Had my first MR2 stolen in less than 5 minutes in a mall parking lot the same week we bought it.
It had a steering wheel lock on it. They were nice enough to leave the lock and steering wheel in the parking place.
We got it back about 10 days later and it was a nat's ass from being a total. I wasn't thrilled but Toyota put it back together, drove it for 14 years trouble free after that and sold it to a friend who still has it.
Stay safe and GL.

 

Sounds like a BS story to me.

 

Pardon my ignorance, but how could they start the car without the chip?

 

OBD port, you can program a key with the VIN

 

 

 

Most likely done by this method, headlight hack.

 

Could the installation of a remote battery disconnect switch (kill switch) prevent this type of theft from happening? Presumably, if the car isn't powered, the thieves couldn't gain access to the vehicle's electronics.

 

steering wheel locks are easy to break or cut off, good for amateur theives but pointless for the pros.

 

Assuming the key fob was actually 3/4 of a mile away from the vehicle when it was stolen, I guess disabling the key fob from automatically transmitting (ie: you need to push the fob unlock button to unlock the vehicle) wouldn’t stop this type of vehicle theft?

Modern vehicles are to easy to steal, which increases to cost of auto insurance for all of us. Auto makers need to come up with better solutions to prevent this type of theft. Add catalytic converter theft to that as well.

 

GPS trackers are now cheap and small, easy to hide in your vehicle. I use them in my vehicles, if my car moves out of a set location, I get an alert on my phone and I can track my vehicle's location. No reason not to have one for each of your cars, Boats, Trailer etc.

 

Do you have a link for yours and do you also need a subscription? Thanks

 

That is why I installed a odb lock + Igla immobilizer. I found they were less intrusive then a steering lock. Also, the odb port itself only use a few wires (I think only 4-5 wires are used on the connector.) You could relocate it somewhere else hidden behind the dash but the downside of that is you have some extra work to do when going to the dealer (same as the odb lock). But again, if they really want you car, they can tap anywhere on the signal CAN bus and program new keys. That is where the Igla immobilizer become a nice option (even if support is probably dead now with all the crap in Russia...)

 

By the way, did the OP recover his vehicle or is it still missing?

 

Still missing. I, unfortunately, don't have high hopes that the police will be able to find it.

 

Let’s hope they move on. But even if you can track your stolen vehicle, may have a problem getting the police to act on your vehicle theft. Before retiring, I handled insurance fraud claims which included vehicles thefts. Many of the vehicle theft claims I handled were legitimate. I can’t tell you how many times a stolen vehicle was located via a tracking device but the police wouldn’t enter a building saying they has no probably cause to do so. It was so frustrating to have this happen. The GPS tracker showed the vehicle was inside a building. What more probable cause do they need LOL?

 

I would be calling the cops to let them know where I am going, they can come along or not.

 

First, a highly visible lock makes them think about how much time it will take them. Second, and this is part of my job installing bank interlocks, is it's not hard to find the starter wire coming from the relay box under the hood to the starter, or the wire supplying voltage to the ignition coil (s), or to the fuel pump. Snip the wire add your wires to the switch, use loom and make that look factory, be creative where you hide the switch in the car. The best part about cutting the fuel pump is it may start for half a second then die, the thieves know it's injectors or spark that get disabled and the start/stall makes them think the car is broken. They messed your the car, but they don't get it. Unless they call their buddy with a wrecker. A website called The12Volt has wire location info, up to 2015 ish anyways. Also Commando Alarms, but not as updated.

 

They messed your the car,

Is this implying that something gets damaged/needs replacing if you use a switch for the fuel pump?

 

No, it makes the thieves think they are trying to start a broken car that's not going to start. EDIT: If you notice an X scratched on your driver's door, it's been marked for acquisition, time to block it in, or pull a bunch of relays.

 

I use the CLUB steering wheel lock on my vehicles and never had one stolen.

 

The weak link in steering wheel locks is the steering wheel. I have seen people use a simple hack saw to make one cut through the steering wheel in seconds and slip the wheel lock right off, easy peasy.

 

Can’t Toyota locate vehicle with VIN with already onboard trackers without any subscription?

 

Wouldn’t surprise me. Same with Apple and their products. Unfortunately, Apple won’t track stolen property. Probably the same for Toyota unless forced to do so but a court order. They’re not law enforcement.

 

Purchase a "bling ring" ($2 amazon), paint it black, place it around the key ignition and the car won't start.