Is it still possible to hotwire a modern car?
No.“Hotwiring” is where you bypass the ignition lock/switch mechanism and simply join up a series of wires to start the car. The “security” is the ignition lock and nothing else.When a key is typically turned in the lock, all it does is turn a cirular switch pack which joins up the correct wires to complete connections.Hotwiring is connecting the wires by hand, it sounds technical and complicated, the reality is very much different.However, since the early 90’s in America and ’93 in Europe, cars have had passive immobilisers fitted whereby there is a reader around the ignition barrel that looks for a signal from a chip in the key, no chip, no signal, no start.And its very difficult to bypass if you’ve only got 2 minutes to steal the car, as the lack of signal means the ECU shuts down various parts of the system like power to the sparkplugs, power to the crank sensor, power to the fuel pump.However, earlier systems could be beaten quite easily by doing one of two things.Either fit a “performance” chip to the ECU system such as a Superchips type. This replaces the main chip in the ECU for one with supposed better fuelling maps and raised rev limits, but also, has no security anymore which renders the immobiliser system inert.The other way is to goto a junkyard, and remove the ECU, reader and chip from a car, and simply swap them all over into the one you want to steal, it can take time, but it can all be done noiselessly, once done, you can then break the ignition lock, rip off the ignition switch, hold your replacement chip by the reader and use a screwdriver to turn the ignition switch and the replacement set will start the car.But hotwiring in the conventional sense on modern cars is dead, however thieves are now stealing modern prestige cars QUICKER than they could the older stuff because technology is modern cars undoing.
How easy is it to hot-wire a car?
Theives now a days are using model specific tools to steal cars. To steal an F250, for example, requires getting ahold of specific programming tools to override the built in security features. All the while using "trick" keys that can be programmed to be the correct keys. they still generally destroy the ignition lock or bypass it. The ultimate goal is to get the onboard computer up and running in order to turn on and manage the engine normally. this can be done in a variety of ways for different cars, but usually theives are model specific due to the tool and expertise requirements. One point not brought up yet is how hard it is to actually get into vehicles without busting a window. The days of a slim jim opening most models is gone. With all the equipment located inside doors, there's hardly any models left that can be opened with such a simple device. So one guy "conveniently" picking up rides is not feasable. Unless he's in Cuba where most of the cars are pre- fuel injection models.
What does it mean when you hot-wire a car?
You cut the ignition wire and touch the live wires together to generate a spark which is normally initiated by turning the key in the ignition.
Can you really steal a car by hot wiring it (by touching the two starter wires from the ignition switch together)?
Your question was answered very well by the above people. However, I would like to add a few points regarding current auto theft trends. I am a former police officer and one of my passions was auto theft. I am still an active member of IAATI and have my own business that offers a product to specifically combat auto theft Recoveri | Tag What's YoursMoving along, auto thieves these days will not hot wire a car or even attempt it. In fact most of them don't even know how to do it at all because they have grown up through the technology age and learned easier methods that don't cause as much damage. The main trend we are seeing today is that cars are being chopped and/or shipped out of the country because they are worth far more in pieces as they ever will be as a whole car. Also, once your car is chopped, there are no identifying numbers on 98% of the parts. In fact the only way to prevent and combat this is the product I offer and I don't tell you that as a business owner, I tell you that as a former auto theft investigator seeing what works and what doesn't and what would very much ruin a car thief's day. One thing we are becoming more and more aware of is car hacking. Because almost everything in a car now is electronic, it is easier to hack. So they are using a laptop to interrogate the Onboard Computer either through an ODBII cable or a number of other interfaces such as onboard GPS, Navigation systems etc and once they get in, they can unlock your doors, roll down your windows, start your car etc. Even stepping back in time a bit, there are shaved keys, transponder key re programmers and other means to easily get into your car. I am not going to tell you about all of them here because the post would quickly turn from awareness to auto theft education and how to's ;) Just know that we are dealing with a very different group of auto thieves these days. It is no longer your common street drug addict, meth head, whatever you want to call them that are the majority. If a Meth head is stealing your car, there is even a chance that they are just pawns working for an organized group where they earn a couple hundred to a couple thousand to boost your car and drive it to a chop shop. If your car door lock is pulled out, window broken, steering column hacked apart or wires pulled out from under your dash, then you are most likely dealing with an amateur and probably even a teenager.