Interesting...

[john james]

By being a very sensible approach and ignoring those like you who don?t like it.

[Bob Eager]

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They only fold when the doors lock. Unless manually retracted (which is rare, and in any case it's watching them fold that reassures me).

[Jethro_uk]

A few years ago a friends boss bought a top-end Merc. Quite a sporty little number apparently. Had all the top-end security devices, including some kick-ass immobiliser. They lived a little in the sticks.

Apparently, 4am one Sunday, fellow (and wife) awake to a strange noise. They look out the window and see said Mercedes disappearing into the distance on the back of a flat bed. Never found again. Apparently the chap was under the illusion the car could be found again ... highly improbable. It was probably packed into a hundred separate boxes and shipped abroad for spares (worth more than the car intact) before the police had finished their coffee.

[Tim+]

Breaking news! Not all cars are the same.

Tim

[fred]

We hired a Renault out of Marco Polo airport one time which had this featur e. BEing a rental there were no instructions. My wife is anal about locking cars. She kept asking " Are you sure it is locked " and when I went back t o check it unlocked itself. Drove me bananas until the penny dropped. Blood y stupid idea, BMW method is much simpler

[fred]

If I hold the button on the fob in for a few seconds it folds in the wing m irrors which I take as confirmation. Which it really isn't as it will do th is if one door is half cocked but the act of looking back to see if they ha ve folded in allows me to check the indicator flash signal.

[Scion]

Tim+ put finger to keyboard:

That seems to be a very easy way for a scrote to tell if your car is unlocked without having to try the door - or even having to approach the car.

[Martin Bonner]

No. They fold when the ECU has sent the signal to the door locks to close. If the locks are broken in some way, I bet the wing mirrors will fold anyway.

If you trust the locks not to be broken, then the wing mirrors are an excellent signal. If you want to check that the locks are

*actually* locked, the only way to do it, is to pull on the door handle.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Ah - but are you sure they have all operated? ;-)

[cl]

Our local paper recently published some local crime stattistics which included the following gem:-

25% of the vehicles from which valuables were stolen had been left unlocked.

Which sort of might seem to imply that it's better to leave your car unlocked. If you analyse it properly it says nothing at all about whether it's a good idea or not to leave your car locked.

In general I hate having to secure things, it's a *huge* waste of my time. Too many times failed security systems have spoilt my day. Also, as my son says, in the case of the car, if you leave it unlocked at least you don't (usually) suffer from smashed windows. He always leaves his unlocked (though immobilised).

[cl]

Exactly! (See my other post above)

Another good (when relating it later) problem with some is that you can drive the car off without having the 'key' with you. My F-I-L did this with a Nissan Micra. His wife came to see him off, she happened to have the key in her pocket so F-I-L jumped in, started car and drove off. Arrived at destination, did the shopping and was stranded.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

However, I do hope people aren't relying on a locked car to prevent valuables being stolen from it. Windows are still made of glass. ;-)

What makes a car more difficult to steal is the immobiliser system - not the door locks. And nothing can prevent a car being stolen with a low loader.

[Chris J Dixon]

Why hasn't central locking for houses become the norm? It is just as hard to juggle shopping and stuff to unlock the house as it is with the car, and there would be no more "Did you remember to lock the back door?"

I guess it is all down to cost, but car makers clearly see it as a marketing point, whilst house builders don't. (1)

(1) I admit I am guessing this, since I have had no contact with house builders or their advertising.

Chris

[Tim Watts]

Cars are designed and the build process designed and monitored by engineers.

Houses are built by a random bunch of people and the bloke in overall charge is usually not an engineer.

[Tim Watts]

Perhaps one step down -

It would save me a lot of time if the front door had 2 lights outside:

Red - stuff is on/open/unlocked.

Yellow - main doors are locked

Green - Stuff is locked and there's no water flowing through the main incomer and key electrical circuits are off or drawing no significant power (ie cooker).

Obviously we do not let the burglars see the lights!

There are lots of ZWave door-closed detectors - I wonder if one could be modded to show a mortice lock bolt was thrown.

[Chris J Dixon]

And in a reversal of usual protocol, you can't take off on holiday unless you have three greens?

Chris

[Nightjar]

Over the years, much car security has been the result of the government telling the car industry that they will introduce legislation to mandate it unless the industry would like to adopt it as a voluntary code of practice instead.

You can get central house locking if you want it:

[Mike Barnes]

I obviously can't answer that question with any certainty because I don't go round the car trying all the doors every time I lock it. But sometimes the car gives two loud beeps and that indicates that a door isn't properly closed.

[Tim Streater]

Well the houses already exist, don't they. How about retrofitting central locking to a car that doesn't have it. Ever thought about that as an investment opportunity?

[Mike Barnes]

I imagine most manufacturers have thought that one through by now. Mine (three years old) gives loud warnings if the keys are removed from the car with the engine running.