This happened the other night to my car.

Three cars are confirmed to be from the same dealer (two IS and one RX) The NX got stolen.
Clearly these are pros, since they don't need the owner's keys not to mention my key functions stopped working (automatic rolling down windows) and the Viper alarm didn't even go off...

I don't understand what they're waiting on to fix this problem, the consumer should NOT have to pay for Lexus' faulty system!! It's a major security concern!
I'm assuming they're waiting for someone to get hurt before they do anything.

Lexus Canada says they sympathize with the situation... and offered to do nothing about it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6xt...ature=youtu.be

 

From the video it appears they did not take the vehicle.
When you mention the auto roll down not working, sounds like they somehow reset the Main Body ECU issue, as by default the auto roll down is set to Off. This can be turned on again with a Techstream or something like Carista.

I'm not sure I understand your comment here though "I don't understand what they're waiting on to fix this problem, the consumer should NOT have to pay for Lexus' faulty system!! It's a major security concern!"
Why do you think the system is faulty? Why do you think there is something wrong with the system?

Reality check...thieves steal cars for a few reasons...in this case Lexus vehicles are in demand in other parts of the world, so they get stolen here and shipped there. Some Toyota models as well.
They can steal any car they want, but they aren't going to steal a vehicle that no one wants. This isn't a Lexus problem, it's a vulnerability of all cars that have a Smart Key type system.
Maybe this is a Quebec problem.
What's to stop them from pulling up in a flatbed and just towing the entire car away...nothing really.
Also they bypassed the Viper alarm, which is aftermarket to the vehicle, so it's also a Viper problem as well.

I'm empathic to your situation, I just don't think pointing the finger of blame directly at Lexus is the solution.
What is the police doing about this?

 

Bare in mind my answer is in no way directed to you, so don't take any of this personal


The title is theft attempt
The one that got stolen is an NX (not within the reach of the camera).

I find it a severe problem, because most people have a garage door opener in their car (or programmed on the mirror), which then provides easy access to your home.
If someone has nothing of value or isn't afraid of strangers coming in their house... then I guess they can omit this concern.
Hence why I'm saying, are they waiting for the thieves to come IN the house and put lives at risk?

For someone to blatantly walk on the street and come back as well (not in this video, but they came back for my car and the other IS), means they're clearly not afraid.
So approaching them would more than likely put your life in danger over a car.

I know people steal cars, but for someone to sit in your car for 10+ mins and not take it, makes you wonder what exactly are they doing to that car?
Are they putting a tracker on it? Are they planning to get it in another location?
You now have to live with a worry because again, they launched a system with a security flaw that has yet to be addressed for x amount of years.

Cops said not to leave any personal belongings in the car.
Which is basically saying: continue paying nearly $600/month to drive something as if it's a literally a rental from Discount.

Great experience going forward... (sarcastic)

 

The NX was the only targeted vehicle in this video. Maybe they just looked around and checked if the IS/RX and see if those are the specific model(specs) that they need, but fortunately it didn't matched with their car list.

So, they only took the NX.

As scary as it sounds, if your car meets the specs on their list, they will take it. They will not care about the surveillance cameras around them. That's what they do - steal cars and not to get afraid. They are probably even having fun doing it.

 

I think this statement is still a concern "You now have to live with a worry because again, they launched a system with a security flaw that has yet to be addressed for x amount of years."
What flaw is there? If you consider what happened to be a flaw, then every manufacturer of a vehicle with a Smart Key system has the same flaw...as they are all equally vulnerable.
My point is not that they took the NX and tried to take your IS...my point is that could have been a Jeep Cherokee or a Cadillac Escalade, and the result would not have been any different.

 

Would you keep a car knowing that just about anybody can go in it?
It sounds bad to say, but I guess you have to go through it to understand. For someone to sit around in your car for a few minutes, it's because they're doing something to it, they're not admiring the comfort lol

In a way, it's best if they had just taken it instead of having to be on the look out at all times.

I got that point. Then they should do something about it.
Have the key work in shorter distances, clearly it can be done, since our cars know when the key is in vs. out of the car.

Like I mentioned earlier, the consumer will always pay for their mistakes.
Your car gets stolen (this flaw just makes it that much easier), then your rates go up! You're wasting time calling all these people (cops, dealer, insurance company, Lexus Canada), you gotta do a bunch of crap on your end, because a huge company likes this doesn't give two cents for what happens to its clients.

"we sympathize with you" last time I checked, those words solved nothing!

 

It's going to be an endless cat and mouse game between car manufacturers and criminals.

When we had only blade keys to start vehicles, those vehicles were easily stolen.
Then blade keys with immobiliser chips were introduced...these chips served no other purpose than security. The criminals then found ways to easily steal those vehicles.
Now we've moved onto Smart Keys...and the criminals have found an easy way to steal those.

