Attempted Theft of my RX450h 2020

[Spock66]

2 hours ago, rk1 said:

I had the plate fitted last week and the dealer charged £209.04. 

If I end up paying that's disappointing, will let you know, it's booked in for next week.

[PDM]

12 hours ago, ColinBarber said:

Unfortunately Toyota/Lexus were slow to move with other manufacturers to adopt automatic sleeping keys. To my knowledge no Lexus uses them. Only the Toyota Supra has them because the engine, ecu and ancillary electronics are from BMW. 

Colin, I asked customer relations specifically and they said my 21 RX has sleeping keys.  So perhaps it was introduced without fanfare? Or perhaps customer relations are not clear about the technology?

Paul

 

[ColinBarber]

2 hours ago, PDM said:

Colin, I asked customer relations specifically and they said my 21 RX has sleeping keys.  So perhaps it was introduced without fanfare? Or perhaps customer relations are not clear about the technology?

Paul

 

Looked into this a bit more and 2022 seems to be when these were introduced, give or take some months depending on model. 
 

I’d recommend you test this by placing the key on the ground near the door and then unlock/lock every minute without touching the key. After 4 or 5 minutes it should stop working and then a quick movement of the key without pressing the buttons should make it work again. 

[Rob62]

3 hours ago, PDM said:

Colin, I asked customer relations specifically and they said my 21 RX has sleeping keys.  So perhaps it was introduced without fanfare? Or perhaps customer relations are not clear about the technology?

Paul

 

The other option is to turn off keyless entry from the car settings in the vehicle.

The car will no longer look for a signal from the key. Unfortunately this will also mean that you have to lock/unlock the car by pressing the button on the remote and having the remote touch the start button in order to start the car.

This will solve one problem but will cause you inconvenience in the process. You will just have to decide which is more important.

[RONNIE W HODGEKINSON]

On 7/2/2023 at 1:11 PM, my pride & joy said:

I've now had the Ghost immobiliser fitted. As well as a motion sensor security light, Faraday pouch (I regularly check it's still effective) and the steering wheel lock, I'm not sure there's much more I can do. In addition, my kind neighbour has put up a security camera that covers my car. 

I'm not bothering with a tracker,  as they are too easy to find and remove and I want to prevent the car being stolen in the first place.

If thieves really want the car, it won't stop them, so I all I can do is to make it as difficult as possible for them.

ANDY.. Did you get little stickers To Put on your car Warning Would be Thieves that you have a Ghost Immobiliser installed..although i do not have one fitted myself i would be interested in little stickers which could be attached to the windows advertising it They wont know its a bluff.. Any idea where i could get them ?

[Sybaris]

They might now, seeing as you have told everyone

[Sharon L]

And I am advised that I've lost 10k in value in 6 months (wasn't even new) because of the theft issue! Fuming.

[NemesisUK]

6 minutes ago, Sharon L said:

And I am advised that I've lost 10k in value in 6 months (wasn't even new) because of the theft issue! Fuming.

Who advised you?

[my pride & joy]

Hi. Yes I did get stickers but the jury is out as to whether I'll affix them or not. Not entirely  sure I want to give thieves the heads up as to the security system installed. No idea if you can buy them separately. 

[my pride & joy]

Hi LenT. Am getting on well with it but was initially very disappointed with the limited buttons available to use for the 'password'. Having seen videos of the ghost2 in action, I had planned to use those on the steering wheel but not one was available - it was mainly the buttons on the panel that operate the heating etc

[my pride & joy]

Ronnie- I am the good lady and as much as I love my car, I certainly won't be bedding down for the night in it!

[LenT]

45 minutes ago, my pride & joy said:

but was initially very disappointed with the limited buttons available to use for the 'password'.

I think that would disappoint me too.  The Autowatch website certainly strongly suggests that a button combination chosen from three different locations is available.  But it appears that maybe all the buttons have to come from one location, of which there could be a choice of three.

