2022 RAV4 stolen

[atartan]

Just now, TonyHSD said:

That’s an important question now, whether they wanted the whole car or just some parts?  
What was exactly missing from the car? 

Because there are parts shortages worldwide and highest ever demand for salvage cars as obviously the industry is overheated with demand for new and used cars with very small amount of cars available and ultra long delivery times. Basically the repairers  ask thieves to steal parts from cars from the street instead of waiting months for parts orders. Everything looks very similar to the cat thefts. Next will be the traction batteries as it’s already a thing across the pond. 
The fellow member who got his Corolla stolen went missing in seconds the whole car, likely to be similarly taken away but thieves seemed the needed the whole car as it has never been found and recovered, not even a signal or location other than last parked one. 😶

That's the thing , nothing was missing. Only the aerial connector broken in the back and head-unit was loose.. some connector wiring cut for head-unit. I am sure they would come back and finish the work later.

[atartan]

Toyota knows their cars can be stolen... Advice fit a steering wheel lock.. Maybe They should give  a steering wheel lock with every new car that they sell... Toyota's state of art technology solution for securing the cars..Chain your car to your house and  try not to drive...

https://mag.toyota.co.uk/car-security-advice-and-tips/

[ernieb]

Interesting that they suggest an OBD lockable cover yesterday don’t supply one. You’d think that they might at least fit the OBD port more securely and have a lockable cover as standard practice.  Unfortunately it’s possible to lock a cover over the connector but access to the cables can be made so they could be spliced easily enough.

[FROSTYBALLS]

1 hour ago, atartan said:

Toyota knows their cars can be stolen... Advice fit a steering wheel lock.. Maybe They should give  a steering wheel lock with every new car that they sell... Toyota's state of art technology solution for securing the cars..Chain your car to your house and  try not to drive...

https://mag.toyota.co.uk/car-security-advice-and-tips/

No manufacturer can claim their cars won't be stolen, the majority know they can be stolen (some a lot more expensive than a Rav), and the advice in the article is standard advice that organisations such as the police issue.

We need to move on from this blame game - it has happened.

[atartan]

1 minute ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

No manufacturer can claim their cars won't be stolen, the majority know they can be stolen (some a lot more expensive than a Rav), and the advice in the article is standard advice that organisations such as the police issue.

We need to move on from this blame game - it has happened.

I respect your view but I dont agree. They can tow the car and steal it and there is no easy solution to that but I expect car companies to come up with better solutions for electronic/computer security. What will happen once autonomous driving becomes the norm ? A bus gets hacked and drives into a lorry ? 50 people die .. We just say that it can happen to any car and move on ..

[FROSTYBALLS]

28 minutes ago, atartan said:

We just say that it can happen to any car and move on ..

Yes.

[Lawnmowerman]

2 hours ago, ernieb said:

Interesting that they suggest an OBD lockable cover yesterday don’t supply one. You’d think that they might at least fit the OBD port more securely and have a lockable cover as standard practice.  Unfortunately it’s possible to lock a cover over the connector but access to the cables can be made so they could be spliced easily enough.

As we all know - locks only keep honest people out.............

[Hayzee]

5 hours ago, ernieb said:

Not sure if this is for real:

 

 

Think that looks a very suspect video Ernie...from what I have seen, the Can bus immobilizer is likely a useful additional layer of security. Not that cheap as it's around £500 including fitting.

[Puglet]

Sorry to hear your story, interesting to learn how they did it but worrying also, car security in the last few years seems to have gone backwards. I always used mechanical device on our cars, moved on a bit from Dad's trusty krookloc, my personal favourite was my snap off steering wheel!, but you can only do so much.

Although security apathy reminded me when we got newer campervan few years ago and asked insurance company if adding a cat 1 alarm would reduce premium, NO came the answer, which I thought was odd, no incentive for me to save them money if the worst happens, but we did anyway, but you had to cos the plastic caravan windows so flimsy and easy to break in to. 

Hope you get it sorted, many years ago now, but had my old Ford broken but the hassle, mess and damage was way more than what they stole.

[srt]

5 hours ago, atartan said:

Toyota knows their cars can be stolen... Advice fit a steering wheel lock.. Maybe They should give  a steering wheel lock with every new car that they sell... Toyota's state of art technology solution for securing the cars..Chain your car to your house and  try not to drive...

https://mag.toyota.co.uk/car-security-advice-and-tips/

Would love to see the the insurance  rebate schedules that offers discounts based on  whether there is a cane corso or a dachshund "snarling" on the back seat. 🤣

[Rav Rob]

5 hours ago, atartan said:

That's the thing , nothing was missing. Only the aerial connector broken in the back and head-unit was loose.. some connector wiring cut for head-unit. I am sure they would come back and finish the work later.

It sounds like they were aware of the Toyota built in tracking so were trying to disable it, perhaps they thought the rear aerial may be used by the inbuilt cellular modem. They may also think the device is built in the head unit so tried to disable it that way too. They were guessing, then leave it a while to see if it was tracked or not. Perhaps a bit of trail and error experiment for the next one!

I don't know where the GSM hardware is or what antenna it uses, it could be in the head unit, the app has access to various bits of vehicle information as well as GPS data. It would make sense as the head units are country specific so it would make it easier to incorporate appropriate country specific GSM emergency system too

[ernieb]

15 hours ago, Hayzee said:

Think that looks a very suspect video Ernie...from what I have seen, the Can bus immobilizer is likely a useful additional layer of security. Not that cheap as it's around £500 including fitting.

