kratedisease

Just wanted to post this. I am not sure if this is prudent to post so if this is a problem, please ask for this post to be removed.

But it just dawned on me that C6 corvettes are extreemly easiy to seal. I could be missing something, but I just bought a used 2005 C6 vette and requested remote programming instructions here on the forum. I programmed a remote I bought on ebay as the 4th remote , because the 2nd and 3rd remotes were lost by the previous owner, and I only got the 1st remote with the car.

Follow me and tell me if I am wrong. These cars to my knowledge come with 3 remotes new from the dealer with the 4th programming spot unprogrammed. Assume you valet park your vette in a parking garage or a resturant and you hand over your remote and emergency key ( used in case of dead battery) to the valet. The valet has already bought a spare remote on ebay previously, and now goes through the programming procedure to add his remote to the 4th unprogrammed spot on a car that has factory remote programming for the 3 remotes that came with the car new. Should take him just a few minuets. After he does so, the car is returned to the owner with the owners original remote and the owner would never know that an extra remote, that the valet has in his posession, was added and programmed to the car. Now the valet also writes down the owners address from his insurance ID card or registration, goes to that location, starts the car with the remote he bought on ebay and drives the car off to be shipped to south america, russia, africa or the dominican replublic. ( just using examples-- no predetermined reason I picked these)

Am I missing something ? are the geniuses at GM missing something ?

Please do not respond with chatter about using a pedal lock, lojack or a garage, or talk telling me never to bring the key with me when I go to a resturant or valet park, or chatter about they can always tow/steal it. I just want to know if this is correct

I think the only way to avoid this issue is to buy a 4th remote and program 4 remotes to every car so a spare cannnot be programmed UNLESS all 4 are reprogrammed together in the long programming procedure and that is much harder to do . LMK

Please let me know if I have exposed this issue . thanks

Z06LUST

no idea...but new cars come with 2 remotes to the buyer

kratedisease

If only two remotes are supplied, the my initial therory still applies. No difference. And yes, YOU can programm the remotes, without the dealer. I did it from instructions posted here and I was told they are also in the owners manual.

keyplyr

The last discussion about valet parking showed most owners would not give their car over to a valet. With the power I have, I know I wouldn't.

muhr

Since this vehicle has only been on the market for 7 years and this devious process has been confirmed to have been used in the theft of somewhere between zero and seventy billion C6's... I am a bit scared.

I just ran outside to remove the engine from my 2011 coupe... just to be safe... but the dang car is already gone, and probably in a gulag somewhere in Siberia.

(If your that worried... either buy a buncha fobs, or don't let anyone else have access.)

Does anyone know if OnStar can contact Putin so I can start to negotiate my cars release?

4SUMERZ

C6 Fob, Short Procedure….use these instructions 1-10 when you have a working fob and just want to add another to the system, or to test the operation of the glovebox slot.

1. Put drivers window down all the way, then turn car off
2. Trunk open
3. Glove box open
4. Put working fob on console next to shifter (the one you are currently using to drive the car) IMPORTANT. Also make sure no cellphones are in the car.
5. Put key in trunk keyhole and turn key five times in less than 5 seconds.
6. DIC will now beep and light up and say “Ready for fob 3”.
7. Put new unprogrammed fob in slot by glovebox with buttons facing right (passenger) side.
8. Wait and watch DIC. When it says “Ready for fob 4” it is done. Up to four Fobs may be programmed to the car total.
9. When all Fobs are programmed, push OFF/ACC (bottom half of start button) to turn off DIC.
10. Test all four buttons on fob and then take away all other fobs and check car starting with new fob(s).

I guess if you buy 2 extra FOB's, then 4 is the most that can be prrogrammed.

foremaw

Well, first I would say the simple solution to the set of facts presented is don't let a valet park your car or keep the fob, which I would never do, although some do. Second, whether you give a valet a fob or a key you are giving them something that can be copied. Not sure how this makes the C6 different from any other car, all of which use either a key or a fob.

Knob Jockey

I suppose if you felt your car had been compromised by a Valet, when you got home you could erase all previously programmed fobs and re-program the fob(s) in your possession.

The old adage of not leaving your home address anywhere in the car would also slow them down a bit when it came time for them to steal your car. Or they could follow you, so again if you're suspicious you should be looking over your shoulder.

The one and only time I let a Valet in my car, I made him ride as a passenger and then gave him my cell phone number, not the fob/key, and told him to call me if he needed to move my car. He was pretty cool about the whole thing and I gave him a substantial tip.

YMMV.

MikeyTX

yah gotta love new owners .............

bolivar

Insurance solves this problem.

brettbolt

Thanks for bringing this possibility to the attention of all us C6 owners -- I hadn't thought of this before.

Having 4 remotes programmed means that it will take at least 20 minutes to program using the long procedure. I think most valet parking situations are longer than 20 minutes, so they would still have time.

However, if you force thieves to use the long procedure then your own remote(s) wouldn't work anymore and you'd be locked out of your own car. So they would have to drive the car out of the parking garage before you got back and noticed that your FOB no longer works.

One way to prevent this type of theft would be to remove the trunk key from your FOB before handing it over to the valet. Then they couldn't do any reprogramming.

Also, on Tuesday a BMW was stolen from the parking lot where my wife works, during daylight. I wonder if BMWs have the same vulnerability?

richhoff

So this doesn't make the Corvette any more likely to be stolen than any other vehicle by a valet. With other vehicles, they could always go have a copy of the key made, along with your house keys, etc.

Gerdia

Yes, that can happen. But as stated, so can a regular key be copied on the spot. If you must use valet why not just remove the key from the FOB? have the key on your person in case of dead battery etc.. or just have the 2nd FOB and the key from the 1st on you. They can't program new Fob's without the key. The car should be the safest at that point. Get a key holder that has a quick release to be between Fob and key.

boraxman

After spending 3 hours reprogramming a FOB myself A valet would be the least of my worries....Thats if I ever used a valet which I do not.

Triumph Jerry

Of course a thief can steal your car if you give the thief your
keys/fob!! Give him your credit card too, he might need gas.

R&L's C6

Problem solved.

TNTC4VETTE

This is why I don't give my remote to Mexicans or Albanians.

Vette_DD

No.

You're wrong on several counts, especially about the C6s being any easier to steal than most cars.

You don't know quite as much about C6s as you thought you did.

Next?

Landru

Just a 'T'.

IF one's hell bent on stealing a Corvette?
Not much can be done to prevent it save for insurance.

Locks, they say, are for honest people.

kratedisease

Very different. Most other cars have a chip in their keys that has to be read by the computer. Those keys in many cases can only be programmed by the dealer. secondly, you do not need a key cutter to just "add a remote" . No other tools or equiptment required to steal a vette, only the knowledge of how to do the programming.