Update and farewell - My ES was stolen 😡

[DrShockr]

My original thread got merged with another and things became a bit difficult to follow. Just an update to say my car was found after it's second theft and deemed a category A write off. I was sent the engineer's report and was shocked to see that the only thing left of the 'car' was the bare metal shell, everything else had been stripped; no engine, no doors, no seats, no wheels, nothing! Definitely done by a professional group, there was only a window of just over 24 hours between the time it disappeared and being found by police. 

To surmise, over my 10 month ES ownership, car stolen in April, recovered and repaired with considerable expense, stolen again in November, recovered but found to be stripped bare, written off and paid out. No aftermarket immobiliser installed but I did have a Disklok on the second time around which had been cut through.

As most of you are a already aware, Lexus just shrugged their shoulders and said there is nothing they can do, they have a metal plate for the RX but nothing has been developed for the ES. 

I now have two expensive theft claims on my insurance that I'll have to pay through the nose for over the next five years and PTSD whenever I see a Lexus (or god forbid, an ES!) on the road, don't know how long that will last for 😞

I really loved the car, such a shame it had to end this way. Needless to say, I've decided to move away from Lexus, I may come back to the brand in the (distant!) future, who knows 😞

Goodbye all and thanks for all the advice and warm replies on my original thread.

[Boomer54]

6 minutes ago, DrShockr said:

My original thread got merged with another and things became a bit difficult to follow. Just an update to say my car was found after it's second theft and deemed a category A write off. I was sent the engineer's report and was shocked to see that the only thing left of the 'car' was the bare metal shell, everything else had been stripped; no engine, no doors, no seats, no wheels, nothing! Definitely done by a professional group, there was only a window of just over 24 hours between the time it disappeared and being found by police. 

To surmise, over my 10 month ES ownership, car stolen in April, recovered and repaired with considerable expense, stolen again in November, recovered but found to be stripped bare, written off and paid out. No aftermarket immobiliser installed but I did have a Disklok on the second time around which had been cut through.

As most of you are a already aware, Lexus just shrugged their shoulders and said there is nothing they can do, they have a metal plate for the RX but nothing has been developed for the ES. 

I now have two expensive theft claims on my insurance that I'll have to pay through the nose for over the next five years and PTSD whenever I see a Lexus (or god forbid, an ES!) on the road, don't know how long that will last for 😞

I really loved the car, such a shame it had to end this way. Needless to say, I've decided to move away from Lexus, I may come back to the brand in the (distant!) future, who knows 😞

Goodbye all and thanks for all the advice and warm replies on my original thread.

Talk about a rough time of it ! I wish that your next car experience is just so much better. I know London and the SE have a lot to offer, but sometimes I am really glad I don't live there when I hear tales like this.

Our good old local criminals are happy to get away with a free Mars bar.

[eightk]

Shame. Lexus need to get a grip on this, the same as Land Rover have done, while insurance is still just about possible, or they’re literally not going to be selling any more cars as their reputation will be down the pan.

[Cs150]

The Lexus position is short-sighted that could well result in significant brand damage and eventually a loss of revenue that will be difficult to win back. In other industries critical security updates are seen as part of continuous improvement for the reasonable life of a product. Look at operating systems such as Microsoft Windows for the life of a platform which is typically 10 years critical security updates will be provided. Smart devices which are Internet connected are often patched as and when a serious vulnerability is known. Even my 12 year old printer recently received a firmware update that the manufacturer said had key security fixes. 

All responsible organisations should ensure security is maintained at a reasonable level for the expected lifetime that a product may be in service. The social responsibility with cars you could argue is even more serious as stolen cars could be used for hit and run incidents that may result in death or serious injury as well as the owners financial loss. Incredible that many people are not concerned by the current position of Lexus and Toyota.

[GMB]

1 hour ago, Boomer54 said:

I know London and the SE have a lot to offer

Hi Stephen I don't fully agree with the above. I lived there for 4 years. I have since lived in lots of other places in the world, none of which were as difficult as London.

What does it offer: High prices on everything, Unaffordable housing, Clogged roads, overcrowding, high crime rates, the list goes on. I am quite happy in the North West although we too have similar issues but not quite so pronounced. Pity about the rain!

So, what's good - Variety of cultures, entertainment, er? That's it. Sorry.🤔

 

My heart goes out to SH / Drshockr. It would really P... me off too.

[eightk]

It’s not just London although it could be argued cities will be higher risk.
It’s basically anywhere there’s a Lexus.

[Boomer54]

14 minutes ago, eightk said:

It’s not just London although it could be argued cities will be higher risk.
It’s basically anywhere there’s a Lexus.

KIA is big here mainly because it is only 3 letters.

[GMB]

Ka 's  and AC  ( cobra ) too!. I don't know any one letter car names!😴

[LenT]

2 hours ago, GMB said:

Ka 's  and AC  ( cobra ) too!. I don't know any one letter car names!😴

W.

(W Motors is a Dubai-based manufacturer of what they describe as  high performance luxury hypercars!)

 

[PDM]

4 hours ago, Cs150 said:

The Lexus position is short-sighted that could well result in significant brand damage and eventually a loss of revenue that will be difficult to win back. In other industries critical security updates are seen as part of continuous improvement for the reasonable life of a product. Look at operating systems such as Microsoft Windows for the life of a platform which is typically 10 years critical security updates will be provided. Smart devices which are Internet connected are often patched as and when a serious vulnerability is known. Even my 12 year old printer recently received a firmware update that the manufacturer said had key security fixes. 

