What your friend has is an immobilizer with a proximity switch, this has a chip in the key ring and there is an Ariel hidden either in the steering column which means no dongle on key ring, no start, or hidden in the centre / radio area. Same principal as the touch pad system but invisible. it's a good system to stop the "gone in 60 seconds" thief, but a low loader beats all, (if your cars worth it and nothing under 10,000 is, Lojack or tracker is the best system backed up by a well installed alarm /immobiliser (cat2) forget makers systems, the first thing crooks do is hire the latest model, find out how to get around the security and then they can steal any similar model. Remember, thieves more often than not steal the keys first!

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