Of course this may just be determined by the Installer.  If it’s a frustration it may be worth checking back with the Installer to see if the steering wheel could have been selected.  It maybe that accessibility to the wiring may have been the deciding factor.

On the other hand, the steering wheel might be the most obvious location - and so the last one to choose!

Nevertheless, the chances of any ambitious thief stumbling on the right combination of location and buttons must be extremely remote.  So I hope it does the job!
BTW: Have you checked to see if this additional layer of security has gained you a reduction in your Insurance?

PS: What do you think of the Milenco steering lock?

[my pride & joy]

1 hour ago, LenT said:

BTW: Have you checked to see if this additional layer of security has gained you a reduction in your Insurance?

PS: What do you think of the Milenco steering lock?

Hi. Yes, I checked with my insurance and they are not interested, therefore no reduction in premium....

The Milenco is good. Very easy to fit/remove, not too heavy and doesnt damage the steering wheel. I had to return the first one I bought though as too often the key wouldn't go fully into the lock - once it took me 10 minutes to get the damn thing off.

[my pride & joy]

2 hours ago, LenT said:

Of course this may just be determined by the Installer.  If it’s a frustration it may be worth checking back with the Installer to see if the steering wheel could have been selected.  It maybe that accessibility to the wiring may have been the deciding factor.

I did complain and got the installer to come back. Apparently it is Lexus/the car that determines which buttons can be used. Subsequently,  i was provided with a fob so the car now knows it's me when I get in and I don't need to enter the code. Am slightly concerned though, whether this can be accessed by thieves  in.the same way they access keys using the  relay method. I did ask the installer this question and all they said was that the fob can't be cloned.

[rayaans]

On 7/2/2023 at 1:11 PM, my pride & joy said:

I've now had the Ghost immobiliser fitted. As well as a motion sensor security light, Faraday pouch (I regularly check it's still effective) and the steering wheel lock, I'm not sure there's much more I can do. In addition, my kind neighbour has put up a security camera that covers my car. 

I'm not bothering with a tracker,  as they are too easy to find and remove and I want to prevent the car being stolen in the first place.

If thieves really want the car, it won't stop them, so I all I can do is to make it as difficult as possible for them.

Brake lock is good. Wont even be able to drive it. Can be found on eBay and theyre quite thick so cant be cut through. 

4 hours ago, my pride & joy said:

I did complain and got the installer to come back. Apparently it is Lexus/the car that determines which buttons can be used. Subsequently,  i was provided with a fob so the car now knows it's me when I get in and I don't need to enter the code. Am slightly concerned though, whether this can be accessed by thieves  in.the same way they access keys using the  relay method. I did ask the installer this question and all they said was that the fob can't be cloned.

The buttons available are chosen by the manufacturer. Id throw the fob away far in a river somewhere tbh. Ghost also has a app but again, it works from almost 10m away so no good. 

We had one fitted to the Golf and its been great so far.

[LenT]

5 hours ago, my pride & joy said:

I did ask the installer this question and all they said was that the fob can't be cloned.

Possibly not…but it can be stolen!

As Rayaan suggests….lose the fob!  In fact, it’s rather worrying that such a thing can even be made.

 What is the point of developing a complex, multi-input security system which can then be completely bypassed in the presence of a fob?

Or are we missing something?

[Hillie]

19 hours ago, my pride & joy said:

Hi LenT. Am getting on well with it but was initially very disappointed with the limited buttons available to use for the 'password'. Having seen videos of the ghost2 in action, I had planned to use those on the steering wheel but not one was available - it was mainly the buttons on the panel that operate the heating etc

16 hours ago, my pride & joy said:

...... Apparently it is Lexus/the car that determines which buttons can be used. Subsequently, 

I have the Scorpion X fitted and this also supports a limited number of buttons and like you I was dissapointed by this selection.  For the Scorpion  the button choices do include some steering wheel controls.  I am starting to believe that Scorpion and Ghost share some common attributes in design and implementation.

Could it be that the choice of buttons is also dependent on the specific CAN bus circuit they are tied into?

