I was concidering purchasing a "Lojack" system. Anyone KNOW what method is being used to steal a corvette? Are they bypassing the alarm? Special keys? Towing them away?

 

If my car where stolen I would not want it back, but thats me. I know you have the option from insurance if you want it back or a new one. I would take the new one

 

The idea that if your car is stolen you don't want it back is silly but persistent. If you don't get your car back you take a bigger insurance hit and guess who eventually has to pay for that. Better to get it back and trade it if you don't want it. I would suggest talking to your insurance company to see what they recommend. Something more expensive could mean lower premiums and whatever you get could end up cheaper in the long run.

 

I am familiar with the designers of the transceiver for the Lojack. It has its own power supply and is independent of what is going on with the car. For a major metro area, the average time for recovery from notification to the police is short(can't tell you how long), if the car is in the area. Most of the time the perps are caught or the storehouse is id'd. It's all dependent how long after the theft the owner discovers the loss.

Bullet proof system is Lojack plus a motion alert that notifies you someone is messing with your car by an alarm. This always leads to an arrest. If your vehicle is stolen at Midnight and you discover it is missing at 7 AM, the car can be hundreds of miles away in a rural area where there is no Lojack.

Criminals ,even pros, fear this combination.

If I did not have protected parking (as I did when I used to work and I mean sidearms) I would install this combo. Now, my car always finds its way home into my garage.

If you can't afford it, a little business card with "Lojack??" over the vin # plate works wonders.

Always cover your Vin # in any case.

 

I have State Farm ins, they dont give you a recovery option like that and my brother sales insurance and has never heard of it. What insurance do you have?

 

And on what planet does this policy work in?? The insurance company will do whatever is cheapest and you can bet it is you get your car back when it has been repaired/cleaned/inspected.

 

A typical method of theft is to simply copy the VIN# off a car and then find a dealer who isn't following the rules to sell him a key. It is a good idea to partialy cover the VIN# in the windshield.

 

http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/vin.asp

VIN Car Thieves


Claim: Thieves can steal cars by using VINs to obtain duplicate keys through auto dealerships.

Status: Multiple:
Some thieves have stolen cars by using VINs to obtain duplicate keys through auto dealerships: True.

Obscuring you car's VIN is a good way to decrease the likelihood that your automobile will be stolen: False.
Example: [Collected on the Internet, 2003]

CAR THIEVES

Just heard this from a friend. Apparently car thieves have yet again found a way around the system and steal your car or truck without any effort at all.

The car thieves peer through the windshield of your car or truck, write down the VIN number from the label on the dash, go into the local dealership for that car brand and request a duplicate key for it from the VIN number.

Car dealerships make up a duplicate key from the VIN number, collect payment from the 'customer' who's really a would-be car thief for making up the duplicate key — the car thief goes back to your vehicle, inserts the key they've just gotten and off they drive with your car or truck.

They don't have to break in, don't have to damage the vehicle and draw no attention to themselves as all they have to do is to walk up to your car, insert the key and off they go to their chop shop with your vehicle!!!

Can you believe it?

To avoid this from happening to you, simply put opaque tape (like a strip of electrical tape, duct tape or medical tape) across the VIN label located on the dash board. You can't remove the VIN number legally under most state laws, so cover it so that it can't be viewed through the windshield by a car thief.

Anyway, feel free to forward this on before some other car thief steals another car or truck like this.

Origins: Stealing cars by using Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) to obtain duplicate keys from auto dealerships certainly has worked for some car thieves. A December 2002 article in the Atlanta Journal and Constitution described the break-up of a multi-state car theft ring which employed just such a scheme:
A man recently arrested by Lilburn police may be part of a car theft ring that operates in the Southeast and involves at least $580,000 worth of stolen cars, authorities said.

Kevin Lee Davis, 32, was arrested Dec. 4 by Lilburn police and charged with theft by receiving stolen property and illegally falsifying the vehicle identification number on a car, said Lilburn Police Chief Ron Houck.

