IS300H Theft

[Paul-B]

Neighbours car got robbed last night, Audi A4 which had its key cloned from what I hear.

 

Has me thinking now how hard is it to steal an IS300H? Is there anything you guys do to prevent your car from being stolen?

[wharfhouse]

Just now, Paul-B said:

Neighbours car got robbed last night, Audi A4 which had its key cloned from what I hear.

 

Has me thinking now how hard is it to steal an IS300H? Is there anything you guys do to prevent your car from being stolen?

Always keep the keys in one of the Faraday cage pouches (they are only a few pounds on the usual websites) and test that it does indeed work to block the signal (put it in the pouch next to the door and see if you can open the car or not). 

[royoftherovers]

Just now, Paul-B said:

Neighbours car got robbed last night, Audi A4 which had its key cloned from what I hear.

 

Has me thinking now how hard is it to steal an IS300H? Is there anything you guys do to prevent your car from being stolen?

Paul, who in their right mind would want to steal a 300h? 

It is slower than Audi, BMW, Merc and many others. It has no gears, street cred or desirably for scroats.

But, yes do as Wharfhouse has said.

[Thackeray]

22 minutes ago, Paul-B said:

Is there anything you guys do to prevent your car from being stolen?

An alternative to the Faraday pouch is to turn off the key's radio signal. Press and hold the lock button while double-pressing the unlock button. The red light on the key fob will flash four times.

With the key's radio signal turned off, thieves can't pick up the unlock code from the key. You can test it works by turning off the key and then trying to open the car by touching the door handle. These instructions are in the manual but labelled as a Battery saving option.

To turn the key back on, you just use the key fob to unlock the car. The key will then stay turned on until you turn it off again.

[Mincey]

24 minutes ago, Thackeray said:

An alternative to the Faraday pouch is to turn off the key's radio signal. Press and hold the lock button while double-pressing the unlock button. The red light on the key fob will flash four times.

With the key's radio signal turned off, thieves can't pick up the unlock code from the key. You can test it works by turning off the key and then trying to open the car by touching the door handle. These instructions are in the manual but labelled as a battery saving option.

To turn the key back on, you just use the key fob to unlock the car. The key will then stay turned on until you turn it off again.

+1 to that. It's my "leaving the car routine". After I've put a Crook Lock on.

[Mincey]

46 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

Paul, who in their right mind would want to steal a 300h? 

It is slower than Audi, BMW, Merc and many others. It has no gears, street cred or desirably for scroats.

But, yes do as Wharfhouse has said.

Ahem. I'll have you know that my car is a rocket ship and the best car in its segment bar none.

[Herbie]

Prevention is better than cure and deterrent is the name of the game.

Not pretty, but hopefully it'll make them move to an easier target:

[dutchie01]

53 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

Paul, who in their right mind would want to steal a 300h? 

It is slower than Audi, BMW, Merc and many others. It has no gears, street cred or desirably for scroats.

But, yes do as Wharfhouse has said.

Exactly that and the most important thing is there is hardly a market for it compared to an audi or bm. Steal it and then what? no market for spare parts and selling is 1000 time more difficult than selling a 3 series. So why bother. get the Audi!

On the prevention front, switching off the easy entry function so the car does not radiate a signal anymore could well help. The bandits operate in groups and work area after area first skimming the presence of what they want, for instance Audi A4. when that's in their spreadsheet return to see if they can pick up a signal and presto car gone. Anything that complicates the theft will be a reason to move quickly to the next target. So a steering lock or bear lock to the gearbox will definitely help. Having said that car theft is getting less popular as easier to roam the area for steering wheels etc. faster less hassle and 850 euro per airbag on the black market. In one night they can do over 20 cars! ( but no Lexus as no market for the airbags there are not enough Lexii about).  

[Paul-B]

Thanks for the replies. Just ordered one of them key pouches and I have an old steerling lock I'll put back i to service but it sounds like these thieves aren't in the market for Lexus cars so I might not be on their radar anyway 

[wharfhouse]

2 minutes ago, Paul-B said:

Thanks for the replies. Just ordered one of them key pouches and I have an old steerling lock I'll put back i to service but it sounds like these thieves aren't in the market for Lexus cars so I might not be on their radar anyway 

Call me paranoid but I also take the pouch with me to keep the keys in when I stay away overnight at hotels etc just in case...! 

[royoftherovers]

13 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

Call me paranoid but I also take the pouch with me to keep the keys in when I stay away overnight at hotels etc just in case...! 

Belt and Braces Paranoid !🤣🤣

[Thackeray]

2 hours ago, Paul-B said:

Thanks for the replies. Just ordered one of them key pouches and I have an old steerling lock I'll put back i to service but it sounds like these thieves aren't in the market for Lexus cars so I might not be on their radar anyway 

If you turn off your key or put it into a Faraday pouch, don't forget about the second key if it's also in the house. It also needs to be in a pouch or turned off.

[Linas.P]

4 hours ago, Paul-B said:

Neighbours car got robbed last night, Audi A4 which had its key cloned from what I hear.

Has me thinking now how hard is it to steal an IS300H? Is there anything you guys do to prevent your car from being stolen?

When it comes to cart theft it is a matter of risk vs. reward... Could IS300h be stolen... absolutely and sadly it could be stolen no matter what you do... provided that some s cu m will see rewards being worthy a risk.

Now what you can do and there are several examples above in the thread - is to increase risk and hope it will be detrimental enough the thief won't bother with your car. Things like wheel looks, CCTV or motion sensor lights are just distraction for criminals and they may choose easier target if they have a choice.

