MARCH STATEMENT FROM LEXUS ON VEHICLE THEFT

DAVID SEATON · August 21

On March 16th, Colin Barber posted a Statement issued by Lexus re Vehicle Theft. All ES Affected.

Therein "Security Hardware Components Will Very Soon Be Available" .... "In Coming Weeks Owners Contact Local Dealer To Arrange Free Of Charge Fitments, Also discuss Protective Plate To Block Access To The Vehicle Electronics"

On August 13th my 2019 ES was booked in to local Lexus Dealer Dundee for a service. I enquired about the Security Hardware Components flagged in March & was advised these were still not available i.e. that is 6 months from the date of the statement above! I also queried the fitment of the protective plate described above & was advised there was already a plate fitted which made the fitment of the "fix" additional plate impossible. I was advised a previous customer had insisted that an attempt should be made to fit the "fix" plate to his ES, & this proved to be impossible.

Is anyone aware of any further updates from Lexus on this issue?

RONNIE W HODGEKINSON · August 21

1 hour ago, DAVID SEATON said:

On March 16th, Colin Barber posted a Statement issued by Lexus re Vehicle Theft. All ES Affected.

Therein "Security Hardware Components Will Very Soon Be Available" .... "In Coming Weeks Owners Contact Local Dealer To Arrange Free Of Charge Fitments, Also discuss Protective Plate To Block Access To The Vehicle Electronics"

On August 13th my 2019 ES was booked in to local Lexus Dealer Dundee for a service. I enquired about the Security Hardware Components flagged in March & was advised these were still not available i.e. that is 6 months from the date of the statement above! I also queried the fitment of the protective plate described above & was advised there was already a plate fitted which made the fitment of the "fix" additional plate impossible. I was advised a previous customer had insisted that an attempt should be made to fit the "fix" plate to his ES, & this proved to be impossible.

Is anyone aware of any further updates from Lexus on this issue?

David.. Has it been Conclusively Confirmed by Lexus That Canbus Theft is Restricted to The LH Headlight Canopy Or are There any Other Points of the Car Which have the Same or Similar Access Which would allow Potential Thefts of the Vehicle I,m Certain Many members Would be interested To Establish This....

Navnan2 · August 24

Anyone seem the BBC news this morning on TV? An ex car thief was interviewed about how easy it was to steal cars. They showed him sitting in a car with a current thief (identity hidden) with his electronic device (approx. £15K?) beside a locked Range Rover and he unlocked inside seconds remotely. I don't know if that vehicle had the recently offered upgrade by Range Rover but it was quite depressing how easy it was to access/steal without physically getting into the vehicle forcibly or attaching any device behind the head-light as in our case. At least they didn't show Lexus's being pinched in the news item! The guy interviewed suggested approaching your dealer to disable electronic remote features but without a conventional key slot on our doors I can't see how that would help us. The point he made was they could access any make of vehicle.

DAVID SEATON · August 27

On 8/21/2024 at 2:11 PM, RONNIE W HODGEKINSON said:

David.. Has it been Conclusively Confirmed by Lexus That Canbus Theft is Restricted to The LH Headlight Canopy Or are There any Other Points of the Car Which have the Same or Similar Access Which would allow Potential Thefts of the Vehicle I,m Certain Many members Would be interested To Establish This....

Ronnie The only input I have is the statement in March which I assume came from Lexus & the info I received from my dealer as listed above. I was hoping some other ES owners could update their experiences or Lexus could update the status?

Spock66 · August 27

7 minutes ago, DAVID SEATON said:

I was hoping some other ES owners could update their experiences or Lexus could update the status?

There is a promised Can Blocker which I assume would be for all the affected Lexus models, but no firm details or date is available yet.

Kjell · August 31

Hi,

My 2019 Lexus 2.5 ES300H was stolen outside my house about 2 nights ago.
The car was of course locked and both keys was locked inside the house. The only time my keys has been away from me, was when my car had been parked for about 3 months, the Battery died, and I had a new Battery installed in a local workshop in Torrevieja, Spain. The car was stolen about 3 weeks after I had it in the workshop.
I wonder if the keys could have been copied or the data traffic between the key and car captured, so they with this information could just open the car, start it and drive off? Or is the only way to steal a car like this, CAN-bus hack talked about here?

To make the situation a complete horror show, the car was at that point not under insurance. The reason for that was as follows: when I got the car, my Spanish wife had all the comms with the insurance company, it was insured in her name, with my credit card(I am the owner of the car). The insurance was paid 3.July.23, the card expired and 3.July.24 they sent an email to my wife for the renewal, which ended up in her Spam-folder, it said we need to renew no later than 3.Aug.24 or the insurance will be cancelled..

I came to Spain from work 8.August and found the Battery dead. The Grua(Road assistance) was called trough the insurance company(AXA), they helped with getting the car started, no mention of an expired insurance. Later that day the Battery was replaced and we thought nothing more about it, until 2 days ago when they stole the car.
So, I stand to lose the car and all it had cost me for this and I still don't understand how an insurance can be cancelled in such a way.
Looking for a good lawyer to look into the case, in the mean time praying for a miracle and doing everything locally with the police and others to try to get the car back..

Main question was, is it possible to copy the key fob and steal the car that way?

Thanks for any helpful reply and advice.

Kjell

Spock66 · August 31

3 minutes ago, Kjell said:

Main question was, is it possible to copy the key fob and steal the car that way?

Yes if it's a smart key, it's called a relay attack where they use a device to amplify the signal emitted by the key.

You can either deactivate the key or keep it in a Faraday cage as prevention methods.

