Attempted Theft of my RX450h 2020

[taffie999]

On 6/23/2023 at 5:17 PM, NemesisUK said:

It's simply legalese. They could never openly admit or even hint, at any shortcomings. Just imagine the law suits and claims that would ensue.

I've posted a video on Lexus UK Facebook page, showing an RX being stolen, via canbus, in around a minute. Let's see them deny that. The only way to make them sit up and take notice (they already know, but seem not to care), is to post concerns and incidences of theft on their Facebook page, for all to see. I believe they would act on that.

[RONNIE W HODGEKINSON]

4 hours ago, RONNIE W HODGEKINSON said:

Just Google Ghost immobiliser and you will get there tel number Think They go all over uk..Also check there Offers At The moment ..They also fit GPS tracker devices Ghost 2 is the latest one..Best of Luck..!!

The Milenco Steering wheel lock is the Business and is a Superb fit Vertically Over the wheel But Remember If A professional Car Thief wants your car.. ITS OFF...!! Dosn,t matter if you surround it with a Flock of Geese 3 Bengal Tigers and Little Muffy Next doors Poodle .Sadly It Will be gone.. I Have 24hr CCTV watching and Recording on my drive Do everything you can to protect your Baby.. Thats what i do... The ghost immobiliser is Good but better to Prevent the car being stolen in the first place.. Does that make sense...

[Sybaris]

It's just not good enough. IMHO... I have the impression that Lexus is happy to take the money from thousands of customers but when it is time for them to help the customer, they don't want to know.

[eightk]

Faraday pouches - mine didn’t work. I could open the car (a Kia) with the keys in a closed pouch next to me. I now have stainless Faraday tins with tight fitting lids which I’ve tested - they 100% work and won’t wear out like a pouch - bought from amazon.

I’m not an expert but there is an argument a ghost wouldn’t stop a canbus attack. I have emailed autowatch but haven’t had a response yet.

Ghost and trackers etc have no visible deterrent. I’m looking at a cat 2 immobiliser with flashy dashboard LED as well as the invisible cat 5 tracker I had fitted that has the optional immobiliser on it.

Trackers are fitted by the same installers day in day out. Thieves now know where to look and can remove them given enough time. The only way to stop theft and confuse a pro thief even if they do have a go is to fit something visible, complex and time consuming to defeat and most importantly something that’s non-standard to what’s usually fitted to stop theft. Old school steering locks, driveway posts, dashboard leds, heck even parking the left hand front corner against a wall may help.

Stoplock Pro is a good one but all it may do is slow a thief down rather than put him off altogether.

Lexus need to get their act together and get updated software tested and rolled out as this could be incredibly damaging for the brand.

Andy - LC with the same vulnerability.

[eightk]

Anyone with a Lexus or Toyota with this canbus attack vulnerability needs to speak to their dealer, to Lexus UK and also use Facebook etc to question Lexus on what they’re doing to sort this. 

[steve2006]

Here’s a quote from an article ( full article in link) regarding the infamous LS400 cruise control recall.

How times have changed from this level of service to “we don’t know anything about the problem or fix”

From Flagship to sinking ship perhaps for Lexus/Toyota?

https://medium.com/swlh/how-lexus-turned-its-first-loss-into-its-biggest-win-ccece35ae3a1

 

”In the last quarter of 1989 Toyota found itself in an awkward situation. The company had just launched its Lexus line, debuting the LS400 model that September. By December, 8,000 cars had been sold and it seemed that Toyota actually had a chance to penetrate the United States’s luxury car market. Everything was going well until two drivers of LS400s reported a minor issue with their cruise control. Lexus could have waited for more problems to come forward, but because the luxurious line was in its infancy, Lexus made a bold move and voluntarily recalled all 8,000 LS400s it had sold.”

 

[NemesisUK]

Another quote from that article..

"It is even worth considering the possibility that Lexus may not of had a problem with their LS400 models at all. If done right, a company can provide ‘excellent’ customer service if they fabricate a fixable issue and then provide first-class service while fixing the issue."

Was it simply a publicity stunt? Or was it a cautious reaction to a potentially dangerous fault? Either way it only concerned a relatively small number of vehicles

Not the same as a 'simple' loss of a car due to the ingenuity of car thieves. Potentially involving many hundreds of thousands of vehicles.. 

[Toyota Owner]

I did enquire with my Toyota dealer a few months ago about the retrofit Toyota Enhanced Security System ( Lexus have there own branded version ) as I had the part number, the dealer had never heard of the system but with the part number they did contact Toyota technical in Europe, I'm still waiting on a response. 

Its basically a 2nd immobiliser activated by a Bluetooth dongle hung from the vehicle key ring.

After I enquired I found some technical details about the system & decided it's not going to stop a professional thief so did more research & I went with another option. 

 

 

 

[my pride & joy]

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.

[WipeOut]

On 7/1/2023 at 11:59 AM, First_Lexus said:

I spoke with Lexus Reading about the issue last week and the proposed fix. They claimed to know nothing about the problem or the fix (!) but promised to speak with Lexus UK and call me back. I’m still waiting…

…so I wrote to Lexus UK as well. I received the same bland “…we’re aware, all cars are vulnerable to theft blah blah blah…” response that others have had. Not very impressive.

Lexus Reading do know about it, I've spoken to a few there about it. I suspect you spoke with Pinocchio!

[DaveyBoy]

Lexus Lincoln didn't know about this a month ago, but do now!

They had one of their own forecourt vehicles stolen using the CANBUS attack, exactly how I described to them a month ago! They managed to retrieve it from a container the same day, I think it was at Nottingham ready to be shipped. I think it was a HiLux, not sure I really remember the vehicle correctly. They said it caused about £1000 of damage.

