ES300H TAKUMI - wheel arch CAN BUS theft

[HotSpur-Lexus]

When I collected my car last week I asked the dealer about the wave of thefts in relation to the CAN bus technique - his answer was whilst they were aware of the issue, it only affects CT and RX and they hadn't heard of any cars being stolen outside London - which is wrong on both counts as the list of Lexus models affected is available online easily and its more than just the two that he mentioned (confirmed by this very thread and a discussion with Auto-watch and Scorpion), and the threads on here demonstrate that thefts are occurring outside of the capital...It's one thing doing nothing (corporately) but also being lied to is just not a position the brand should condone especially as that is what will give them a bad image (as per other manufacturers/dealer networks).

[HotSpur-Lexus]

I hope there is no issues with sharing pictures on this forum - I am new - so please advise if its not cricket...

But a week into ownership and I am loving the shape and the interior - it is growing on me daily....loving it more and more each day...

 

[ColinBarber]

5 minutes ago, HotSpur-Lexus said:

I hope there is no issues with sharing pictures on this forum - I am new - so please advise if its not cricket...

 

Looks nice. Nothing wrong with pics, just it isn't really on-topic for this thread which is about stolen ESs - hopefully something you won't encounter.

[Cs150]

Quite incredible that the office of Chris Hayes does not respond, shows distain for customers. Hardly the culture and aims that the Lexus brand was launched with all those years past...

[taxiboy]

Am I right in thinking this method (CAN bus system), is done on the passenger side front bumper. If so, can one not park the front side up against a wall, or can they access the CAn bus system on the driver side? All the video's (about 4) are always on the passenger side). THanks

[Braxton Tyler]

I understand your concerns about the security of your Lexus ES following the incident. Adding a steering wheel lock and a ghost immobilizer can be effective security measures. It's important to choose reputable products from trusted brands.

 

[peniole]

Heard from my dealer. They got a response back that a solution is in the works. The RX problem is being tackled by the plate reinforcement and some a second non-lexus immobilizer fitted under warranty. ES owners will have to wait, no ETA yet.

[DrShockr]

Just an update on this for those who might be interested. It took my useless insurance company over 5 weeks to approve the repair on my car, all the while without a courtesy vehicle, just in case it was deemed a total loss, they only give a courtesy car after it is deemed repair worthy.

What an absolute palaver, took them a week to collect the car and take it to copart, then another week for someone at copart to produce a report saying it is repairable, then another week to drop it off to Lexus, Lexus sent the repair estimate on the day it was dropped off. The clowns at insurance took a week to look at the estimate and then decide that an 'independent engineer' would need to visit the car in person to see if they agree with Lexus. Indepandant took 1.5 weeks to visit the car because bloody insurance had given them the wrong address of the car's location! Insurance finally approved the repair last week. AND the cherry on top? Lexus gave me a piece of c**p Toyoa Aygo as a courtesy car.

Parts on order and am told there is a backlog for interior parts as they come from abroad, they can't start the work until all parts are here. Needles to say, I am so appalled, I wish I never recovered the car and just got paid out.

/Rant

[SH20]

I must be missing something regarding the CAN invasion technique, What is this in relation to headlamp wiring?   I keep my keys for my keyless entry in a screening wallet at home at night to avoid the code being scanned externally but this CAN thing seems to be something completely different and makes all cars ripe for theft.    

[SH20]

A lot of references to steering wheel bars etc.   Are Wheel clamps the answer for overnight parking when I assume most of these thefts occur?

Impractical and I guess reliant on a super secure padlock but then bolt cutters will form part of the thieves operational tool kit. I drive a Toyota CHR and about to trade it for a 2022 ES but you've got me thinking now.

[PDM]

37 minutes ago, SH20 said:

I must be missing something regarding the CAN invasion technique, What is this in relation to headlamp wiring?   I keep my keys for my keyless entry in a screening wallet at home at night to avoid the code being scanned externally but this CAN thing seems to be something completely different and makes all cars ripe for theft.    

The thieves can access the CANbus wiring to the headlights through the front wheel arch and inject commands to open the doors and start the car. 

Lexus are trialing (perhaps soon rolling out) a protection plate to prevent thieves from accessing the wiring through the wheel arch.  They have started this on the RX. Not sure about their plans for other models.

Paul

[ColinBarber]

9 hours ago, SH20 said:

I drive a Toyota CHR and about to trade it for a 2022 ES but you've got me thinking now.

