eightk

There’s about 550 LCs in the UK so based on 36 autotrader ads that’s about 6.5%. I do watch the ads (mainly to see how many moneys I’ve lost) - there’s a few that might never sell eg the Wigan silver one with funny coloured wheels at £52,000 - earliest record I have of that was £66,000 in April 2022! You’d give up after nearly two years, surely? My guess on the canbus theft risk is not many owners or potential owners know it’s a problem - we only know of one LC theft which is positive I suppose. Hopefully the insurance industry is still as unaware.

My hope is the RCF and LC are not desirable to the Middle Eastern muppets that buy these straight out of the containers. I’ve seen container auctions on instagram - cars being sold off to men bidding while wearing long white dresses in a sweaty desert somewhere, there are even the shipping containers in the background. That’s where the SUV Lexuses are going - they love em probably because they’re so reliable - but I’d like to know how they’re sold without keys. Presumably once you’re into the canbus system you can program new keys to them?

I think Toyota’s cost benefit analysis will hit JLR levels soon. At that point we’ll get the correct solution.

What he said. Speak to owners, complain to your dealers and use social media to question Lexus about their proposed solution (if any). RX gets canbus plates, everybody else gets nothing other than advice to spend hundreds on immobilisers (which do work) or use a steering lock (which don’t work). Jaguar Land Rover have so far recalled 65,000 cars to update software and prevent this sort of theft. Lexus : it’s your turn, while we can still get insurance.

This is what the £100 additional immobiliser upgrade on a cat S5 tracker gets you - a physical relay cutting the starter, fuel pump, engine ecu or similar. It works - mine would definitely not be going anywhere if the canbus system was hacked. My only issue is it’s an invisible deterrent.

To be fair I’d class that as a major excavation event, not ‘a little digging’ 😂 The silver car that was recovered from the Dubai bound container had bumper damage and the owner also said it’d been canbus theft rather than key signal boosting. With that said, plus the RX, NX, UX, RAV4, ES all clearly having the same vulnerability and also the same basic Toyota electrical architecture as the LC/LS chassis I’d assume we all have the same problem. Having looked at that ES photo above I’m very tempted to see if I can get to the connector location on my car. I’m away at the moment but I might give it a go at some point just to see if I can find it, maybe using an Amazon endoscope with a light on the end. From the videos I’ve seen, pulling the top edge of the bumper out of its (now broken) clips is what gets you in there. Then you can force the liner out of the way a bit to get more access. The connector would only be disturbed if you were unplugging/removing the headlights. I still think we are at risk.

Front bumper/wheelarch/headlamp damage? Just a guess…

I sincerely hope I’m classed as being in the militant camp 😎

Investment potential depends on whether you ever leave it unattended or not. Tracker and immobiliser will help. As an existing owner you already know they’re awesome, but it’d be interesting to hear your views on the upgrades they’ve done - I’m very jealous of the 360 cameras. Oh, and do me a huge favour, one LC convertible owner to another - ask their CEO about canbus thefts and what they’re proposing to do about it. Cheers.

Lexus have plates for the RX. The rest of us get nothing.

Anybody thinking a steering lock will put off the ‘opportunist thief’ would be incorrect. If the thief is carrying canbus hacking equipment he’s serious - see below - Disclock fitted, NX videoed being stolen in under 3 minutes. https://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/143092-stolen-nx/?page=2#comment-1323627 What I would like is an official Lexus recall for all affected cars, exactly as JLR have done, to allow Lexus to fit canbus plates, upgrade canbus system protocol or even just fit a bl**dy Cat 2 immobiliser worth less than a couple of hundred quid. Unless all cars are protected, none of us are protected. The recall data is available, it just needs someone high up in Lexus UK to start reading the room. This has to be done sharpish, otherwise insurance will become impossible, meaning cars will become impossible to sell, in turn meaning dealer stock values will go through the floor along with Lexuses carefully curated quarter of a century’s reputation for customer service. There have been at least two new members recently asking why they hadn’t been told about RX canbus plates BEFORE their cars vanished. That’s two ex-Lexus owners among many many more. Lexus need to read the forums. The RX, NX, UX, ES and LC forums all have similar threads detailing similar problems. We need a recall, with a solution for all cars, not just the high profile RX.

1 - I have a cat S5 tracker with the optional immobiliser - that will 100% prevent canbus or key clone theft as it’s a physical relay cut to an essential circuit, ghost type immobilisers will also protect from what I’ve read recently. 2 - As you’ve said, the issue isn’t the theft, as actual theft with what I’ve had fitted isn’t possible without spending a lot of time finding and wiring out the immobiliser, it’s the thieves automatic assumption that trashing my bumper will result in success. Ideally I'd like a Clifford flashy blue dashboard light or something really obviously non standard. The windscreen sticker I’ve got isn’t really enough. I agree JLRs pro customer decision could lead to more thefts of easier targets. I also agree a two tonne uninsurable paperweight could be the end result of Lexuses lack of foresight. But… it’s a great car. Buy now, while they’re still legal!

Steering locks - even the good ones - clearly don’t work. From the NX section - a 3 minute theft with a Disclok fitted :

Thanks for confirming steering locks - the disk lock is supposedly award winning and one of the hardest to crack - are a waste of time. Anybody who hasn’t yelled at Lexus yet… what ya waiting for?