All responsible organisations should ensure security is maintained at a reasonable level for the expected lifetime that a product may be in service. The social responsibility with cars you could argue is even more serious as stolen cars could be used for hit and run incidents that may result in death or serious injury as well as the owners financial loss. Incredible that many people are not concerned by the current position of Lexus and Toyota.

And indeed, many of the vehicles at risk are still under the original manufacturer warranty.

If you include the Lexus Relax warranty (anyone with a MK4 RX on here feeling relaxed???) then most CANbus vulnerable vehicles could still be under some form of cover.  

Paul

[peniole]

Speaking to my contact at the dealer, now they are having warranty problems arising from the secondary immobilisers they told everyone to get, as they are loom/canbus "invasive". That last word, verbatim his. It's their next headache and they fully deserve it. Instead of coming up with an in house solution, now they have to contend with a myriad of problems from non standardised installations on vehicles that are even still under their initial warranty, let alone relax. 

[eightk]

12 hours ago, LenT said:

W.

(W Motors is a Dubai-based manufacturer of what they describe as  high performance luxury hypercars!)

 

Dubai, where I’d guess thieves get their hands chopped off. 
Yes please.

[Boomer54]

29 minutes ago, eightk said:

Dubai, where I’d guess thieves get their hands chopped off. 
Yes please.

You know I was thinking the same, but what I found was completely different. Felony jail time ,or lesser misdemeanour fine. 

[GMB]

Not a lot of crime in Singapore. I wonder Why??

[Boomer54]

14 minutes ago, GMB said:

Not a lot of crime in Singapore. I wonder Why??

Stop cheering you are going to be disappointed !

Penalties for Committing Theft in Singapore - SingaporeLegalAdvice.com

 

[LenT]

1 hour ago, eightk said:

Dubai, where I’d guess thieves get their hands chopped off. 
Yes please.

You’re thinking of Saudi Arabia.  Dubai is in the United Arab Emirates where you can only lose your liberty!  😊
 

Mind you, since Sharia Law applies there, could you demand that the thief also gives you their car as compensation?

[GMB]

A friend of mine worked a 2 year term for the united nations ( The blue hats ) in Haiti and told me a story about a canadian UN soldier running over a local teenager. He said that they must not stop and see what happened because the locals would come out and kill them. He also suggested that if you run over or cause the death of a Middle eastern "chappie" you must go back over them to make sure they are dead, otherwise you will be paying for the upkeep of their family forever!      Maybe it is true?🫢

[Spock66]

Surely there are grounds for a class legal action against Lexus.

All these adverts that you are owed thousands of pounds if you once looked at a diesel car, and at most impacted owners have taken a relatively small hit on resale values.

[Julncamp54]

It is all very sad to read on this forum the tales of woe about stolen ES ‘s and the damage it is doing to Lexuses image.

clearly the head of Lexus Uk is not doing anything about it perhaps it is time to have a delegation of ES owners and demand a meeting face to face…

[eightk]

5 hours ago, Julncamp54 said:

It is all very sad to read on this forum the tales of woe about stolen ES ‘s and the damage it is doing to Lexuses image.

clearly the head of Lexus Uk is not doing anything about it perhaps it is time to have a delegation of ES owners and demand a meeting face to face…

It’s not just the ES! It’s every bl**dy Lexus built in the last five years or so. As I’ve said before, this is a reputation destroyer - Lexus should take the initiative and offer free immobilisers to every affected vehicle, and quickly, while we can still get insurance.

[steve2006]

Interesting comparison to what JLR are doing for their customers, anyone here spoken to the CEO of Toyota/Lexus?

 

[steve2006]

On 12/17/2023 at 9:00 AM, eightk said:

Dubai, where I’d guess thieves get their hands chopped off. 
Yes please.

Agreed, there appears to be no such problem there and I always smile when my ES taxi arrives 😀

[Dippo]

12 hours ago, Julncamp54 said:

It is all very sad to read on this forum the tales of woe about stolen ES ‘s and the damage it is doing to Lexuses image.

clearly the head of Lexus Uk is not doing anything about it perhaps it is time to have a delegation of ES owners and demand a meeting face to face…

I'm not sure how you organise a group of owners and a face to face meeting with the CEO if they don't want to play. If people want to escalate this, would a more logical approach be to bring the subject to the notice of a magazine like What Car, and point out to them the lack of action by Lexus GB, the removal of posts on the subject from Lexus blogs on security, the increase in insurance costs, and the refusal of Lexus GB to admit there is a problem? I think they would probably be interested to hear from the Lexus Owners Club on the subject.

[Spock66]

2 minutes ago, Dippo said:

I think they would probably be interested to hear from the Lexus Owners Club on the subject.

It would be nice to think so, but I suspect the reality is they will only take note if it impacts the bottom line (which I suspect is what has prompted JLR to take action).

[wharfhouse]

1 hour ago, Spock66 said:

It would be nice to think so, but I suspect the reality is they will only take note if it impacts the bottom line (which I suspect is what has prompted JLR to take action).

There was a lot of used ES on the forecourt last time I went into my Lexus dealer...