They were amazed how quickly it was taken.

They've now taken the matter seriously and have pressed Lexus UK for the device I asked them for.

Funny how it had to happen to them before they could give a toss.

[peniole]

18 hours ago, DaveyBoy said:

Lexus Lincoln didn't know about this a month ago, but do now!

They had one of their own forecourt vehicles stolen using the CANBUS attack, exactly how I described to them a month ago! They managed to retrieve it from a container the same day, I think it was at Nottingham ready to be shipped. I think it was a HiLux, not sure I really remember the vehicle correctly. They said it caused about £1000 of damage.

They were amazed how quickly it was taken.

They've now taken the matter seriously and have pressed Lexus UK for the device I asked them for.

Funny how it had to happen to them before they could give a toss.

I've just forwarded the news to our local dealer in Preston. If each one of you makes sure the other dealers hear about the Lexus Lincoln theft, maybe they'll get off their collective behinds and bug HQ more effectively than we could.

[Herbie]

14 minutes ago, peniole said:

I've just forwarded the news to our local dealer in Preston. If each one of you makes sure the other dealers hear about the Lexus Lincoln theft, maybe they'll get off their collective behinds and bug HQ more effectively that we could.

I'll send one to Preston as well, can't do any harm.

[rk1]

We have had our RX damaged thrice since April 2023, despite the usual precautions of DISCLOCK and additional immobiliser! One of the attempted thefts was in broad day light in a station carpark. All these additional measures probably stop the car being driven off, but the damage has still been incurred that costs.

[therealrjp]

I recently took ownership of an approved used RX gen4. I didn’t know about any of this, so it’s obviously concerning.

I’ve emailed customer relations today stating that I am aware of a ‘fix’ in the blanking plate and that I am treating their response to my concern as to whether I will consider my relationship with the brand when the time comes to change. I’m also within my 30 days exchange period (although I don’t realistically know what I’d want to change to and it’s still a sale for them). This is my fifth Lexus and customer care has always been exceptional (especially at Edgware Road) so I’m really hoping I don’t get put off. 

I’ll update when I get a response…

[DaveyBoy]

welcome to the forum @therealrjp.

Get a stop lock and worry less. The thieves are after easy pickings, so have a visible bright yellow deterrent and they'll steal next doors car instead!

 

That's how house robberies go! They look for least resistance, no gates, no lights, no cameras, no alarms.

[therealrjp]

I’m not over worried, just a bit concerned. I rarely park anywhere I’d be at massive risk - I live on a gated street and the car is parked during the day in a secured and guarded work car park. I’d still like the peace of mind of a potential fix as I’m not really interested in the extra faff of steering lock.

Let’s see what customer relations comes back with, but I won’t be losing sleep in the mean time. If it’s stolen, it’s a pain, but that’s what insurance is for!

[Spock66]

1 minute ago, therealrjp said:

Let’s see what customer relations comes back with

No doubt the standard template response we have all received, and don't respond again if you follow-up, at least that's my experience 😒

[08ISF]

For those who might be interested RX450h F sport LN16EMV has had the CANBUS plate fitted and is now on a forecourt somewhere. I traded it a week ago for a Mustang. Not a change directly  influenced by the thefts, but I got to thinking about  what I would replace it with if it went missing. The Mustang was the only car that pushed any buttons and we all know how that thought process goes.....

If anybody sees it, it is a good car , I had it for 4 years and it performed faultlessly.

I expect Lexus Customer Services and their CEO will be happy to see the back of me.

One point though, the Mustang, despite 450+HP, cost half as much to insure, which is a measure of how insurers are viewing RX's at the moment!!

[rk1]

On 7/7/2023 at 10:45 AM, rk1 said:

We have had our RX damaged thrice since April 2023, despite the usual precautions of DISCLOCK and additional immobiliser! One of the attempted thefts was in broad day light in a station carpark. All these additional measures probably stop the car being driven off, but the damage has still been incurred that costs.

Since this post, I have contacted my local dealer and they have offered to fit the plate someone mentioned in the earlier post. At a cost of £209! Not happy about having to pay for this as it is a design issue with Lexus. 

Fitting the plate of course does not mean the thieves wont damage the car before finding out they cannot easily gain access to the car - probably costing me again! If it is the same thieves at least they won't probably try again.

Will contact Lexus to express my displeasure.

[Spock66]

40 minutes ago, rk1 said:

Fitting the plate of course does not mean the thieves wont damage the car before finding out they cannot easily gain access to the car - probably costing me again! If it is the same thieves at least they won't probably try again.

If Lexus were to roll out the fix to all cars (as they should) then I would expect this type of attack attempt would be very much reduced.

[WipeOut]

5 hours ago, rk1 said:

Since this post, I have contacted my local dealer and they have offered to fit the plate someone mentioned in the earlier post. At a cost of £209! Not happy about having to pay for this as it is a design issue with Lexus. 

Fitting the plate of course does not mean the thieves wont damage the car before finding out they cannot easily gain access to the car - probably costing me again! If it is the same thieves at least they won't probably try again.

Will contact Lexus to express my displeasure.

Talk to Lexus UK and complain. They've offered to fit if free of charge to my car, and collect return the car.

[Sybaris]

Lexus UK have been helpful, it is worth contacting them directly

[eightk]

Does anyone have any info on part numbers, what the plate looks like etc? I’d be interested in seeing if Lexus can fit it to my LC?

[Rob62]

5 hours ago, eightk said:

Does anyone have any info on part numbers, what the plate looks like etc? I’d be interested in seeing if Lexus can fit it to my LC?

This is probably not the right place to give out too much information about what the plate is and how it is fitted!

If you ask your Lexus dealer, I am sure they can tell you all you need to know.