It’s a concern and depending where you live it could be a real risk. The RX is most targeted, the ES rarely and the C-HR hardly ever (it has the same vulnerability).

[therealrjp]

On 2/9/2023 at 1:51 PM, JN74 said:

New to this thread, my Lexus was stolen on Tuesday night 8.45pm in Kensington, CCTV shows 44secs from arrival at the car to driving away. Clearly using the CAN BUS method (working on front left wheel arch etc). Got a reasonable night time image of main thief which the Met now have (balding middle aged thin guy surprisingly) they also had another two watching out so clearly a reasonably professional operation

I have seen other posters receive standard responses from Lexus fobbing them off, however also that if you insure certain models through Lexus insurance they offer you a free second immobiliser ie they know of the vulnerability and are protecting themselves against it but have not bothered to warm their owners or recall to fix the weakness. Knowing the chances of a few angry owners getting Lexus to do something is very small I have an appointment with Which Legal next week (as a member) as their magazine rates the RX450h as a Best Buy and they have significant clout when they get stuck into a big brand.

I will let you know the progress

 

Did you get anywhere with Which Legal? Curious to know if this has LED to the recent enthusiasm Lexus appear to be building in addressing the issue?

[JN74]

Not really, Which Legal explained that the 'contract' you have when purchasing a Lexus is with the Dealer not Lexus itself. Unless the dealer delibarately misled you then you have no claim against them and only against Lexus if they recall the cars to have the problem resolved (hence they haven't recalled cars or they would be hit with a wave of lawsuits).

I did write a number of emails/letter to both the Lexus dealership and Lexus and got back bland nothing replies but one would hope that given the number of people complaining they finally realised that they were losing their market. Interesting, where I live in London there are now virtually no Lexus 450h parked on the streets and speaking to a few people they have all moved on, as I have, and purchased BMW or Volvo SUVs.

[Spock66]

It would require a class legal action, instructing a local solicitor against the legal department of a large corporate would just be a waste of money.

I don't get how these diesel owners are owed thousands of pounds (at least as per the adverts) when at worst the emissions issue has had a relatively small impact on resale value. Surely the damage is owed to us (the public) who have had to breathe in their excess emissions?

[JN74]

A class action lawsuit wouldnt work in the UK, as I explained above Lexus has no legal contract assumed or otherwise with an owner only if they recall the cars to fix the problem which they wont do. The reason diesel owners have an action is that they were deceived by the manufacturers

[NICO1972]

On 4/11/2023 at 1:20 PM, DrShockr said:

I was gutted to find my ES missing from where I'd parked it on Sunday night. The Lexus Link app came in very handy and showed the car had been moved only a few miles away, I managed to locate it in a gated semi underground parking lot, but there has been significant damage to the car both outside and inside. As far as I can tell, they got in using the 'CAN invasion' technique. I am so disappointed that Toyota have not come up with a solution for this problem, I personally think all late model Lexus and Toyota should be recalled for some sort of software update. The thieves can inject any code to unlock and start the car, via the headlight wiring,  as the car's internal comms network does not use encryption. 

I've only been driving the car for a few weeks after upgrading from my CT200h, super gutted. Even if they repair it, I won't be satisfied knowing it can be stolen again any second, so although I love the car, I may have to sell it as I can't live in constant fear of it being stolen again. Had a call from a police officer today, whose only job is to recover stolen cars, he told me this was the 17th Lexus on his list (which he hadn't got to the end of yet!) from over the long weekend and this new vulnerability is causing a massive spike in thefts. 

Will be buying a steering wheel lock and potentially a ghost immobiliser. Anybody have any experience with either of those?

I am really sorry to hear for your situation. Something quite similar happened with my 2019 ES300h 2 nights ago ie on the evening of Wednesday 20th Sept 2023 at 23:04 hours, a car was seen slowing down as soon as it was passing by my ES and it drove back to park behind it with headlights on (that information is gathered thanks to CCTV of my property) I had 2 other cars parked on my way drive so the ES was left on the side pavement just outside the property. I could see one person stepping out of the front passenger of that suspicious vehicle (so the driver stayed inside the vehicle) - their lights were on to give visibility for the other male to operate. But thanks goodness I had a Metratrik Plus immobiliser fitted into my car a few months ago (Lexus staff had informed me that unfortunately the OEM immobiliser is not enough to protect this car) so the thieves failed to steal it and left within 6 minutes. Their device would have showed that this car is fitted with this additional immobiliser. But I did not know anything until the next morning, as when I started the car, the left headlight showed a fault and was not working at all. It was only when I phoned Lexus that they told me to check the side bumper to the archway wheel if it has been pulled out. And it was exactly what happened. The thieves attempted stealing that way by disconnecting the headlight. I am glad I have this system installed. If you need the name of the engineer and contact details (who was by the way recommended by Lexus staff), send me a Direct message and I will give you his details. It saved my car and I think you should have it done ASAP...

