Hi All,

First off, this is a great site with lots of useful information. I bought my used 2008 RX350 last month with 14K miles on it. From advices from the users here, I saved over $700 by canceling my Platinum warranty purchased at the dealership and bought it from a Toyota dealer who sells Lexus extended warranty.

From reading some of the posts today, I found out the My Lexus site and registered. I saw all the service history done to the car by the dealer. On the very first entry I see this:

Dealer Reported 06/13/2007 Lexus of Queens 10 0015933 INSTALL LO-JACK.

Does this car has Jo-jack installed? There was no other keyfob/remote beside the regular lexus keys. I checked the Lo-jack website and I can schedule an appointment for an inspection to verify Lo-jack installation. If I do have jo-jack, is it still active? Do I have to purchase the second user service to be able to take advantage of it?

Thanks in advance.

 

Lo-Jack is not a Lexus option.

At this time, the best thing would be to make an appointment. Good installation would make the thing hard to detect and does not require any key/remote. It is a paid service, so very likely it is not being monitored (if the equipment has not been removed).

There are only two ways to take the RX:
Some one has the keys
or
Towing/flat bed.

Knowing the above, you may not be interested in renewing lojack service.

Salim

 

The dealer I purchased from installed lo-jack on all the cars it sold then you purchased the lo-jack service or they disabled it. I don't think they removed it if you didn't purchase but I'm not sure as I purchased it.
Jeff

 

Salim,

You got a point there. If the only way to move the vehicle is by using a key or towing, then the chance of the car being stolen is slim.

Jeff,

How much did you pay for the Lo-jack service and for how long? Did you get any extra keyfobs?

 

I'll have to look up my paperwork to see the price and length of service. There is no extra keyfob for lo-jack, it a passive system in that it is always there just waiting for a signal from the mother ship. There isn't even any lo-jack stickers of warning as they don't want to warn the bad guys, they want to catch them.
Jeff

 

There is a fob for the Early Warning version. The dealer should let you know if Lo-Jack is installed there since it was done there. I don't have the paperwork in front of me but I believe the transfer fee is something like $150-200 and covers you as long as you own the car. They recommend inspections at around $70 every year to check the battery. First inspection should be done at two years so the timing is perfect.

 

Is this really true?

Basically this means that it is no longer possible to steal a car that uses a security chip embedded in the key. This is almost as bold, IMO, as saying the Titantic was unsinkable.

If this is really true, why does it not apply to all late model cars that use a security chip embedded in the key?

 

Sinking of Titanic is still being discussed (last show I saw blamed on the evasive action of the crew. Had they hit the iceberg head on, nothing would have happened). Essentially we need to understand the built in protection and possibly how vehicle theft takes place.

Given a strong motivation to steal and given unlimited time/opportunity, very little will stand in the way. We can even come up with a scenario where the owner will grudgingly hand over the keys.

You have locked door(s) and glass to keep thieves out. Then there is steering lock, ignition kill and then the engine imobilizer. Thieves used to disable ignition kill and connect wires to start ... old movies. Then the manufacturers added the steering lock. Thieves found a work around. But in any case, it made it harder. Now with the imbolizer and ecu in the picture, it adds another level of complexity for the thieves. They can come in with their own transponder and ecu. Quickly you get to a point where the risk for the thief is so high, the (s)he is better of doing something else.

In conclusion the easy ways are to use flat bed or have a key. In fact some one walked into my friends office and picked up the key from his desk. Then he walked around the parking lot with the remote and drove his E320 off. The thief was caught after 4 weeks while trying to shop-lift. My fried had to replace his house door locks and re-program the garage opener.

By the way, other than car-thief, there can be malicious act of taking the vehicle by roommate or ex who may have had access to the keys.


Salim