 

 

[ColinBarber]

1 hour ago, Hillie said:

Could it be that the choice of buttons is also dependent on the specific CAN bus circuit they are tied into?

It’s exactly this and the older the vehicle the less choice there is because Lexus were using discrete wiring or non-CAN bus communication to switches much more historically.

[Lux]

I wish I had come a cross this forum before my car Rx450h (2017 model) got stolen on 20/07/2023 from Lee Valley Tesco Extra car park between 4:00 - 4:30 pm😩

i had my service booked on 24/07.  When I informed the Woodford Lexus service Center manager called to confirm service, he was aware of the CAN Bus injection 🙈

if anyone perusing any litigation against Lexus UK, please let me know I would like to join.

I am really gutted as I had my wallet, my work laptop, my house keys, etc. 

if you guys have any advice regarding my stolen car, I will  appreciate 🙏

[DaveyBoy]

I'm gutted for you. This is outrageous.

I would suggest looking into vehicles using encrypted canbus units.

I've just had my Lexus fitted with protection plates. They look like they go on both sides of the car. They will definitely stop thieves removing the plug from the headlights. Time will tell if this is successful. I think it will be.

https://kentindell.github.io/2023/04/03/can-injection/

https://www.theregister.com/2023/04/06/can_injection_attack_car_theft/ this links to the link above too.

I feel a right *ick putting a Stoplock on every time. But I've gotten into the habit now. Still, there are videos of them removing stoplocks in about 5 minutes with angle grinders. Sick of explaining to co-workers why I'm using a stoplock.

Jurys still out whether Ghost et al will work against this exploit. The link to the research suggests in general, immobilizer chips don't work. The author has been asked directly in comments a couple of times and has not answered. Possibly because they don't know for sure / don't want to risk being sued.

Trackers are not that useful because they have GPS & phone jammers. Lexus cars are shipped out of the UK in a matter of days, in shipping containers. So GPS doesn't work inside a metal box. That's often when they lose track of the car, as the container is then moved. Other brands are stripped in just 24h. There's a Youtube channel from a tracker firm which shows you just how fast the thieves work. Stripped to bare chassis, engine out the lot. They even box it all up ready to go. 

Anyone have any ideas on a suitable kill switch device?

[LenT]

22 minutes ago, DaveyBoy said:

Anyone have any ideas on a suitable kill switch device?

I posted this on another thread, but it is an excellent demonstration of fitting a ‘Kill Switch’ to the fuel pump and an ingenious location for it.

I mentioned that many years ago I had fitted something similar to the low tension distributor lead which produced the same results.  Namely, the engine would churn away encouragingly - but will never fire up!
 

 

[Mad_4u]

I have fitted Battery kill switch to my Lexus, this will stop any kind of theft as the car will be dead no Battery.

the only issue with it you loss your steering adjustment and you need to reset up the time.
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mNobeVo

easy to fit and if they try to unlock the car using can bus device it will not work since there is no power or Battery connection 

 

[ColinBarber]

18 minutes ago, Mad_4u said:

I have fitted battery kill switch to my Lexus, this will stop any kind of theft as the car will be dead no battery.

Is your insurance company ok that your alarm no longer works. At the very least I suspect they wouldn’t cover any claims against contents from the vehicle being stolen.

[Spock66]

On 7/17/2023 at 9:58 AM, rk1 said:

I had the plate fitted last week and the dealer charged £209.04. 

Mine was fitted today and there was no charge, took 1.5 hours whilst I waited.

I had previously contacted Lexus Customer Relations and just got the stock response that has been posted on this thread, then got an unprompted call from my local dealer to have the plates fitted

[rk1]

58 minutes ago, Spock66 said:

Mine was fitted today and there was no charge, took 1.5 hours whilst I waited.

I had previously contacted Lexus Customer Relations and just got the stock response that has been posted on this thread, then got an unprompted call from my local dealer to have the plates fitted

Good for you that they fitted the plate FOC.

May be they charged me because I called the dealer directly