lfoggy

Hi, I've had a few replies so I think the mats are now gone. Cheers

These rubber floor mats came with my 2018 RX450h that got stolen. No use to me now. Unopened in packaging. Free to anyone who wants them. Collect from Birmingham. PM me. Lukas

I've had a Thule system fitted to my 2018Rx with pan roof. I carry bicycles on it so never more than 30kg. Fits fine. Have done many thousands of miles with no issues. I remember not to open the roof as I think the glass would bump into the bars. Lexus say that the pan roof weakens the roof so I would not carry heavy loads though.

What about disabling the car mechanically without involving the CANbus system at all. A simple valve in the fuel line would do it. This could be located anywhere between the tank and the engine and could be operated mechanically or electrically via a remote switch. No CANbus error codes and no amount of CANbus diagnostics or electronic trickery would detect it. Car would start but would 'run out of petrol' within a minute. Hard to see how that would not work.

Back in the day, before CAN Bus and ECUs, a common way to protect a car from theft from ‘hotwiring’ was to fit a unique anti-theft device. A common example was to interrupt the low-tension circuit to the coils with a simple two-pole switch hidden somewhere in the cabin. Car would simply not start, and even a mechanically literate thief would have to spend hours working out why. The effectiveness of this was due to the unique nature of the deterrent (and probably by the fact that cars were rubbish back then and didn't start half the time anyway). Surely there must be opportunities for this in a modern car? For example, the accelerator pedal must input a single via a rheostat to the ECU. Can you not interrupt this by a simple switch hidden in the cabin? Thief may start car, but accelerator pedal would not work so unable to drive off. Obviously, this would only work if it was unique. The moment someone sells a system that does this, all the thieves know…. Probably many reasons why this won't work but any thoughts?

Some very interesting discussion here, thanks. This is my plan for my new RX: Keys will be stored in a proper Fraday cage Car will have Ghost immobiliser and tracker fitted Drive will have one of these: I am also seriously considering the venomous snake and rabid dog options.....

Doesn't look very scarey to me. Might lick you to death I guess.....

I think you are right there Herbs but I donlt think I have the discipline to put on the lock every time. Another option I am thinking is an electrically operated bollard at the entrance to the drive. House down the road has one and it goes down as you drive up to it and rises once parked. Quite cool really.

Many thanks for all the helpfu comments. I think I will have a 'Ghost Immobiliser' fitted to my next car. Should make keeping the keys in boxes redundant and hopfully prevent a repeat of what happened.

Thanks Barry but I am not optimistic. New car then. Not ready for full electric yet as I do some long rural journeys. Quite liking the Jaguar or Range Rover plug-in hybrids but they are not great value for money compared to an RX. Probably a new 2021 RX when the insurance pays up. It was insured with Lexus insurance and they are saying it will take a week so not too bad.

Buying an older car to avoid it being nicked seems like defeat to me but old cars do have some interesting antit-theft options. When I had a Triumph Spitfire I used to remove the rotor from the distributor when I left it unattended.....

I think the key has a motion sensor so it is only active when jiggling around in your pocket or bag. Once you put it down somewhere it goes to sleep after a few minutes.

Is it not true?

Dealer tells me the latest keys are inert when stationary to prevent key cloning.

My 2 year old RX450h Takumi was stolen from my drive last night. Alarm didn't go off, keys are in my possession and kept in a metal box when not in use. How on earth did they steal it? Quite upsetting really. What can I do to prevent a repeat when I replace it? Additional immobilizer perhaps.