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2022 and newer vehicle warning

sirhrmechanic

Command Sgt. Major
Full Member
Minuteman
I am finally where I have some time to do some typing on a keyboard and wanted to post this for discussion or warning...

Last weekend (Saturday night to be exact) a buddy had his brand new (less than a week, paper plates still on it) F250 Diesel stolen out of a parking lot in Naples, Fl. It was hooked to his newish (less than 6 months old) trailer. That had is beautifully-restored 1949 Cadillac in it. Convertible, no less. On his way to a charity car show.

According to the police (he is a retired Orlando officer, BTW), the thieves cloned his key from the parking lot. May even have followed his rig TO the parking lot. They got the signal off his key (apparently you can do that from as far away as 500 feet with a new fob and new batteries). In 43 seconds after getting in the vehicle, they had disabled the Tracker (aka On Star or similar). And the whole rig is gone. Officers said that 2022 and newer vehicles have a 'weakness.'

My guess is the truck and car are in containers to Asia or Middle East and the trailer is off to landscapers. Also that the new keys are easily cloned or that a VIN can be matched with a code. Maybe from a database stolen from Mfg's... or from Chinese Key Fob Makers... and floating around dark web. Plug a Laptop into the OBD-II port and replace software or simply flip electronic switches. Drive truck away to a shipping port or warehouse...

Not sure if any of you tech wizards know more. Or if my assumptions are right/wrong/loony? Or if anyone is hearing about incidents like this. But now definitely making me nervous about a 'Push Button Key' and clone tech.

Guess it's time to get The Club or one of those "steering wheel to brake" bar lock thingies. Which can be disabled in seconds with bolt cutters through steering wheel... but maybe it makes thieves just go to the next truck. Or maybe we need to boot them now... trailers, too.

Getting tired of crime running both rampant and going unpunished. Texas used to have a saying "There's more men that need hanging, than there are horses that need 'stealin."

Time for the return of the necktie party, methinks.

Sirhr
 
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As a current owner of two new Ford Diesels (2020 & 2022), and 2019 Ford Expedition, they are extremely easy to steal. All of these new vehicles for that matter. Need to be aware of your surroundings all the time. Which isn't always possible unfortunately.
 
Weird, not sure of the newer models but in the past say for toyota, you needed a existing key already registered with the immobilizer
to add a new key to the system and if all the keys were lost you had to connect with toyotas servers and be registered
as a locksmith.
 
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They program a new fob through the ODB port, and there's a retarded trick for getting in and disabling the alarm

Read the manual, and don't leave things around that can aid thieves
 
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I am finally where I have some time to do some typing on a keyboard and wanted to post this for discussion or warning...

Last weekend (Saturday night to be exact) a buddy had his brand new (less than a week, paper plates still on it) F250 Diesel stolen out of a parking lot in Naples, Fl. It was hooked to his newish (less than 6 months old) trailer. That had is beautifully-restored 1949 Cadillac in it. Convertible, no less. On his way to a charity car show.

According to the police (he is a retired Orlando officer, BTW), the thieves cloned his key from the parking lot. May even have followed his rig TO the parking lot. They got the signal off his key (apparently you can do that from as far away as 500 feet with a new fob and new batteries). In 43 seconds after getting in the vehicle, they had disabled the Tracker (aka On Star or similar). And the whole rig is gone. Officers said that 2022 and newer vehicles have a 'weakness.'

My guess is the truck and car are in containers to Asia or Middle East and the trailer is off to landscapers. Also that the new keys are easily cloned or that a VIN can be matched with a code. Maybe from a database stolen from Mfg's... or from Chinese Key Fob Makers... and floating around dark web. Plug a Laptop into the OBD-II port and replace software or simply flip electronic switches. Drive truck away to a shipping port or warehouse...

Not sure if any of you tech wizards know more. Or if my assumptions are right/wrong/loony? Or if anyone is hearing about incidents like this. But now definitely making me nervous about a 'Push Button Key' and clone tech.

Guess it's time to get The Club or one of those "steering wheel to brake" bar lock thingies. Which can be disabled in seconds with bolt cutters through steering wheel... but maybe it makes thieves just go to the next truck. Or maybe we need to boot them now... trailers, too.

Getting tired of crime running both rampant and going unpunished. Texas used to have a saying "There's more men that need hanging, than there are horses that need 'stealin."

Time for the return of the necktie party, methinks.

Sirhr
Yes you can program keys all you need is the VIN, the soft ware and the know how. Which if motivated aint that hard.

My suggestion if you are that worried, install a kill switch to cut power to the fuel pump relay. I had one on my Rx7 and a buddy put one on his highly modified 300zx.
 
Yes you can program keys all you need is the VIN, the soft ware and the know how. Which if motivated aint that hard.