Kjell · August 31

Thanks for the feedback,

so based on the fact that they had the key for themselves 3 times, makes it the most likely cause of the theft? I'm away for work, so I was not there when the car was stolen, but I would reckon that a CAN-bus attack in the middle of an Avenida at night, would be difficult...
The police was informed about this company and said they couldn't do anything towards them. They have like 15 probably low paid workers, many young guys, so the temptation might be there.
My wife showed up there, with a photo and some details about the car, at first they didn't want to look at it, but the guy took it in and said he should look at it. Don't know what it's worth, but I have a feeling I'm barking up the right tree here..

DTR · September 5

Article on Autocar website re update to Land Rover Defender (the unbelievedly ugly one). Included this paragraph:

“Most of its updates happen over the air, but not this one, which requires plugging in a diagnostic laptop to a 16-pin socket in the driver's footwell, because it's a security update. It disables the 'can bus' when the car is locked, to make it harder to steal.”

Perhaps Lexus could come up with a similar system?

One problem is that it seems to take eons for Lexus/Toyota to come up with a line of code.

Ever the optimist,

Dave

PDM · September 5

On 8/21/2024 at 12:47 PM, DAVID SEATON said:

On March 16th, Colin Barber posted a Statement issued by Lexus re Vehicle Theft. All ES Affected.

Therein "Security Hardware Components Will Very Soon Be Available" .... "In Coming Weeks Owners Contact Local Dealer To Arrange Free Of Charge Fitments, Also discuss Protective Plate To Block Access To The Vehicle Electronics"

On August 13th my 2019 ES was booked in to local Lexus Dealer Dundee for a service. I enquired about the Security Hardware Components flagged in March & was advised these were still not available i.e. that is 6 months from the date of the statement above! I also queried the fitment of the protective plate described above & was advised there was already a plate fitted which made the fitment of the "fix" additional plate impossible. I was advised a previous customer had insisted that an attempt should be made to fit the "fix" plate to his ES, & this proved to be impossible.

Is anyone aware of any further updates from Lexus on this issue?

David, in case you are not yet aware - Lexus are now fitting (FOC) phase 1 and 2 security updates - a tracker and a geofence device. Phase 3 is the CAN blocker that Andrew mentions above, but it is not yet available. Your dealer should know about this.

Paul

RONNIE W HODGEKINSON · September 5

On 8/31/2024 at 4:54 PM, Kjell said:

Thanks for the feedback,

so based on the fact that they had the key for themselves 3 times, makes it the most likely cause of the theft? I'm away for work, so I was not there when the car was stolen, but I would reckon that a CAN-bus attack in the middle of an Avenida at night, would be difficult...
The police was informed about this company and said they couldn't do anything towards them. They have like 15 probably low paid workers, many young guys, so the temptation might be there.
My wife showed up there, with a photo and some details about the car, at first they didn't want to look at it, but the guy took it in and said he should look at it. Don't know what it's worth, but I have a feeling I'm barking up the right tree here..

Canbus Attack Is NOT Difficult With The Right Equipment and takes about 45 Seconds Mostly carried out at Night....

DTR · September 5

4 hours ago, PDM said:

David, in case you are not yet aware - Lexus are now fitting (FOC) phase 1 and 2 security updates - a tracker and a geofence device. Phase 3 is the CAN blocker that Andrew mentions above, but it is not yet available. Your dealer should know about this.

Paul

Apologies. I certainly had not been informed. I will contact my dealer next week. In the post which you mentioned, does he not say that they are not yet available?

PDM · September 5

12 minutes ago, DTR said:

Apologies. I certainly had not been informed. I will contact my dealer next week. In the post which you mentioned, does he not say that they are not yet available?

Yes indeed - I agree with Andrew that the CANblocker is not yet available. Sorry if my message was confusing. I think still better to get installed what is currently available ASAP (tracker and geofence) and make a second dealer visit when CANblocker is released, as at least you get tracking and notification ability with that. You can see the position of the vehicle on a phone app, and set it up so that you get notifications on your phone if the car is moved (e.g. over night, or if you go on holiday etc). It seems good so far.

Here's hoping that more roll out of these devices starts to have an effect on lowering thefts and reducing insurance... I guess it will take some time.

Cheers,

Paul

Car Fan · September 12

On 9/5/2024 at 10:16 AM, PDM said:

David, in case you are not yet aware - Lexus are now fitting (FOC) phase 1 and 2 security updates - a tracker and a geofence device. Phase 3 is the CAN blocker that Andrew mentions above, but it is not yet available. Your dealer should know about this.

Paul

Is there an official statement anywhere from Lexus that says the tracker and geofence are available for ES owners? I inquired at my dealership and they were adamant (as well as rude and dismissive!) that no such updates were available for ES owners. Thanks.

PDM · September 12

28 minutes ago, Car Fan said:

Is there an official statement anywhere from Lexus that says the tracker and geofence are available for ES owners? I inquired at my dealership and they were adamant (as well as rude and dismissive!) that no such updates were available for ES owners. Thanks.

I had understood they are now available for all models that are exploitable via CANbus. You may wish to as customer relations at cr@lexus.co.uk

Paul

Spock66 · September 12

Yes the Customer Relations agents are pretty helpful, it's the Lexus UK senior management that are pretty hopeless....

Dippo · September 12

I think you only seem to get the security upgrades if you've been chasing the dealer and Lexus CR - if you haven't, then Lexus aren't going to offer you anything.

george72 · September 12

48 minutes ago, Dippo said:

I think you only seem to get the security upgrades if you've been chasing the dealer and Lexus CR - if you haven't, then Lexus aren't going to offer you anything.

Totally agree. Offered a tracker without immobiliser which is totally inadequate but nothing else on offer. 3 year subscription