However, that said IS300h isn't very "hot" car for theft, Lexus are rare, reliable, not very fast, not very expensive - so demand for both cars and their parts are not massive and that is always goods from perspective of theft.

[paulrnx]

5 hours ago, Thackeray said:

An alternative to the Faraday pouch is to turn off the key's radio signal. Press and hold the lock button while double-pressing the unlock button. The red light on the key fob will flash four times.

With the key's radio signal turned off, thieves can't pick up the unlock code from the key. You can test it works by turning off the key and then trying to open the car by touching the door handle. These instructions are in the manual but labelled as a battery saving option.

To turn the key back on, you just use the key fob to unlock the car. The key will then stay turned on until you turn it off again.

I do this every time I park on my driveway. It’s an easy routine to get into and I find this better than putting key into a shielded pouch. As has been said, I’ve turned off the spare key too. I tend not to do this when I’m out and about because that’s when I often need the comfort access. That said, if someone is determined to steal mine they will and I wouldn’t try to stop them because they might be armed. Unless I was also armed of course. Mind you, I’ve had my sub-machine gun, Bowie knife, and pistol taken off me nowadays.... 😉😀

[paulrnx]

4 hours ago, wharfhouse said:

Call me paranoid but I also take the pouch with me to keep the keys in when I stay away overnight at hotels etc just in case...! 

Hi Mr Paranoid 😀

[Maxz]

If like me you got fed up with Faraday pouches, simply switch of the smart entry in the car settings. Just means you have to use the buttons on the fob instead. I personally find it more convenient than using pouches which are not 100% effective, especially as they wear.

There is a previous post where photos were posted of the settings menus.

[ColinBarber]

Someone I know had an attempt on the two BMWs they have in the household a couple of weeks ago. Person walked straight up to their security camera and pulled it off the wall and then attempted to use a relay attack on the vehicles. What they didn't realise was there was more than one camera so they have footage of them going to the downstairs house windows to try and pick up the key signal, then putting the relay device on a pole and putting it near the upstairs bedroom windows. As the keys are always kept in a metal box when at home they were unsuccessful.

Unfortunately that wasn't the case for one of the neighbours whose MB was taken in just a few minutes. There was a tracker on the car, in the morning when they contacted the company they were able to see the route the vehicle took to the coast before the signal was lost - presumably it a shipping container to be stripped for parts out of the country.

[Linas.P]

With trackers nowadays, it it is best to choose one which support alerts e.g. if car is moved outside of marked area during the night it alerts both tracking company and yourself, so that leaves less time for thieves to make the car to disappear.

If I had to choose, I would invest in good aftermarket immobiliser, that is better than tracker because in theory it should prevent the car from being stolen in the first place.  

[royoftherovers]

15 minutes ago, Linas.P said:

With trackers nowadays, it it is best to choose one which support alerts e.g. if car is moved outside of marked area during the night it alerts both tracking company and yourself, so that leaves less time for thieves to make the car to disappear.

If I had to choose, I would invest in good aftermarket immobiliser, that is better than tracker because in theory it should prevent the car from being stolen in the first place.  

And Linas, you must invest in a car that has no value other than to you. A 2 door Coupe with a hot CT Hybrid engine and your present car`s badge suitably affixed, perhaps ?

[Linas.P]

CT engine is certainly not requirement, but something like IS250 convertible would be good choice. Old, rare and has sweet V6 - nobody interested in stealing it, it is it quite nice car. Kind of sad Lexus never made proper coupe during that era. RC and IS 300h/200t isn't bad option either - they are just too rare be be targets. 

IS-F/RC-F are only targets because they are powerful, people tend to track them, when they got crashed on the track insurance does not cover it and that means cars can get into criminal hands without being written off. This means criminals can reuse title and legitimise stolen car (clone crashed car onto stolen one). 

Overall, I would say as far as Lexus is concerned - most risky models will be new RX, NX and maybe UX, followed by RC-F. IS-F now getting old, GS-F and GS too rare, LC too rare, RC too rare and IS simply not in high demand.

[F.A.]

1 hour ago, Linas.P said:

CT engine is certainly not requirement, but something like IS250 convertible would be good choice. Old, rare and has sweet V6 - nobody interested in stealing it, it is it quite nice car. Kind of sad Lexus never made proper coupe during that era. RC and IS 300h/200t isn't bad option either - they are just too rare be be targets. 

IS-F/RC-F are only targets because they are powerful, people tend to track them, when they got crashed on the track insurance does not cover it and that means cars can get into criminal hands without being written off. This means criminals can reuse title and legitimise stolen car (clone crashed car onto stolen one). 

Overall, I would say as far as Lexus is concerned - most risky models will be new RX, NX and maybe UX, followed by RC-F. IS-F now getting old, GS-F and GS too rare, LC too rare, RC too rare and IS simply not in high demand.

Yes, even most car ‘enthusiasts’ have no idea what a GSF is. Parked reversed on our drive, no one gives it a second look. 👍🏾
 

On another note does anyone have any experience with a Ghost immobiliser? 

[Linas.P]

Not specifically with Ghost, but generally third party immobilisers are the best way to prevent theft. This is because it is quite hard for criminal to know it is fitted and to be prepared to defeat it. If fob not in the car then it won't start and once thief is in the car they have no time to figure out what frequency immobiliser fob is working on (not to mention many are passive-multiband).

The only issue is that immobiliser may leave you stranded... you stop for coffee, petrol or worse for a quick one in the middle of nowhere and your car won't start because it can't recognise immobiliser because Battery is dead or something else went wrong.

This isn't really that common, but it has happened to me few times.