That's what I thought initially but after thinking about it I figure it's possibly legitimate. BUT, interestingly as the protection devices get more sophisicated in the video the level of 'attack' gets very complex and probably beyond the skills of many 'smash and grab' boys. I think a simple lockable OBD cover is a good start, then a steering wheel lock and then the £500 immobiliser.

Maybe the principle of if there are obvious deterrent then perhaps the bad guys will move onto an easier target after all there are plenty of them around?

[Hybrid21]

Years ago I parked my MK1 Cortina on a well lit Glasgow street, fitted my Krooklock and went to the cinema to see Rollerball.

Car was gone when we came out of the cinema and found in Edinburgh the next day by the police.

The thieves had gained access and looks like pushed hard down on the clutch bending the steering wheel and removed the Krooklock ☹️

In those days it was easy to open and start cars with various types of keys, but naively I thought my Krooklock would have kept it from being stolen ☹️

 

[forkingabout]

20 minutes ago, Hybrid21 said:

 

The thieves had gained access and looks like pushed hard down on the clutch bending the steering wheel and removed the Krooklock ☹️

In those days it was easy to open and start cars with various types of keys, but naively I thought my Krooklock would have kept it from being stolen ☹️

 

My dad always advised to use a krooklock on the brake pedal as that was harder to stamp down on.

Worked for my sister many years ago on her Metro, thieves got in, broke the steering lock, turned the ignition on but couldn't beat the krooklock.

[Dippy]

8 hours ago, srt said:

Would love to see the the insurance  rebate schedules that offers discounts based on  whether there is a cane corso or a dachshund "snarling" on the back seat. 🤣

An 8 year old kid arrived at a very fancy car being parked in an unguarded area. “50p to protect your car, mister!”

The owner had no time for him. “Listen squirt, there’s a Doberman in the back, anyone tries to get in he’ll tear them to pieces!”

The kid barely blinked. “Really? 
 

…does he put out fires, too?”

[Puglet]

Ironically there were occasions with our motorcaravans that we left it with dogs inside, alarm on (doggie friendly mode) and steering wheel lock on and I was still worried, not about the van, thieves could have that, but for our dogs! They were good security though, small enough not to be seen get too close and bark loudly.

[robo1]

Had a quick look to see where the OBD socket is located on the RAV. Didn’t take long to find as prominent and contrasting light colour. Surprised there isn’t a cover unless mines missing one.

[Hayzee]

5 hours ago, ernieb said:

 I think a simple lockable OBD cover is a good start, then a steering wheel lock and then the £500 immobiliser.

Maybe the principle of if there are obvious deterrent then perhaps the bad guys will move onto an easier target after all there are plenty of them around?

I agree Ernie....would have to be an OBD lock that didn't use a key as I would expect the lock to be picked before long.

[ernieb]

46 minutes ago, Hayzee said:

I agree Ernie....would have to be an OBD lock that didn't use a key as I would expect the lock to be picked before long.

I think the professional will always come prepared for what they know and understand and what can be broken to get to the the connector or wires they want. I think that simple and obvious covers and locks are enough to protect from the average punk who wants to chance their arm at taking the car.

I’m going to see if I can replace the ‘self tapers’ that hold the OBD port with a nut as I have a tool and selection of nut inserts that would be easy to use. That way I’d be better placed to use a cover that would be less easy to just snap off.

[Hybrid21]

10 hours ago, Dippy said:

An 8 year old kid arrived at a very fancy car being parked in an unguarded area. “50p to protect your car, mister!”

The owner had no time for him. “Listen squirt, there’s a Doberman in the back, anyone tries to get in he’ll tear them to pieces!”

The kid barely blinked. “Really? 
 

…does he put out fires, too?”

This actually did happen to us years ago when we went to the motorshow in the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow. When parking the car we were approached by some young kids who offered to watch the car for 50P.

After quickly weighing up my options, I agreed 🤔

[Lawnmowerman]

In years gone by, garage Parts Departments had boards of keys. All you needed was the style and number - e.g. FS451.

Many cars had the key number on the ignition lock bezel. Ford Consul springs to mind and with an inexpensive telescope it was easy to read the number when viewed through the rear screen! They then purchased said key and the car was history.

The cheekiest theft was of a customers Golf GTI from our forecourt. The door was unlocked which allowed the thief to open the door and remove the outer door-handle assembly (two No.2 Philips screws from memory). This contained the key number and the thief walked into our Parts Dept. who cut a key for him on the spot and then he simply drove it away - never seen again. That was a neck of solid Brass. No CCTV back then. 

[forkingabout]

I remember 80s era Austin Rover products the key number was printed on a sticker visible once the cabin fuse box cover was removed.

[Marcusthehat]

So what if one moved the OBD connector somewhere out of sight and replaced it with a dummy OBD with all pins connected to a largeish capacitor?

Only knowing me I would forget about this cunning plan when I booked the car in for a service.

Oops.

[John Allen]

Does anyone know any statistics for RAV4.5 thefts in this country.? How many Rav4.5s are there on the road?  How many have been stolen?  I know this will not give any comfort to the original poster who has my total sympathy but it might put things in perspective for the rest of us.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Doesn't feature in the top 10 stolen cars in UK -

https://www.confused.com/car-insurance/guides/uk-most-stolen-cars-revealed

https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/car-industry-news/2022/06/14/vehicle-theft-figures-more-than-double-recent-estimates