Since the arrest, Davis has admitted to working with a group that has been stealing cars in at least four states, Houck said.

[Huntsville, Ala., police officer Jeffrey] Weaber said Davis had a few car-stealing schemes that he had never seen before.

"He has to be in the top five of the smartest criminals I've encountered," said Weaber. "I've never seen a scheme like that."

In one scheme, Davis was able to create authentic looking titles for cars he would steal, said Weaber.

According to police, Davis would go to used car lots and copy down the vehicle identification number of cars he wanted to steal. He would put the stolen VIN numbers on the titles he created and then take them to the dealership, Weaber said.

"He would go to the dealer and tell them that he lost the key to his car," said Weaber. "Because he had proof of ownership they would make the key for him and he would just drive the car off the lot."
While this article validates that the VIN scheme has been successfully used, it also demonstrates why the scheme doesn't necessarily pose a threat to the average car owner. Using VINs to steal cars isn't nearly as easy as the warning quoted above makes it sound: the thieves have to case the cars they want to steal, record VINs, make trips to auto dealerships, present some form of registration or proof of title, wait for the dealers to contact the manufacturers and make up duplicate keys, then return to wherever they found the cars in the first place and use the duplicate keys to steal them. But this is antithetical to the way car thieves generally work — they're creatures of opportunity who steal cars as they find them, quickly and anonymously. They don't want to have to go around recording VINs, forging documents, calling attention to themselves and risking exposure by showing their faces at auto dealerships, waiting around for keys to be made, and hoping the cased cars are still where they found them when they finally return with their duplicate keys. Car thieves have plenty of other methods for stealing automobiles at their disposal, and most of them will gladly accept the slight damage those methods might cause to cars during the course of their thefts (especially if, as claimed above, the merchandise is destined for a "chop shop") than have to go through the delay and risks entailed by the rigamarole described above.

The auto theft ring described in the Journal and Constitution article quoted above was successful because not only were the thieves able "to create authentic looking titles for cars"; they were stealing automobiles from used car lots, not off the street or out of parking lots. They didn't just select some cars, then breeze into auto dealerships, walk out with keys in hand, and drive off in stolen cars a few minutes later: they had to take the time to generate forged certificates of title for the target cars first, and they were stealing cars from other dealerships, a method that guaranteed all the cars they had cased would still be in the same place once they returned with the duplicate keys. Crooks who stalk mall parking lots for their targets have no such guarantees — once they've expended the time and effort required to obtain duplicate keys, they're more likely than not to find that the cars those keys fit have already been driven off by their owners.

All that said, the VIN scheme can be an effective method for the spot stealing of cars, particularly when the targets are expensive models (which the thieves intend to re-sell overseas and therefore need to acquire with as little damage as possible) and are habitually parked in the same places for long periods of time (outside the owner's home, for example, or in a parking lot at the owner's place of employment). Even though automobile dealerships are supposed to request some form of identification and proof of ownership (valid registration or certificate of title) before issuing duplicate keys, they don't always do so, as exemplified by the following account, written by a woman who obtained a set of duplicate keys (for her own car) with nothing more than a simple phone call:
I was in Arlington for a business meeting back in February and upon returning to my car, Lo and Behold, I realized that I locked my keys in the car. There they were staring back at me from the passengers seat. Then that sick empty feeling of stupidity set in - "what am I going to do now?" I looked for every possible way to get in the car but no luck. Maybe they should sell more of these cars in New York City — it would cut auto thefts in half! By this time it was 8PM and dark . . . My last option was to call a locksmith to get me inside and then pay who knows how much?! My friend suggested I call the Saturn dealership for a duplicate key. I never thought of that — OK, but then pay how much?! I looked in the phone book and your dealership was the closest one. When I called I was put through to a salesperson and explained my situation. The response was "No Problem". I gave him the last 6 digits of the vin # and I was in business. I got a ride over to the dealership and the key was waiting for me at the front desk. Unbelievable! I met the salesperson briefly — he was very pleasant and helpful and I was on my way. Now, the best part of all — there was no charge! I was floored. Now that is customer service!!!
Note, though, that for some models of automobiles thieves don't even need to bother with VINs and dealerships, because they can duplicate the necessary keys all by themselves. The following excerpt from an NYPD/FBI report describes how members of another auto theft ring stole cars by crafting their own keys on the spot:
Information obtained from sources within the car theft ring indicated that Nissan Pathfinders and Toyota Forerunners were the vehicles of choice among this particular group, simply because they were easy to steal. Thieves need only to pop a door lock to obtain the ignition key code number. With this number and a portable key maker, they make a duplicate key and drive away with the vehicle within a relatively short period of time, reportedly 7 minutes or less.
So, is the advice given in the message quoted above to obscure you car's VIN a good way of decreasing the likelihood that your automobile will be stolen? Not really, because:
As noted above, obtaining duplicate keys through automobile dealerships is too elaborate and risky a scheme for most car thieves, so this form of crime isn't very common.

