Keeping Your Vehicle Safe

You might not know that as well as trading under the name of Car Keys Solutions – your one-stop solution to any car key problem you might ever have – we are also OGS Mechanics.

OGS Mechanics also provide solutions, concentrating on security for both domestic and commercial vehicles of all shapes and sizes.

And as OGS Mechanics we have just finished installing separate security and immobiliser systems for a customer’s Volkswagen Crafter panel van, to keep it and its contents safe and secure. It now has the best custom solution on the market for that particular make and model.

To start with, we installed what we consider the most advanced vehicle immobiliser available – the Ghost II from Autowatch.

It’s a very small device, but that doesn’t mean it’s not extremely powerful. What it does mean, though, is that it can be installed anywhere inside a car or van so there’s very little chance of a thief locating it. And should anyone manage to find it, there’s no way it can be disabled.

And it doesn’t use radio frequencies which can be intercepted, copied and used to steal the vehicle.

The Ghost 2 immobiliser acts just like another one of all the Electronic Control Units (ECUs) within the vehicle, all connected on an electronic circuit like the components on a computer’s motherboard – technical term: “bus”.

It automatically prevents ignition until a pre-programmed sequence of controls inside the vehicle have been pressed – just like keying in your PIN number at an ATM.

And those controls could be for anything from turning indicators … to headlight switches … to changing the channel on the car radio – even for opening and closing the windows.

The Ghost II can also be programmed to disarm the immobiliser when either of two smartphones come within bluetooth range.

So that was the immobiliser system we installed on the customer’s VW Crafter – and there was more to follow.

An immobiliser such as the Ghost II will prevent a vehicle being driven away, but since the Crafter is a commercial vehicle there’s a very good chance that could be something in the cargo bay that could be of interest to thieves – whether merchandise or tools of the trade.

So the Crafter also needed protection from break-ins, and that protection came in the form of the Autowatch 695 alarm system, which we installed together with an upgraded car horn that’s much, much louder than the one fitted by the manufacturers.

Again, the Autowatch 695 is small, even though it has its own independent battery power supply, so should the vehicle’s battery be disconnected somehow, it will still function, and operate that louder horn. And again, it can be physically installed absolutely anywhere within a vehicle as long as it, like the Ghost II, is linked to the “bus” circuit connecting all the other ECUs.

It uses up to 6 wireless sensors to detect any kind of interference with the vehicle, and if it detects a slight shock it will trigger a warning alarm. If that shock continues that loud upgraded car horn will go off and keep going off. But what happens if the owner is out of earshot? The Autowatch 695 automatically sends a text message warning about interference with the vehicle.

So that’s the alarm and the van immobiliser systems installed in our customer’s Crafter to prevent it being broken into or stolen – but there are many other less hi-tech security devices we could also install on his van.

For example, should our customer be running a courier or delivery service, the slam locks we install lock all the vehicle doors automatically as soon as one door is shut, and none of them can be opened without a dedicated key. We have to deactivate the factory-installed locking system before we install vehicle-specific slam locks because for them it’s not a case of one size fits all, but the result is always the same: nobody else can open any of those van doors.

We could install hook locks that work in the same way as deadlocks, but these have a hook at the end of the straight bolt, which clips even more securely into the bracket fitted to the body of the vehicle.

For extra van security against “peel and steal” theft, we fit anti-peel brackets to the front edge of a van’s sliding doors to keep them in place – no matter how hard a thief tries to dislodge them and break in.

But it’s not just what’s inside a vehicle that can be targeted by thieves: the precious metals inside catalytic converters are expensive and therefore tempting, and because many types of vehicle have converters that are easy to remove we frequently install heavy-duty cat guards.

We can install all of these – and more – quickly and economically in our London workshop, with different security options depending on the make and model of your vehicle, so call us any day of the week between 8:00 am and 10:00 pm to discuss your requirements on 020 3393 6788.

And don’t forget – we’re not just OGS Mechanics, we’re also Car Keys Solutions – always ready to help you with any key-related issue at home … at work … or by the roadside.