Why OBD systems can be a double-edged sword

toy car and keyTechnology – love it or hate it – affects almost every aspect of our lives, and the cars we drive are no exception. Of course, you might be the proud owner of a classic car which was built in the days before OBD systems, but the average motorist’s vehicle contains a wealth of sophisticated electronic wizardry.

At the heart of your car’s electronics is the OBD – the onboard diagnostics system. The OBD has a multitude of functions. If your car develops a fault, the OBD pin-points the problem saving your mechanic hours of time trying to identify the cause. And of course, when it comes to car repair bills – that’s saving you money too!

But the OBD also controls your vehicle’s security and that is becoming a significant problem. Nowadays, what’s known as ‘keyless car theft’ is big business with premium cars being at great risk and frequently stolen to order.

While you might think all this technology should make theft harder, as cars get more sophisticated, so do the thieves who target them. It’s not long ago that a high percentage of car theft was attributed to joy-riders. They’d break into a car, hot wire it, take it for spin and when they’d had enough, abandon it for the police or the owner to retrieve, often the worse for wear.

But while OBD systems have put paid to joy-riding theft, it has opened the door to a whole new breed of sophisticated car criminals. Using readily available and low cost electronic devices, your car could be broken into and stolen in less than 60 seconds. Hardly surprising then that around 300,000 cars are stolen in the UK alone each year.

OBD Blockers preventing car theft

So how can you prevent your car being stolen? A simple and cost-effective way to prevent keyless car theft is to install an OBD blocker. This electronic device prevents thieves from tampering with your onboard diagnostics system. The system works as normal carrying out its diagnostic task, but requires activation with a secure tag before it can be accessed. Want to know more about these ingenious devices? Why not watch this informational video on YouTube.

For less than the cost of the average insurance excess premium, you can buy and install an OBD Blocker. With distributors across the UK and authorised installers like LMI, you can fight back against car crime and help make sure it doesn’t happen to you.

Picture Credit: 123RF