imagine driving down the highway at 70 miles per hour, when suddenly the wheel turns hard right. You crash. And it was because someone hacked your car.

http://money.cnn.com/2014/06/01/tech...html?hpt=hp_t3

[Jangle]

I saw that in an episode of The Blacklist. The bad guy deployed the car's airbag which caused the driver to crash. Did anyone watch the Edward Snowden interview Special? He said what got to him was seeing how the agency was able to watch your every keystroke, backspace and pauses which is basically profiling your personality and your thought process. You are already profiled once you go on to any website, but the thought of someone sitting remotely and watching you and how your thoughts are created is scary.

[Bricktop]

if you don't have anything to hide you shouldn't be worried

[HL]

Took my car in for servicing.

After giving my key fob to the technician--he plugged it into a system that told him total milage among other diagnostic info.

He 'jokingly' said he could tell me where i was last night!!

[Islandman]

Everybody in the world has something to hide from someone else.

[Jangle]

yup. I have to take my car in to the dealer just to change the battery in my key fob (on the spare) so that they can re-program it. So each time I have to take both keys in at the same time. I learnt the hard way the first time I took just one in.

[Tilla]

yup. I have to take my car in to the dealer just to change the battery in my key fob (on the spare) so that they can re-program it. So each time I have to take both keys in at the same time. I learnt the hard way the first time I took just one in.

It is what you get for driving those expensive German cars. My likkle Ford, I pick up the battery at Walmart for $3, go home and change it myself and it does no require any reprograming.

[Gamma]

is not just expensive european cars .... had that problem with my sport trac (ford pick up) and the Ridgeline. i suspect it is the same with the nissan too...

[Tilla]

is not just expensive european cars .... had that problem with my sport trac (ford pick up) and the Ridgeline. i suspect it is the same with the nissan too...

That is funny as my Explorer and Fusion (both Fords) did not have that problem. The Explorer and your Sport Track were basically the same vehicles too (similar year or close from what I recall).

The only time I had to do a reprogram of the key fob is when I decided to buy a new fob for my Explorer, as the one I used everyday was going bad. So that the new one would work with the car, I had to put it through the programing steps. It then required the other fobs I intended to use with the vehicle to be reprogrammed at that time. The old fob I was replacing was not reprogrammed and therefore would no longer function after the programing steps were done on the ones which would see use.

I have owned Nissan and Toyota too that didn't have that problem you guys describe. Never owned a Honda, so I can't say about the Ridgeline.

Yes, you pop open the darn thing, identify the battery and purchase a replacement. Couldn't be easier. A battery change on these things should not require reprograming.

[Jangle]

I drive Nissan Maxima 2007. To replace one of those damn key fobs cost $250. The good thing is that I always service with the dealer so I get a lot of discounts and a key fob battery replacement comes at no charge (usually).

[Tilla]

When I had to replace the fob for my Explorer's (2004, which I no longer have), it was close to $36 I paid for the replacement at the dealer. I then followed the instructions in the owner's manual and did the reprogramming myself in about 10 minutes in my garage.

It is simple to do if one is prepared to read and follow instructions. I made a copy of the page on programming the new key fob so I would not have to bother with the full manual. The instructions basically walk you through doing certain steps within a certain time-frame to put the vehicle in programing mode. Once one fob is complete, it ask you to insert another in the ignition, etc, etc. Finally when done, you went through certain steps to go back to normal mode. At the end of that, all fobs programmed worked with the vehicle.

What I cannot fathom though is why when you change battery you need to reprogram your fob. That makes no sense as they have stopped designing modern day electronics like that. You can take out the battery from most electronics and they will maintain their memory for a certain period of time.

I think I can figure what might have happened. You guys wait until the battery in the fob is completely dead, then you go to make the change. In that respect, the built in memory in the electronics is gone as it went too long before replacing the battery. This is why your fob needed to be reprogrammed.

You can know when the battery is going before it is dead. You will notice that you may have to wait until you are almost at the car door before you can remotely open or close the door. If you change it at the first sign of "weak signal", then reprogramming should not be be needed and you should be able to pick up a replacement battery at Walmart or Radio Shack for a smalls. Just open the fob, write down the battery number, so you can know what to buy. Change the battery when you have the new replacement on hand and do not keep the battery out for longer than say 10 minutes. Otherwise, you could need to reprogram the fob.

[Rockman]

..and there is that problem of what you doing being misinterpreted.
Quite a few innocent peoole were killed because their activities(gathering and time) mirrors that of terrorists.Weddings,family get to gethers,business meetings etc.

[Time]

A friend of mine left her VW headlights on while were out of town. The car battery died and car could not be opened because it is keyless. That is when it hit me that this keyless thing has a major flaw. Should the door locks have a backup battery?

[Mosiah]

What is a fob?

[Tilla]

The plastic section on your ignition key that opens your car remotely.