Also as noted above, for at least some models of cars thieves can easily create their own duplicate keys.

The dashboard plate isn't necessarily the only place from which a car's VIN might be obtained. In nearly all recent models of cars, the VIN is encoded in multiple locations, such as a bar code found on the inside of the driver's door.

Thieves don't even necessarily need to go anywhere near a car to find out its VIN. Anyone, for example, can go to the web site of the State of California's Bureau of Automotive Repair, enter the license plate number of any California car that's ever had a smog check, and get a repair history that includes the vehicle's VIN.

In some jurisdictions, it is against the law to obscure a car's VIN. New York City parking regulations, for example, specify that "No person shall stand or park a vehicle that has the vehicle identification number obscured in any manner."
In addition to all that, a research team at Johns Hopkins University recently announced that they had found a way to crack the code used in millions of car keys, a discovery that could potentially allow thieves to bypass the security systems on a variety of newer-model cars:
The research team at Johns Hopkins University said it discovered that the "immobilizer" security system developed by Texas Instruments could be cracked using a "relatively inexpensive electronic device" that acquired information hidden in the microchips that made the system work.

The radio-frequency security system being used in more than 150 million new Fords, Toyotas and Nissans involves a transponder chip embedded in the key and a reader inside the car. If the reader does not recognize the transponder, the car will not start, even if the key inserted in the ignition is the correct one.

Avi Rubin, a professor at Johns Hopkins who led the research team, said the code-breaking demonstrations illustrated that developers did not pay enough attention to security.

"I think the implications are that it sets us back about 10 years ago where we were with car security," Rubin said.
There's probably more truth to the theme of the Grand Jest Auto legend than we'd like to believe: if crooks really want to rob you, they'll find a way to do it no matter what security precautions you might take. Although there's also some truth to the maxim that thieves will go after whatever's easiest to grab first, so even if you can't make your valuables absolutely impervious to theft you can at least maximize your chances that someone else will be the victim by making your valuables as difficult to steal as possible, obscuring your car's VIN isn't likely to significantly decrease the odds of theft.

Last updated: 31 January 2005

 

That's quite an article "Fastlane", thanks. I still don't see a posting from someone that has personally experienced a theft of their Vette. I"m looking for first hand information. So far I see it is possible to steal one of our babies by either having a "Dealer" create a key from the VIN, or tow the vehicle. Any more input?

 

My friends car was stolen with a key made by a dealer. The thief was falsifying titles and getting them cut and picking up cars (2 vettes out of my office lot at the same time!) They were using license plate info to extract VINs. I've never heard of anyone actually hot-wiring a C5. That and towing are they only methods I've heard of (that I believe.)

 

I guess it depends where you live. The pill on the Corvette key adds an extra dimension to getting a key from the dealer. In my area none of the dealers have multiple copies of the blank keys with pills (I think there are 15 different pill values) in stock. If you need to replace the key it takes a couple of days for them to get the correct blank. In major metro areas the dealers may keep each of the blanks in stock since they probably have sold enough cars to make it worth while to stock an expensive key.

