Fourteen car companies fail to fix flaw that makes keyless cars vulnerable to theft

Car firms have failed to fix a flaw that makes ­keyless cars vulnerable to theft, a report has found.

Despite being alerted to the risk in January 2019, the ­consumer group Which? says many car companies are still making vehicles that can be ­stolen in ‘relay attacks’.

This is where thieves use relay boxes to extend the radio waves issued from the fob and fool the system into unlocking the car.

Which? says only Mercedes and Tesla have solved the problem, while 12 ­other manufacturers have only issued a fix across part of their ranges.

Another 14 have not taken any action at all.

Citroen, DS, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Lexus, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Opel/Vauxhall, Peugeot, Renault, SsangYong and Suzuki all said they took car theft very ­seriously and were ­always looking at ways to improve security.

But industry ­experts last year found 230 models were susceptible to relay attacks.

Which? editor Lisa Barber said: “It’s unacceptable that several manufacturers have still done nothing about it.

“While we’re glad to see some are already implementing tougher security measures, too many are still ignoring the risks.

“More must be done to protect the thousands of insecure cars already on the road.”