Whatever the next iteration of vehicle immobiliser systems are (maybe biometric scanners...that would be cool), it will solve the issues of Smart Keys, and provide a challenge for criminals to now vandalize those systems...but they will!
Every time the manufacturers made a step forward, the criminals take a step too.
The easiest thing is to make a car that nobody wants lol

The Smart Key system needs to work, and the criminals are exploiting the way it works. There is no flaw to fix, there is only developing a new system that will be harder for the criminals to bypass.
Making the range shorter to which the key is detected doesn't change the fact that anyone can walk right up to a vehicle. You could remove the vehicles ability to detect the Smart Key so you are forced to use a blade key to enter the car...but then you have no Smart Key system anymore and the criminals will just slim jim the door. For every solution there is a countermeasure to bypass it.
If there was a clearly identifiable "flaw" in the system, then I'm sure Lexus would be the first to fix it.

While the suggestions of the police were not much help, I think they realize that likely they are coming back for that car at some point in the near future.

If anyone remembers the days when the Honda Civic was the most stolen vehicle...it was partially because they were easy to steal and everyone wanted to steal them for parts.
Reality is cars of that same era were just as easy to steal, if not easier, it's just that Civic parts were in high demand, and not the other cars.

 

Have you seen people steal brand new mercs? Not even 2 minutes, they have a device which allows the car to think the key is right there so no alarms go off and the car door actually unlocks. Think of it like a signal repeater. Nothing new here they're just taking advantage of how modern cars work.

Solution? Buy a car with no keyless entry, because as long as you have keyless entry someone who knows what they're doing will find the signal your key puts out and essentially extend the range/make a copy on different hardware.

 

I totally get all the frustration here.

But kind of like said.... its not on anyone else to do anything. Happens 1000s of times a day.

Make whatever system you want to prevent it....it'll still happen.

The really only issue here is "people steal cars". And this, we already know. Is it a total bummer? Yes. Anyones fault? No (besides the thieves, but not fixing that).

Sorry for your luck but that's all it was, bad luck. One thing is forsure, you're thinking about it more than they are. They're already over it, i wouldnt live in fear over it. Make sure you're covered for reimbursement in case they do have your car pegged, literally nothing else can be done. But i bet they've moved on, hardly remember if you asked them.

 

The flaw is exactly that: someone OTHER than the dealer can get into the car.
If this were to happen on an iPhone, people would lose their **** and definitely not buy it. Yet most car owners are just saying "ya that's cool! we gotta live with it!"

Not gonna try to convince you otherwise on this. It's a flaw/defect, it's certainly not perfect.

From an engineer stand point, a flaw is an issue that involves your product in correlation to another:
- Lexus' keyless entry in correlation with the thieves' equipment

A tow truck towing the car away will not be considered a flaw since it is not correlated to the keyless entry.

You know I can see all of that in the video, right? lol!
I saw videos of this happening to the 2014-2015 models, you would think they would have done something about it.



Agreed on the "people steal cars" issue, yet they didn't steal it. So what was the point of doing what they did... we'll never know.

Like I stated earlier, most people seem fine that their cars get stolen or entered by a stranger, otherwise you'd be fighting for a fix.

Any who, I'll leave the video there. I know which dealer to avoid if I ever buy a Lexus again.

 

There is no fix man, and I don't think anyone would be fine with it. But it is what it is. Its the fight against crime maybe? Not against a dealership who had nothing to do with designing your car.

It has literally nothing to do with that dealer. Zero. Same technology on an IS youd fine in Saudi Arabia, Japan, Etc, and they get broken into just as easily over.

It is weird they sat there and left. Must not have been what they wanted after all.. Who knows.

 

It is what it is = people are accepting it
Guaranteed there's a way to avoid all of this (at least the keyless entry flaw) but there's a monetary value behind it (may be for the good or for the bad).

Reason why I wouldn't rule out the dealer just yet, is because all the other Lexus' on this street (2 other 3IS, CT and RX) did not get touched.

 

This happened to my next door neighbor a week ago.
In this case he had forgotten to lock the car door (oops!).
At 2:30 in the morning he heard his garage door open. He ran downstairs, making lots of noise, and managed to scare off the three guys that were coming into his house. He got lucky, it could have ended badly.

I checked my wife's car that always sits in the driveway, and discovered that the opener is always active in the car, even without the key present.
I now keep the garage door disabled (via a wall switch) whenever we are home, and not using the garage.

 

Smart!

Glad to hear nothing happened to your neighbor!

 

I keep my two keys in a Faraday pouch at night. If I wanted to, I could keep it in the pouch at all times except when entering or driving, but I don't want to live like that.
Wouldn't this keep thieves out of your car and from stealing it, or is there another technology I'm unaware of?