Attempted Theft of my RX450h 2020

[PeterI]

I found mine had the passenger side front trim pulled back last week just like Rob62 (I'm in South East London) which I noticed when I pulled in for petrol.

Thankfully it all clipped back in without any dramas. I'm interested to know if they got as far as finding the plates fitted last year when the car was in for accident damage or if someone walked past and they got nervous.

I also have an additional immobilizer fitted by Lexus Insurance but I'm dreading the renewal quote this year after my claim for my car being hit while parked.

[eightk]

On 2/15/2024 at 12:26 PM, Mizuno said:

In addition to the Lexus plates being fitted, I have also hidden 2 airtags within the car with the speakers removed. 😉

As extra security if a thief does get into the car physically or through the can-bus I have also a hidden switch which isolates the brake light switch wiring so the engine will not start.

Low cost simple solution which could save your car being driven away...........easy mod for an auto electrician

 

I have an LC with tracker, immobiliser and ‘stuff’ - Lexus offer non-RX owners the square root of f all so far. I’m confident my car cannot be stolen without a flatbed and winch. However…

A Lexus with protection won’t vanish but it will get damaged… over and over again until Lexus issue a recall and upgrade every affected car.

[Sybaris]

4 hours ago, eightk said:

I have an LC with tracker, immobiliser and ‘stuff’ - Lexus offer non-RX owners the square root of f all so far. I’m confident my car cannot be stolen without a flatbed and winch. However…

A Lexus with protection won’t vanish but it will get damaged… over and over again until Lexus issue a recall and upgrade every affected car.

If the damage is minor, might as well leave it.  At least the thieves will see someone had a go but its not worth the time and effort.  Not the ideal solution but might make them move on to another one.

[DaveyBoy]

So far, these attempts indicate that the plates are working. With enough failed attempts, they might just jog on and stick to range rovers.

[PDM]

1 hour ago, DaveyBoy said:

So far, these attempts indicate that the plates are working. With enough failed attempts, they might just jog on and stick to range rovers.

Fingers crossed... But how long for insurance company statistics to allow more sensible premiums?

[Sundance]

3 hours ago, PDM said:

Fingers crossed... But how long for insurance company statistics to allow more sensible premiums?

 

[PeterI]

Sigh.... After the recent attempt on my RX the thieves came back.

Front wheel arch again and presumably they cut through the plate, the immobiliser stopped them moving it any further than about a foot.

Car is now displaying an hybrid system fault, so it's a trip to the dealers to get them to give the car a once over to check and see if I can get a fresh plate installed. Does anyone know if that is going to be a "live" fault or do "historic" faults caused by the thieves display until cleared with TechStream?

More once I've had time to take some pictures and examine under the wheel arch a bit as I need to go to work.

[peniole]

28 minutes ago, PeterI said:

Sigh.... After the recent attempt on my RX the thieves came back.

Front wheel arch again and presumably they cut through the plate, the immobiliser stopped them moving it any further than about a foot.

Car is now displaying an hybrid system fault, so it's a trip to the dealers to get them to give the car a once over to check and see if I can get a fresh plate installed. Does anyone know if that is going to be a "live" fault or do "historic" faults caused by the thieves display until cleared with TechStream?

More once I've had time to take some pictures and examine under the wheel arch a bit as I need to go to work.

Sorry to hear that. So the plate is a delay as I was told, and they've figured a way around it...sigh.

[PeterI]

Okay back from Lexus Woodford, car had a disconnected headlamp (unsurprisingly) looks like they just smashed their way through the plate (I forgot to get a photo) and cut the wires to the headlamp.

The nice guys managed to fix up the wiring loom and fitted a new protection plate free of charge. There was a slight worry we might need a new wiring loom / headlamp assembly but I got a phone call with the good news that the wiring was fixable before I even got moving on the Tube back to my office, sat around in reception checking emails and chat all in took a couple of hours, total cost 160 GBP.

So could have been worse, now I just need to wait see if the thieves come back for another go.

[YvesD]

Is there any theme to where these attempted thefts take place?

On a side street, supermarket carpark, at home on the drive etc?

Or totally random?

[PDM]

17 hours ago, PeterI said:

Okay back from Lexus Woodford, car had a disconnected headlamp (unsurprisingly) looks like they just smashed their way through the plate (I forgot to get a photo) and cut the wires to the headlamp.

The nice guys managed to fix up the wiring loom and fitted a new protection plate free of charge. There was a slight worry we might need a new wiring loom / headlamp assembly but I got a phone call with the good news that the wiring was fixable before I even got moving on the Tube back to my office, sat around in reception checking emails and chat all in took a couple of hours, total cost 160 GBP.

So could have been worse, now I just need to wait see if the thieves come back for another go.

If they are now at the stage of cutting the wiring loom to gain access they would not even need to smash the plate. The plate only covers the connector area, not the entire loom.  This was only a matter of time.

The plate should have bought enough time to engineer a software fix.... But here we are still discussing the lack of solution...

[Spock66]

27 minutes ago, YvesD said:

Is there any theme to where these attempted thefts take place?

I suspect location and the majority are scouted out as targets beforehand, although there have been reports of more random thefts too.

[First_Lexus]

45 minutes ago, Spock66 said:

I suspect location and the majority are scouted out as targets beforehand, although there have been reports of more random thefts too.

