2022 JTRD stolen from driveway (don't let it happen to you)

[Darkspeed]

so if the tazer pin to drive can be defeated by yanking it out, someone needs to come up with a hardened enclosure to mount the tazer mini in behind the dash to prevent this.

Something steel that takes too long or is too difficult to remove

Sponsored

 

[Sandevino]

Build a better mouse trap and a smarter mouse comes along. I park outside in my driveway along with two other vehicles. I do have starter interlock devices installed requiring a unique key to start the vehicle and cameras watching every angle. All this is useless if I park elsewhere or the thief shows up with a roll back or lift truck.

I’m sorry yours got stolen and my heart hurts for you. Hopefully your insurance company does right by you….

 

[Raven65]

Dude, that sucks so hard... I'm sorry.

Back in the late 90's I had an '87 Mustang LX 5.0 5-speed convertible. I left it unlocked all the time with nothing of value inside so that nobody would cut my top to get inside only to find nothing to steal. To (attempt to) prevent anyone from stealing the car itself, I put a fuel pump kill switch in it. That car didn't have factory fog lights, so there was a dummy switch on the dash where that would usually be, so I replaced that blank with the actual factory switch and wired it up to interrupt the fuel pump circuit when the switch was in the off position. You had to turn the "fog lights" on in order to start/drive the car. That worked great - but it did cause a problem one time. I took the car to a shop for some kind of repair and left the switch in the "On" position so that the car would run, but I neglected to tell the shop about it. Well, I'm sure one of the techs moved the car and saw that switch on and figured it should be off - so he switched it off. When they later went to start/move it again, of course it wouldn't start. The starter would spin the engine over all day, but without the fuel pump running, it wouldn't start. They spent HOURS trying to figure out what was going on - and they finally figured it out. When I went to pick the car up, the shop owner (a friend) was PISSED - and rightfully so. He could have (should have) charged me their labor rate for all the time his guys spent figuring that out, but thankfully he didn't. Today I would have offered to pay that, but back then my budget was tight, so I was thankful for the break.

All that to say... if you DO put any kind of kill switch of any kind in your vehicle, make DAMN sure you tell the shop/valet/whoever about it if/when they will need to start your vehicle!

 

[905_gladiator]

sorry to hear this im out in Toronto area and the theft rates is high AF

ive said it before, place 2 Air Tags in your vehicles (hidden) and remove the speakers....there is no way a crook is going to find it with the speakers removed

have a few friends on speed dial and get it when its pinged...also if you have a camera set it to notify you when it detects a person near your vehicle at night. Hopefully your INS company helps you out with the mods.

 

[charliez]

I still think y'all are way overthinking this. I say it was picked up quickly by a lift truck and rolled away.

 

[chrisandrews]

Thanks everyone for the kind words and advice.

A note about AirTags--I'd thought of that a long time ago but Apple very wisely implemented a security feature shortly after they came out which negates some of that utility as a secret tracking device: if an AirTag that is not paired to your iPhone is following you around, you are alerted and can disable that tracking. So it may be good for a few minutes when you first realize your Jeep is gone, but after that, perhaps not. I do not know if it continues to ping against other Apple devices, however--like any nearby Apple TV, iPad, etc., but that would defeat the security Apple needed to implement (i.e., so you couldn't hide an AirTag on someone else's car and track them).

 

[Raven65]

Thanks everyone for the kind words and advice.

A note about AirTags--I'd thought of that a long time ago but Apple very wisely implemented a security feature shortly after they came out which negates some of that utility as a secret tracking device: if an AirTag that is not paired to your iPhone is following you around, you are alerted and can disable that tracking. So it may be good for a few minutes when you first realize your Jeep is gone, but after that, perhaps not. I do not know if it continues to ping against other Apple devices, however--like any nearby Apple TV, iPad, etc., but that would defeat the security Apple needed to implement (i.e., so you couldn't hide an AirTag on someone else's car and track them).

But that's exactly how they work... if ANY iOS device comes within range of that Airtag, that device is unknowingly used to send that Airtag's location to the owner. It's also possible to physically disassemble an Airtag to disable the speaker in it to make it harder for the thief to locate (since he will be warned that an Airtag is following him around if he has an iPhone).

 

[Raven65]

I still think y'all are way overthinking this. I say it was picked up quickly by a lift truck and rolled away.

That's obviously possible, but so are the other methods discussed in here. They're all happening right now all over.

