Land Rover / Range Rover Relay Vehicle Theft Explained & Sleeping Keyfob Battery Solution

[@johnwillett4086]

I received this letter from Land Rover for my 2016 Discovery 4 Landmark about 3-months ago. I did send off for the free sleeping batteries, but they never arrived; so I guess they are all gone. I did buy a pair of the original sleeping battery on Amazon. These are different from the one you sell and they cost be just under £100 for the two - these are now in both my keys. They work very well. 👍 Yours are slightly more expensive - BUT - yours have the advantage that when the battery goes flat, you only have to buy a normal (or thin normal) battery at the standard price, unstead of having to pay out another £50 for a new sleeping battery. Expensive, but highly recommended as it's very cheap compared to the cost of your Land Rover. Oh - just remember they swith off after 3-minutes, so if you are stationary in a car park and then try and start the car, the car will not see the battery until you pick up the key and move it (as i discovered the other day when the car didn't see the key). ☺ Oh - i have not been called in for the security update yet, the letter just said it would be "later this year" and I received the letter in early September.

[@mosca3289]

That little voice “Hello Simon…” makes this your best video ever.

[@L663]

Maybe i could be "little Tim" from Tiktok ! Glad you liked it !

[@timoliver8940]

@@L663hey we’ll have no upsetting the Tims on this channel please

[@Cous1nJack]

The key isn’t reaching out it responds to the car seeking it (think where the big battery is) Relaying pushes the cars ping close enough to the key for it to confirm. Toyota keys can be made dumb with a double click sequence.

[@malibugrove]

Correct explanation 👍

[@charleshepplewhite7384]

So they took my Discovery 4 in around 45 seconds. Both of my keys were in Faraday pouches. All they did was break the driver side glass, open the door and put something into the OBD2 port, that killed the alarm system and allowed them to start the car and drive away. Perhaps relay theft is becoming a misnoma. Well out of pocket now. Have taken lots of steps to now protect my newish vehicle and some they will not like!

[@philgifford8258]

BMW had the same vulnerability. Don't know if it's been fixed. The gadgets used were for sale online, £70 including helpline service if you had a problem 😄.

[@lindomachi8419]

Hey, Powerfulikltd. I have a question. Does Mansory / Brabus attend clients worldwide who wish to fully customise their old big SUVs, like my 2015 LR4 (Land Rover Discovery 4), with their while-n-bells?

[@ivarmichelsons7413]

Wouldn’t disabling keyless unlocking (using the 3x lights button + 1x unlock button trick) accomplish the same result without the need for the sleeping battery device?

[@L663]

That would work but you loose the convenience feature - with the sleeping battery device you have the best of both worlds ?

[@Gary_UK]

I hear on some vehicles (Evoque) this can cause a serious battery drain!

[@JimRudman]

@@L663 What is the 'inconvenience' of actually pressing the buttons, on the fob that you must have with you anyway !

[@stevecray7063]

Interested to know what is recommended for the spare key (assuming not normally used)? The same clever solution or just take the battery out and keep separately?

[@L663]

For the spare key ( if not in use either remove the battery or put it in a foil pouch. )

[@-zerocool-]

That looks like a better design that what I bought from Key Guard. Only problem is, mine dosnt want to wake up sometimes.

[@redihoxha2940]

It's not the same thing if you deactivate the keyless feature?

[@AndyK.1]

But what does the H432 security update do? To say 2019 cars

[@timoliver8940]

My March 2023 delivered D250 Defender 90 got recalled for the security “upgrade” in July this year - it took a whole day then another two days sorting out what went wrong when the dealership tried to do a 2nd update that bricked the whole car………… I wonder if the security update was just adding that little sleeve over the battery because they needed both fobs to do it……….I’m too chicken to open my fobs to find out!

[@WizzardPrang]

My L663 (same age as The Stig) was upgraded on my drive by LR Assist, it's a software upgrade. They also did something to the ODB port (not saying what on here). They need both fobs to check they still work afterwards. 😉

[@robertparfoot-gray8901]

Hi guys, Would this work for my 60 plate D4 and roughly how much are they selling for. Cheers Rob

[@L663]

Hi Rob - yes this would work for the D4 and these are for sale on our website for £55 www.powerfuluk.com/products/keyfob-battery-sleeper-kit-anti-relay-theft-for-land-rover-remotes?_pos=1&_psq=key998&_ss=e&_v=1.0

[@hughmarcus1]

It should. The D4 was the first to be fitted with keyless entry

[@hedydd2]

Ford Rangers have been delivered until very recently with keyless entry disabled. In the last month I’ve had complete brand new keys from the dealer, free from Ford, with keys that go to sleep and they have activated the system on the vehicle. These are not batteries that are shielded after a short time, such as those in the video, but complete new key fobs and the dealer drills a hole through the centre of the old ones to destroy them. Obviously the physical emergency key, fitted in the fob, are swapped over from the old to new fobs and the new keys must be paired with the car. They took well over eighteen months to sort this, but that is far shorter than JLR’s usual lethargic response to a problem, which has taken them years to solve and made customer’s vehicles prohibitively expensive if not impossible to insure in some areas.

[@L663]

The batteries are a clever solution but clearly if the sleep aspect was in the keyfob itself that would seem a better solution. The batteries are not shielded... the battery circuit cuts the power from the battery to the keyfob.Interesting to know Ford had the issue as it was their invention as i understood it !

[@grahameroberts8109]

Is there anything that would ‘jam’ a discovery 2 key fob?

[@AndyK.1]

Disco 2 and 3 don’t transmit continuously

[@grahameroberts8109]

@ I meant interfere or stop someone accessing the immobiliser without a key fob.

[@rafflesnh]

So you only get just the one battery keeper electronic gizmo and the pouch is presumably for the spare key? (Now answered by your website) There is another company in the Netherlands that makes something similar called the 'sleeping battery' (can't post the url as it will upset youtube, but a google should find it). But the electronic gizmo is built in to their version of the CR2032 cell, which means that when the power is exhausted you have to buy another. They also supply 2 batteries for roughly the same cost as the battery keeper to cover 2 sets of keys, but the downside is that you have to spend a lot more than the cost of a standard CR2032 battery when the time comes to replace it. EDIT: Just found the battery keeper on your website which you price at a much more wallet friendly £55 rather than the £99 asked by Autotech!

[@L663]

Yes - I guess the solutions go in this order.... Best - Circuit built into the kefob itself ( Ford ) Next best - Circuit built into the battery ( Autotech ) Nearly as good - Add on circuit ( this is not ideal as you are reliant on the 3 component - the Keyfob / the battery / the circuit - but as you say its the cheaper option long term ) As you say the pouch is for your spare key ( or you could just remove the battery )

[@andyhall9420]

So when will insurance companies start insuring Defenders again. Was a nightmare and expensive insuring mine, more so as I am spending a lot of time in Europe.

[@hughmarcus1]

Defender isn’t even vulnerable either.

[@ecossearthur]

Boom Boom!! You dont want to know where I keep my key fob is ! ;-) lol

[@L663]

Surprise me - microwave ! ?

[@ecossearthur]

@L663 lol Way off 😉

[@goldeneye006]

Just disable keyless entry

[@richardhunt1384]

2:36 Lol Bleating on!! 😂😂😂 Sure Ford probably patented that technology for the key going to sleep so great when Ford owned LR in the noughties but when they sold LR obviously that security feature didn't go with them and stayed with Ford.

[@andybenfield79]

Great entertainment value Simon. 🤣🤣