My suggestion if you are that worried, install a kill switch to cut power to the fuel pump relay. I had one on my Rx7 and a buddy put one on his highly modified 300zx.
I dont think so, you cant call the dealer and say I need a new key.
 
i just got back from a month long road trip. had my fishing gear and other stuff in the back of my uncovered f150. the entire time.

each time i would go in a gas station/restaurant/elsewhere, i would walk through the door, turn around, and watch my vehicle for 2 minutes before carrying on with my purpose. i was praying someone would fuck with it.

i came back to the truck once and a couple a few years older than myself was nearby and the guy commented about how i was awful trusting to leave my shit in the back unsecured. i told him that it was probably a lot more secured than he thought it might be, and that it would be awfully embarrassing to show up to the pearly gates and have to explain that you were there for trying to steal someone's beat up fishing pole. the look he gave me was of astonishment.

the fact remains.....sooner or later.....these folks fucking with shit that isnt theirs....it just might get expensive fast. shit is all fun and games right up until it aint.
 
old or new, whatever all cars are easy to steal

video is from canada, but its the same in the US



Have good insurance and keep the bill paid

keep some tools with you and remove a couple coil packs before going to bed if you are really worried ;)
I am betting that the thieves know their hacking toys very well, but don't know shit about a car that just doesn't start

Car thieves are use to traditional kill switches, hiding places are limited.


have you seen the sorts of lock picks and shit available these days??? (for older cars)


and these Lishi tools are amazing even for someone that never picked a lock before

 
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Just install a hidden battery cutoff switch, you can do it yourself. My brother used to take the distributer cap off his car at night. Actually kept it from getting stolen once.

th

 
old or new, whatever all cars are easy to steal

video is from canada, but its the same in the US



Have good insurance and keep the bill paid

keep some tools with you and remove a couple coil packs before going to bed if you are really worried ;)
I am betting that the thieves know their hacking toys very well, but don't know shit about a car that just doesn't start

Car thieves are use to traditional kill switches, hiding places are limited.


have you seen the sorts of lock picks and shit available these days??? (for older cars)


and these Lishi tools are amazing even for someone that never picked a lock before


This stuffs useless without knowing how to use it, and good luck picking anything with high security keys.

These days they swap your PCM with another and drive off.
 
old or new, whatever all cars are easy to steal

video is from canada, but its the same in the US



Have good insurance and keep the bill paid

keep some tools with you and remove a couple coil packs before going to bed if you are really worried ;)
I am betting that the thieves know their hacking toys very well, but don't know shit about a car that just doesn't start

Car thieves are use to traditional kill switches, hiding places are limited.


have you seen the sorts of lock picks and shit available these days??? (for older cars)


and these Lishi tools are amazing even for someone that never picked a lock before


Yep hid the switch.
 
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Just install a hidden battery cutoff switch, you can do it yourself. My brother used to take the distributer cap off his car at night. Actually kept it from getting stolen once.

th

When I drove a old truck I had a second hidden dimmer switch in a spot you’d never look under the carpet.
 
Unfortunately, locks keep honest people honest. Until there is FEAR of being dishonest shit is not going to change.
can confirm most locks are useless.
 
there's a retarded trick for getting in

Yea pull on the drivers door handle, stick a crescent wrench on the plastic where the lock cylinder is, and turn it to unlock the door... its the fucking dumbest design ever and it took ford damn near a decade to fix it(supposedly its fixed in the 2023)...

Or the newest thing is the thieves drilling a small hole in the window near the little piece on the inner door panel that pops up and goes down when you lock or unlock the truck. They drill a small hole then get a pick and pickup on that piece and viola the door unlocks and supposedly the alarm never goes off...

Oh and the horn wiring is so easily accessible through the grill you just cut it in about 1 second and then your "alarm" is disabled...
 
Yep hid the switch.
yep. doesn't work anymore, all the places you chose to hide it they know about already, like in the arm rest :D

remove parts from the car so it is inoperable is the only way
or put a mechanical fuel cut off inline with the fuel itself, not to the fuel pump
 
Most wont run when low on blinker fluid
 
yep. doesn't work anymore, all the places you chose to hide it they know about already, like in the arm rest :D

remove parts from the car so it is inoperable is the only way
or put a mechanical fuel cut off inline with the fuel itself, not to the fuel pump
Mine was in the storage bin behind the Passenger seat.. I had a 12X18X3 intercooler where the battery went. My batter was in the hatch...

My buddy though he was slick putting it in the arm rest, good call.
 
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This stuffs useless without knowing how to use it, and good luck picking anything with high security keys.
not anymore, the Lishi stuff is designed for someone that has ever picked a lock before
Take a look, you will be surprised

The internet is full of how to and things you can purchase to help you steal just about anything
(anything except akmike47s ass hole virginity, that is long gone)
 
They use a range extender to get into the vehicle. Basically your vehicle and your FOB is always giving out a signal. Now if the thieves can use that signal to open the vehicle, because with most vehicles now away all you have to do is to push the button or pull on the door handle if it can recognize the FOB. Stellantis vehicles are easier to steal since it don't need the keys in the car to start it. I think Ford is the same way too, been a while since I worked at Ford and wasn't there when they came out with push button start. Only reason I know this because one of my good friends works in Auto Theft. Been to the lot, and there are a lot of new Challengers, Chargers, Jeeps there. You can't start a GM push button start vehicle without the key physically inside. And even then, there are some blank areas inside the vehicle that it won't pick up the FOB. There are 3 antennas inside the car that knows where that FOB is at. Anyone here with a GM push button start car can hold their keys barely outside the door and push the start button, the vehicle shouldn't start. But with GM vehicles, they steal them with a blank VIN ECM. It takes about 60 seconds to swap out.
 
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A manual trans isn’t fucking magic, people need to stop acting like it’s some mystical bullshit people can’t figure out to feel special