RX450h stolen...how?

[F1mo]

Had my 2014 stolen couple of years ago and learned my lesson. Have steering lock, keys in Faraday pouch and Faraday box. I have now also turned off keyless feature. 

[ColinBarber]

On 3/12/2021 at 12:53 PM, Phil xxkr said:

Hello all , I did post this earlier but maybe it got lost; does anyone on here have any experience with the 104 tracker from Rewire Security on Amazon ? The description reads well, it's practical and highly affordable. I particularly like the, "designed in the UK and based in Bristol" label. After reading all these posts about thefts I am inclined to be a bit more pro-active Cheers Phil

Hi Phil. Not one I've heard of before, and that is potentially a problem because it is only of use whilst they remain in business.

I guess it depends on what you are trying achieve. It won't do anything to stop your vehicle being stolen, you just might be able to find it's location, but that is dependant on if it has a mobile reception to send its location, and the speed at which you are aware and can inform the police, and their response to the crime.

Personally I'd be more willing to invest in an additional immobiliser to stop it being taken in the first place, such as a Ghost II. More expensive than your option but you would ideally need to have the Rewire installed which would add to the cost, otherwise you have to remember to remove and charge it every month.

[royoftherovers]

5 hours ago, Linas.P said:

Crashed vehicle for repairs on auction, probably even cheaper. 

My comment was in relation to the situation where some low morale vehicle tradesman (or tradeswoman, because nowadays we need to be politically correct) has damaged car and they want to fix it. Often that is unrecorded damaged car so it can be sold back at high price/high profit once fixed.

They have an option of getting another wrecked car from auction (usually cheaper than ordering individual parts) or they have an option to reach out to their contacts in criminal world to get particular model stolen.

The theft itself will cost some money - some investigative journalism has revealed that process overall is ~£5k depending on the car, the thieves who takes the car usually get's £400-£2000 depending on complexity, butcher shop can get £500 per night per person (so say 4x) and people running the operation could charge whatever they like probably percentage of vehicle market value and complexity. So I guess on £60k Range-Rover or BWM this could be £10k, but on something like RX this will certainly be lower. This is obviously speculation, because although this is from interview with car thieves gang member it does not mean that all gangs operate the same way, or that he is telling the truth or that interview is even real, because it could all be "re-enactment".

So for the car to be stolen it has to be worth more for thieves and the person ordering, than same car could be found on salvage auctions. Obviously, there is as well question of supply - can such car be bought at reasonable price in reasonable time. Maybe their car has front of it crashed and all the cars on auction as well have front crashed etc.

Simply what I am saying - most of older cars after 5-10 years old generally are just not valuable enough to be prime targets. Mostly targeted are brand new cars or latest model e.g. car may be 2016, but the model is still present in 2020, meaning thieves can repair 2020 car with it.

Fools and their money are soon parted  Linas old bean !

[Grey RX]

On 3/12/2021 at 1:02 PM, Barry14UK said:

Some of the measures here might be developed to deter  thieves from stealing a particular car so they would try ones less well protected.  But that is still not a satisfactory situation because insurance losses on those stolen are still going to be spread among all drivers.  What is needed is for some/more 'bait cars' like they have in the USA where after driving a short distance the cars can be remotely stopped, the doors locked and pictures taken of the thieves who would be tracked and arrested.  Certainly, this would take Police resources and at a time when they have become involved in a lot of other areas.  However, if these guys are caught and locked up, it minimises the incidence of the crime and if those caught are given heavy sentences which are well publicised, it may deter others from attempting this crime. 

The Autowatch Ghost can be set up to cut the engine after a period of time.  Long enough to let the scum get too far away to come back and attempt to persuade you to restart it.  We looked into this for an Audi S4 but in the end sold the car.  It's probably only beaten by a small explosive device under the driver's seat.  

[Mr Vlad]

First off really bad news about the theft. Richard that idea of an explosive. That reminded me of someone back in the 80's who had a Yamaha FZ750. He was something. He developed a spike which popped out from beneath the seat unless something specific was done. Now that is a superb idea. Impale the scumbag lol.

[LenT]

In 1998 Charl Fourie launched this ingenious device to discourage carjackers.

 

[malcolmw]

This reminds me of the original preamble to the Arnold Schwarzenegger film "The Running Man". This was a fake advertisment for an anti theft system which turned the driver's seat into an electric chair if the car were broken into. This was deleted from later releases of the film. Pity.

[royoftherovers]

2 hours ago, LenT said:

In 1998 Charl Fourie launched this ingenious device to discourage carjackers.

 

Brilliant. An Englishman`s car is his Castle !

[Mr Vlad]

Effing brilliant invention ☝