I’m being a bit over dramatic but the more I read on the other parts of this site the more peed off I get that Lexus are doing less than the bare minimum. RX owners are still getting their cars stolen because Lexus haven’t contacted them to get the plates fitted. The rest of us are left with zero support. The LC is different I admit, to SUVs as it’s so low volume, and as above, why would an LC be stolen? I’ve never seen a UK damaged car needing parts? My guess is it’d be shipped overseas, whole, the same as the silver LC that was retrieved intact apart from bumper damage from a Dubai bound container by Essex police. I follow their stolen vehicle unit on twitter - it’s wall to wall Lexuses stuffed into containers or cars chopped up for spares. My take is you only live once - go for it - but do all you can to advertise the fact it can’t be stolen via canbus. Steering lock won’t stop theft but an immobiliser might. I have a Scorpion Tracker sticker on the windscreen as that’s the only method I can think of to advertise that ripping the bumper to bits might be a waste of time. Other than that, there’s nothing you can do as an individual owner. It’s only Lexus that can make thieves give up, by protecting every single car via recall. Edited to add YT video to show canbus theft https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUqXxT3CCaA

It’s an utterly brilliant car. Where else can you buy a naturally aspirated rear wheel drive V8 GT that sounds like this, that is so comfortable and well built, with decent dealers? Plus point - nobody else has one. Love mine to bits. Is can bus theft a genuine concern? Yes. One LC has been stolen and recovered, the ex owner stating that’d be his last Lexus. Also have a look at the RX, ES, UX forums which are busier mainly due to there being more cars and more owners. All those forums are full of theft threads. Cars are disappearing almost on a daily basis. There isn’t a week goes by where someone new joins the LOC to state their car has vanished. They knew nothing of this canbus problem until they lost their Lexus. The common link between most of these threads is the ex-owner is planning on staying an ex-owner ie that is their last Lexus. Also look at insurance threads. Lexus owners can’t get sensibly priced insurance in many cases. It’s not at the Land Rover point yet, where insurance is refused point blank, but if Lexus don’t step up and sort this there will be a tipping point for the insurance industry and we simply won’t to be able to get these cars insured. The RX is in the top ten UK most stolen. France has the NX or UX in their top ten. America has the same problem. This is a global failure. Lexus have so far introduced metal plates to protect the canbus access point in the wheel arches for RX ONLY. Fitment is free. They’re not publicising or actively offering it, so unless you have read about it and actually ask your dealer or Lexus customer services you’d never find out about it until your RX is halfway to Dubai. The rest of us are left to fend for ourselves. Lexus’s current position is ‘tough sh t’. I have a tracker for my insurance, but due to the canbus problem I’ve paid extra for an immobiliser, plus added stickers to warn it’s fitted with a tracker. I used trackerteam - recommended. It is most definitely a concern. You could also add a steering lock but based on a car (RX I think) videoed being stolen last week inside three minutes with a steering lock fitted (quiet leafy Surrey!) I don’t see the point. Anyone carrying canbus theft kit won’t be bothered about a steering lock as they’ll have a cordless ULEZ grinder with them as well. These are wonderful cars. I honestly don’t know what I’d replace it with, but if it were stolen it most certainly wouldn’t be another Lexus. That is down to Lexus themselves. The solution : an official recall for every affected car, to fit canbus plates, an immobiliser or revised software. Only when every single car in the country is likely to be protected and therefore unstealable via canbus will the thieves move onto something else. As a potential buyer I’d ask if you could do us all a favour - go to your local dealer and/or phone Lexus themselves, and question them about canbus theft. Tell them you’re thinking of buying their most expensive product, their halo car, their concept car made real, but that you’re really really concerned Lexus don’t care about you as a customer because if they did, they’d issue a recall like JLR have done, and get this vulnerability fixed. Today’s rant over. Stay tuned for more.

London and anywhere else an RX or other chocolate canbus system Lexus is left unattended. Top tip - phone Lexus customer services and shout at them. Then go into your dealer and shout at them. Eventually, when an RX is worth 12p because nobody can insure them at any price Lexus will get the message and issue a recall.

These Lexus thieves are only classed as professionals because they’ve invested in ten quidsworth of dark web electronics to bypass Toyota’s ***** poor comms systems. I’d be interested to know whereabouts these are happening too - Lexus's approach seems to be that London dwellers are priority for canbus plates and the rest of us (and anybody with a non-RX Lexus) can sod off. Leafy Surrey isn’t what I’d class as London.

B stards. Did they use an angle grinder on the disc lock? That’ll be what took the extra two minutes.

Disk lock fitted. Keys shielded in a faraday cage. Just as Lexus advise when a worried owner asks them what Lexus are doing about this. Gone in 3 minutes - I assume you have a video of this from security/doorbell cams. Over to you Lexus.

I’ve seen the result of an RX and bollard coming together. It’s expensive!

Do keep pushing your dealers on this. Standing in the middle of the showroom on a Saturday afternoon proclaiming in a loud voice that these cars can be ‘gone in 60 seconds’ or hounding Lexus to issue a recall via social media will eventually get the message through to them. JLR are sorting this with 65,000 cars recalled so far, done fortunately while they’re still solvent. Lexus and Toyota MUST do the same. 90 seconds here but it shows how easy it is using ten quids worth of circuitry hidden in a Bluetooth speaker.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUqXxT3CCaA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kUqXxT3CCaA 90 seconds in the video above. It can be done quicker. Putting your key in a biscuit tin won’t stop this. Go yell at your Lexus dealer. Loudly. A recall needs to be issued.

Hybrids and EVs are a tricky one for immobilisers but I’d expect a ghost should work ok. Advertising the fact it’s fitted may prevent your bumper getting destroyed. The correct solution is Lexus doing what JLR are doing with software upgrades to remove the vulnerabilities, but don’t hold your breath as they don’t seem to care.

As I understand it JLR are getting their house in order with this before they go bankrupt. link here https://media.jaguarlandrover.com/news/2023/11/jlr-invests-vehicle-security-reduce-thefts 65,000 cars recalled so far. So…. Lexus UK… any thoughts?