 

[TwelveSoldier]

Eufy makes one that works with the Apple FindMy app. I'm not sure if it notifies like AirTag does about it being in the vehicle. There's also a company that offers a kill switch with a special key. I know it's not much help because I don't recall the name, but a friend of mine has it on his Raptor.

Also, Biden signed in the infrastructure bill that all manufactures have a kill switch in their new models by 2026. Not much help now, but this could explain why there are more thefts now of vehicles.

 

[BourbonRunner]

OP, I'm sorry you're dealing with this and your insurance is leaving you holding the bag.

Is LoJack a thing in Canada?

Fortunately none of the current vehicles are in risk of cloning a fob (which I really don't like for a number of reasons outlined here and elsewhere) but what she and I both are looking at buying next we'll be stuck with it and we park on the street. A Faraday box at night will be necessary but the notion of someone scanning it while its in my pocket is just downright absurd. I don't need the the car to automatically unlock when I get near, and I don't see the "advantage" of pressing a start/stop button on the dash opposed to inserting a key.

Mercedes had the best system to prevent this in previous generations: The "key" fob had an infrared emitter built into it. Still had to insert it into the dash but and it was a secure, IR encrypted signal to the car to disable anti-theft mechanisms and start. It was impossible to defeat the system unless you had that exact programmed key, and there wasn't a chance someone could clone it because the operation of the remote required the button to be pressed, then the key to be inserted. If that didn't happen, no dice.

Alternatively, the old chip-embedded keys that GM and others worked well too- it was a very weak near field RF frequency that was read by the ignition cylinder module and only when inserted. Again, pricey to replace but nowhere near as expensive as the vehicle was.

 

[mrmo]

Its already been said, some dickhead in a repo truck can swoop in, grab it, turn around and pull it with the front wheels on the ground and off they go. Takes less than 5 min with a skilled bastard. I see the trucks running around everywhere all the time. Usually an F350-450 with the remote controlled grabber hoist on the back...cant tell if they are legit or theives running around looking

 

[Hootbro]

I use a "Bouncie" GPS track and a OBD2 Y splitter harness on both my Gladiator and my wife's vehicle. if done right, you can install it behind the dash and make it blend in with the other factory harnesses for concealment. The Bouncie app service is like $8 a month for the first vehicle on the account with additional vehicles costing $6.

I like it because you can setup and "Geo Fence" as many locations as you want and get instant phone notification if the vehicle leaves those areas.

https://www.amazon.com/Bouncie-Connected-Location-Geo-Fence-Diagnostics/dp/B07H8NS5MS

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071L8W7Q7

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Build a better mouse trap and a smarter mouse comes along. I park outside in my driveway along with two other vehicles. I do have starter interlock devices installed requiring a unique key to start the vehicle and cameras watching every angle. All this is useless if I park elsewhere or the thief shows up with a roll back or lift truck.

Idiot-proof something and along comes a dumber idiot. Built something thief-proof and along comes a smarter thief.
Yeah, some places, like Canada and a a few US locations they do pull up with a truck and in short order, are driving away with a vehicle.

I like it because you can setup and "Geo Fence" as many locations as you want and get instant phone notification if the vehicle leaves those areas.

I thought I saw where you could have a valet mode for these now - in the Jeep app perhaps? Need to look into that.

 

[AmosMoses01]

so if the tazer pin to drive can be defeated by yanking it out, someone needs to come up with a hardened enclosure to mount the tazer mini in behind the dash to prevent this.

Something steel that takes too long or is too difficult to remove

This is a great product idea! Sounds like something @813 Fabrication & Design could do extremely well - it would just have to have enough buyers to make it worth it for them to develop. (Or perhaps develop it and offer it through Zautomotive.)

As many have noted, the little things like hood locks and enabling the hood alarm may not be universal solutions, but may do just enough to counter some thieves.

The repo truck thieves are much more difficult to combat with a "product" solution - barring making some sort of alarm that if set off triggers an EMP generator to nuke electronics of the thief (just kidding, just kidding.) If their M.O. is grab and go quickly, anything that makes things "not quick" would have them move on to another target. If someone could come up with something productizable that would be relatively easily/quickly "put in place" (such as wheel immobilizer for front tires), they may have a good money making product.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

If someone could come up with something productizable that would be relatively easily/quickly "put in place" (such as wheel immobilizer for front tires), they may have a good money making product.

Park it in 4H - but a clever thief can get in and pull the strap anyway.
Or run a heavy log chain through the wheels. A lockable steel bar that goes through both front wheels and clamps around the wheel.

Sponsored