Not specific to Lexus, but I heard on the radio a couple of weeks ago that for some ‘desirable’ cars they believe thieves are placing magnetic ‘tracking tags’ on the backs of wheels etc. so they could pick their spot to steal the vehicle. 

[YvesD]

Very concerning all of this, seems all we can do is fit a trick immobiliser and hope for the best

[larryadler]

It does appear that from what I’m reading on here, that most of these theft / attempt theft incident are occurring south of Watford Gap, but mainly around London!

I do wonder, are these cars parked on driveways, or outside on the road. Are these owners fitting additional security, ghost, scorpion, steering wheel locks? 
I know this won’t preclude damage to the front near side wing, but visual deterrent might make these thieving gits move onto something else.

Owners do need to do their utmost to stop their pride and joy being nicked, it’s actually getting embarrassing now, the frequency of the RX being targeted, not only for Lexus, but the lack of Police on the streets, to catch any bugger out there.

I’m afraid it’s a sign of the times we live in, no one will take responsibility, so we pay the inevitable price of insurance etc.

It took me many years of hard graft to finally afford a nice car for my retirement, but all this is making me think twice, and drive an undesirable knacker instead!!!!!

[ColinBarber]

31 minutes ago, larryadler said:

I do wonder, are these cars parked on driveways, or outside on the road. Are these owners fitting additional security, ghost, scorpion, steering wheel locks? 

There are several YouTube videos of Lexus being stolen from Ring type camera footage. Some are off driveways and others from the street outside the house. There are a couple where they have been stolen with a disklok fitted where they just use a Battery angle grinder to remove it.

[larryadler]

Yes Colin I have seen those, the majority are in the States, or Canada, I haven’t seen any in the U.K. like that. 
I must be honest, this constant threat is spoiling the ownership experience, does the Mk 5 RX have the same problems?

[DaveyBoy]

From what I understand, mark 5 is fully encrypted. But I cannot confirm.

[First_Lexus]

I’ve got a series of test drives booked for later in March, and I’ve decided to bail out while my RX still has some value. I want to downsize anyway, but this issue has brought my decision forward.

My RX is my third Lexus, and I’ve loved the cars and the dealers. However, none of the cars I’m testing is a Lexus - I cancelled the test drive in the LBX because I feel it’s just too expensive compared to the alternatives and, to be totally honest, all of this malarkey has made me think twice.

I fully accept that other manufacturers have, have had, and will have similar issues. I also accept that Lexus may come up with a software solution for the Mk4 RX which helps or solves the problem. That said, I’m of the opinion that a smaller and less desirable car, and one without this specific CANBUS vulnerability is the right thing to do in the circumstances before my insurance renewal in May.

Personally I think the damage to the Lexus brand among previously loyal owners is, and will continue to be, significant. Shame.

[larryadler]

Yes Ed, I think I am in the same mindset too. 
Just like you I love the brand, the quality, the dealers, and in all honesty it’s not the cars fault, it’s the thieving scumbags that are the problem.

I have no doubt at all this will affect the brand, and take loyal customers elsewhere, ( just avoid Audi, there dealers are crap)and who can blame them, at the end of the day cash is king, and if owning a Lexus means being fleeced by insurance companies I don’t see an alternative really, sad situation 😩

[First_Lexus]

56 minutes ago, larryadler said:

just avoid Audi

^^ Don’t worry, the contenders are (almost) all Japanese. Suzuki Vitara the value option, Mazda CX-30 the mid-ranking, and the new MINI Countryman the ‘premium’ choice. The MINI looks especially good, and fully loaded comes in c£5k less than the LBX. However, my preference is nearly new i.e. up to three years old, so likely it’ll be the Suzuki or Mazda tbh unless the MINI deal is exceptional.

I had considered the new CH-R and the Yaris Cross, but again they’re quite new and overpriced against the competition I’m looking at in my opinion.

I’ve even looked at the Ssangyong Korando which is astonishing value and feels quite ok really, but depreciation/resale would be a concern.

We will see what will do the job I need for the best price. Driving fewer than 5k miles a year now pretty much anything with a higher seating position / entry point is probably fine tbh! 

[Sybaris]

What Lexus owners need to do is get together, use an RX as bait, and when the thieves appear, all jump out and ... (of course for legal purposes, I was going to say make a citizens arrest)

[YvesD]

Is it always the nearside light/wing they go for?

Just wondering where to site my CS gas canister ring pull 😉

[Rob62]

9 minutes ago, YvesD said:

Is it always the nearside light/wing they go for?

Just wondering where to site my CS gas canister ring pull 😉

Yes it is.

I think a high Voltage discharge unit would probably be better. That way you will have time to catch the thief and chop his hand (and other bits) off.

That said you will likely be arrested and be the one in the wrong! Wokism gone mad!

[larryadler]

Don’t start me on wokeism, I recall seeing some bloke in South Africa years ago. It was prevalent at the time for the locals to stop the nice motors and threaten the driver to vacate the vehicle and the they would drive of in it.

So this guy fitted some burners to both sills and when approach he would ignite them, severe blast of about four burners on each sill, bbq the the thieving tow rags!
Imagine doing that today 😂😩🤣