The easiest way for them to make a quick theft is to pull up with a rollback and just haul the car away. Nobody will say a word and curious bystanders will watch as your car is stolen and never realize its being stolen.
Bill

 

Another key thing to consider is how many law enforcement vehicles in your area are equiped with the Lojack systems. For example, here in NC we just started getting the Lojack systems in LEO vehicles, and they are still few and far between right now.
The indvidual car has a tracking system in it, very much a proximity sensor system. The closer you get the more it beeps, leading you to the stolen vehicle. Don't know if it helps, but just FYI.

 

I was under the impression that the company (Lojack) tracked the car and notified police of it's location.

Bob

 

Bob,
That's not the way it works. When a theft occurs, the owner calls the cops and notifies them. Lojack sends out a signal that activates the hidden transceiver in the car. The transceiver starts to pulse a locator "beacon" kind of like an EPIRB on a boat or plane. The closer the stolen car is to a finder vehicle the faster the beep. When the beeping is frequent enough the cops usually make a visual i.d. on the stolen car. The catch is that the police in the area must have Lojack finder equipped patrol units. These are common in major metros but not so common in remote locales. With all that said, if mine was a daily driver I would invest in a Lojack AND a tamper alarm with pager notification.

 

Sorry to not get back to you until now Bob. Nobigspoilerz is correct. Lojack is new to where I am, so there are only a few cars in my area that have the tracking systems. Out west, it is my understanding that law enforcement agencies try to have as many cars as they can with the system. Usually, a cruiser with four black (Identical) antennas on the roof are the tracking equiped cars. The antennas on the rear trunk or hood area are radio's, cell phones and computer systems.
To my knowledge, OnStar systems are the only GPS tracking capable vehicles. Could be wrong though, but I know OnStar can do it.

 

Thank you and also Nobigspoilerz. Looks like Lojack should take a lesson from Onstar. That really surprises me. Thanks again.

Bob

 

FWIW & IMHO:
Any truth to the rumor that anything working through GPS navigstion system can't see through some materials. Railroad cars, for example. Buildings?
I did not know that these cars were getting stolen to any great extent. If you guys want guaranteed theft problems, go buy a Grand National. Carfax it first, just to make sure that the one that you are buying isn't stolen.

 

No problem Bob.

That's true Gary, it won't penetrate certain materials. So the car can be hidden. But, the car will not stay hidden. Anyone worth anything though will take care of the OnStar device. I don't know enuff about it to say if it can be removed easily. But I imagine it can be taken care of. Unfortunate, but it's the best thing out there that I know of. Atleast for now. Hell, it's better than nothing as is Lojack.

 

Yep, in my experience, On Star alarms are extremely inaccurrate, by the time the information is given to police, its been quite a while... Sometimes in the area of hours, for an On Star Alarm... They call the local PD and say, There is an On Star Panic Alarm in the area of 1st Street and Main Street, should be on the northwest corner...

Lojack works in the way described above, and I know it works, I have seen it work personally. Its a great tool, the problem is that not enough dealers push the LoJack because, aslo as mentioned above, there just isn't enough LEO out there with it equipped on their car...

As soon as it catches on and we start getting more and more bad guys with Lojack, citizens will start pushing funding to get more and more patrol vehicles with it, thereby increasing the chances of finding a Lo Jack car, and thereby increasing potential sales of the system..

We should see somewhat of an exponential growth in the LoJack area in the near future, seeing as how it is real time information, and not delayed like OnStar...

A really great system would be to combine the two and have LoJack notify the local PD of where the vehicle is approximately, and that way the PD can specifically send a Lo Jack equipped vehicle out that direction to find it.

And once a lojack equipped vehicle finds a hit, believe me, he puts it out over the radio and there are cops swarming the area trying to find the vehicle. Nothing like a good GTA pursuit for a cop.

 

make a kill switch ... only a tow truck would be able to take it like that .