[SH20]

The description below is on eBay and  is something I am going to buy for overnight parking on my drive in a small Yorkshire town.    The Can bus is the weak link but I would rather  fit something that might cause a delay to a thief if an attempt to access the headlamps by pulling the bumper back is made.  This entry point is well documented around the world now so why on earth Lexus don't fit some sort of security around the back of the headlamps or alter the security by encrypting the system in such a way that these thefts using the headlamps as a front door are eliminated.    Or do they like the thought of all those extra spares that they will sell when Insurance Companies  pick up the damage bill when it us found smashed up.    It's too late to find the car using the My Lexus app if it's smashed up.  

 

Sorry the link wouldn't copy and paste for some reason.

Car Motorhome Trailer Wheel Clamp Extendable Heavy Duty Anti Theft Protection 2

 

 

[Cs150]

Observed some strange activity around my ES this weekend. On the rare occasion did not fit a steering lock in a public car park; a person kept hanging around the car with a handheld gadget potentially a mobile? The vehicle was parked in a far corner of the car park near no other vehicles. Very odd behaviour. Unclear if they were planning to dismantle the wheel arch lining subject the right moment and attack the canbus or using some remote method? As soon as I approached the vehicle they immediately moved away, these vehicles appear to be a target....

[peniole]

5 minutes ago, Cs150 said:

Observed some strange activity around my ES this weekend. On the rare occasion did not fit a steering lock in a public car park; a person kept hanging around the car with a handheld gadget potentially a mobile? The vehicle was parked in a far corner of the car park near no other vehicles. Very odd behaviour. Unclear if they were planning to dismantle the wheel arch lining subject the right moment and attack the canbus or using some remote method? As soon as I approached the vehicle they immediately moved away, these vehicles appear to be a target....

Seems they're moving north, outside of the m25 ring. Where did this happen?

[Cs150]

14 minutes ago, peniole said:

Seems they're moving north, outside of the m25 ring. Where did this happen?

This was in Cambridge at around 10.30 in the morning this Sunday

[SH20]

Carl this probable criminal  who was eyeballing your car was probably trying to scan your code with a hand held scanning tool. Had the car been parked amongst other cars close by he wouldn't have looked so out of place and could have just waited around till you key activated the code. The fact your car was isolated  made his close proximity to it highly suspect.  

[Imran Mirza]

Hi Carl, it is crazy how many people target cars of these kinds of value, in London where we stay almost everyone has steering wheel locks fitted even to non valuable vehicles, it really is a shame that it happens so often.
We test drove a 2013 RX450h Premier and it came with a key card, and the guy explained how it was critical to not keep the key close to the front of the house because, as Steve said, criminals can scan the code and unlock the vehicle. Absolute shame. Steering wheel locks and all the extra preventative measures are essential now.

[Cs150]

13 hours ago, SH20 said:

Carl this probable criminal  who was eyeballing your car was probably trying to scan your code with a hand held scanning tool. Had the car been parked amongst other cars close by he wouldn't have looked so out of place and could have just waited around till you key activated the code. The fact your car was isolated  made his close proximity to it highly suspect.  

If they capture the code Steve how long would it be of use for do you know? Recall reading the code is recycled after a period of time and the previous code is no longer valid and cannot start the car?

[Cs150]

13 hours ago, Imran Mirza said:

Hi Carl, it is crazy how many people target cars of these kinds of value, in London where we stay almost everyone has steering wheel locks fitted even to non valuable vehicles, it really is a shame that it happens so often.
We test drove a 2013 RX450h Premier and it came with a key card, and the guy explained how it was critical to not keep the key close to the front of the house because, as Steve said, criminals can scan the code and unlock the vehicle. Absolute shame. Steering wheel locks and all the extra preventative measures are essential now.

It is really sad Imran to have to take so many extra measures to protect a vehicle when the manufacturer could do more in terms of native protection. Have to go to London later this month and may take the wife's Ford rather than the ES!